Congratulations—you’ve now completed a month of pregnancy.
What’s funny however is the fact that your egg may have been fertilized in the past couple weeks without you even knowing it! Just in case you’re still not sure that you’re pregnant, taking a urine pregnancy test should give you a clear positive.
Once you’ve confirmed that you’re indeed pregnant, it’s time to take your pregnancy more seriously because this is a critical point in your baby’s development.
Fetuses during the fourth week of pregnancy are a high risk of abnormalities such as the baby’s heart, brain, bones, head, spinal cord, tissues, muscles and teeth are all developing.
You probably haven’t, but if you have been consuming alcohol or any other toxins, it is important that you quit NOW in order to increase your baby’s chances of staying healthy.
This is also the best time to make an appointment with your OB to confirm your pregnancy with a blood test, and schedule your first prenatal checkup.
The first and most important week four pregnancy symptom that you will notice is a missed period.
Given that in the fourth week of pregnancy your baby has just implanted into your uterus lining, your body will go through some remarkable changes that will continue for your next 36 weeks of pregnancy.
Your body will begin to produce more human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) as your baby develops, which causes most of the typically 4 week symptoms such as:
Experiencing cramps in your fourth week of pregnancy may sound like a reason to worry, but on a brighter note may be a good sign that your baby has successfully implanted in the wall of your uterus.
However, if you witness severe cramps, you should speak to your doctor, who will be in the best position to rule out any underlying problems.
Owing to the pregnancy hormone progesterone, your body may feel a bit puffed up, so wear a little loose and more comfortable clothing when possible.
You’ve probably heard about this one, and now you’re most likely going to experience it firsthand. Changes in your mood are caused mostly by your fluctuating hormones, or because of your stress level.
You will experience them consistently in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, after which your hormones will relax for a bit.
Light bleeding can result from your baby’s implantation into your uterus, but if you witness blood flowing similar to your period and for more than a couple days, speak to your physician immediately.
During your fourth week of pregnancy, you will feel more exhausted than you did in your last three weeks, and this is mainly due to the fact that your body has to generate and provide a larger amount of nutrients to your baby than it did in the weeks before.
This is one of the common symptoms you will probably experience in each of the 40 weeks (less of course towards the end) owing to the surging hormones.
Medical experts claim that between 50 percent and 90 percent of pregnant women will experience some form of morning sickness be it nausea or vomiting. Good news is that it gets better in your second trimester.
Your 4 weeks pregnancy symptoms may be amplified if you’re carrying two bundles of joy. This is mostly due to the higher surge in hormone levels, but you may not know for sure if you are indeed carrying twins until week 8 or your first doctor’s appointment.
You can however have your (hCG) and progesterone levels confirmed if you have fertility treatments for pregnancy.
If your experience severe fourth week pregnancy symptoms, you should speak to your OB right away, but for mild symptoms, you can try the following home remedies.
For sore and tender breasts, opt for a supportive bra both during the day and at night.
If you’re feeling lay or inactive, try taking a nap during the day. Additionally, you can try some yoga for pregnancy exercises or other forms of light fitness regimes.
If you find yourself using the washroom often, you may want to cut back on your liquid consumption. But take note that drinking water during pregnancy does reduce your chances of infection, and especially helps in the last trimester.
If you do experience nausea, avoid foods that trigger sickness, and opt for small yet frequent meals because remember you’re feeding two not one.
As mentioned earlier, your belly at 4 weeks may feel a bit bloated and for good reasons! However, you may not look pregnant yet, but not to worry you will sooner than you think.
You still however need to and hopefully as you have been doing act like a mom-to-be, meaning implementing good lifestyle practices and giving your soon to be child the love and care they deserve.
If you haven’t already, start taking a consistent dose of prenatal vitamins. Speak to your OB about the level of dose that’s right for you, but 400 micrograms of folic acid is whats commonly recommended.
Since you will be gaining weight at this stage of pregnancy, you may want to opt for looser and more comfortable clothing such as drapery shirts, stretchy leggings and pants.
Great chances are that your OB will not perform an ultrasound at 4 weeks pregnant, because all that will show for the most part is a gestational sac, which is no bigger than a tiny sac.
Your doctor may however schedule your first prenatal appointment roughly about a month after confirming that you are 4 weeks pregnant.
This may seem like a a long period to wait, but there’s really no reason to worry if you have no risk of pregnancy complications and a clean bill of health. Your OB and you will be able to see a whole lot more including a heartbeat starting at 8 or 9 weeks.
Your baby in week 4 of pregnancy is basically a cluster of cells medically termed as a blastocyst.
Development of your baby is accelerated when your 4 weeks pregnant, and approximately half of the blastocyst turns into an embryo that is similar in size to a poppy seed by the end of the week.
The embryo in the fourth week of pregnancy will divide itself into several parts, where the outer layer will form your baby’s skin, eyes, hair and nervous system, middle layer will soon be the muscles, bones, kidneys, heart and reproductive organs and the innermost layer will become the digestive system, lungs and liver.
credit:babble.com
The other half of the blastocyst has an important job to perform as well, and that is to keep your baby safe and nourished through its growth.
Although the size of your baby in week 4 of pregnancy might seem ridiculously small, fact is that most of its peculiar characteristic such as hair and eye color and sex has already been determined via its chromosomes.
Practice good lifestyle habits
Don’t forget to take your prenatal vitamins
Give your partner the good news that you’re pregnant
