Welcome to your weekly pregnancy update where we outline the changes you and your baby are experiencing.

Your Baby

Just last week your baby looked like a tadpole but now it is turning into a proper critter as the small tail (an extension of the tailbone) becomes smaller. Your baby is growing at a rapid pace and has possibly doubled in size during the last week, to be around 1 cm in length. Each eye has developed in amazing detail and will have an optic cup, retina and lens – though there is little baby can see in the dark space inside your belly!

Your baby’s inner ears and tongue are starting to form and their upper jaw and palate come together this week, fusing as one. Your baby now has a pancreas and an appendix and the beginnings of their reproductive organs although you’ll have to wait until around week 16 to see with an ultrasound if your baby is a boy or a girl

Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo. The small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone, is starting to become even smaller. By the end of this week a fine, transparent layer of skin covers baby’s body and webbed fingers (which look more like paddles than proper limbs).

Fun fact – Your baby will develop 3 sets of kidneys during their gestation and at 7 weeks he is growing his second set.

Just like adults, all babies are different and develop at varying rates in the womb. This information gives a general idea of your baby’s development and progress.

The Mum Update

This week you may be having your ‘dating ultrasound’ to get a more accurate estimated due date (EDD), especially if your periods were not regular. While it sounds exciting be prepared that you might not see too much as your baby is still tiny. This scan is usually scheduled for the 7-11 week period.

While you may not be able to show off a big baby belly yet,  your breasts may feel tender and have grown as much as a cup size while the areola (the dark bit around the nipple) may have darkened.

You may notice you have excess saliva or ptyalism (pronounced tie-al-ism) along with the start of morning sickness. Some remedies for morning sickness also help with this drooling, like eating dry, plain cracker biscuits and having small regular meals.  Feelings of heartburn or indigestion can also be relieved by eating smaller meals more regularly, which sounds great unless you are suffering from food aversion. Extremely common, many women suddenly discover even the thought of their favourite food leaves them nauseous while previously unremarkable food becomes craved.