Week 7
Mum:
This week you might experience facial breakouts, especially if you’ve previously suffered breakouts or acne. This is due to the hormonal changes in your body. This is just a phase though and usually such breakouts fade away either when you enter your second trimester or when you deliver. Using a good, gentle facial cleanser and hypoallergenic make-up will keep these to a minimum.
You may have either gained or lost a few pounds, but are not showing yet. The good news is that your pregnancy symptoms may start to decrease.
Baby:
This week your baby is undergoing some extraordinary changes and developments. Both the hand plates and the genital tubercle are present but it is still too early for an ultrasound to detect whether it is a boy or a girl by sight at this point. Nasal pits are also forming. In your womb, your baby has already become active swimming around inside the amniotic sac and kicking. However, he is still too small and well-cushioned by the uterus and the new amniotic fluid you would not be able to feel him yet.
The head, heart, spinal cord, and some of the larger blood vessels begin to form. As these blood vessels form, the heart begins to pump fluid through them, and your baby’s first red blood cells are created. Your baby’s brain, bladder, tongue and esophagus are also all developing and transforming, while his eyes are moving to the front of the face and his tiny eyelids are forming. By the end of this week, your baby will be approximately the size of a grain of rice, about 7-9 mm long and weighs about 1/30th of an ounce.
Dad:
You might be of the idea that you have to forget about sex for an indefinite period of time now that you’re expecting a baby. However sex is definitely not a thing of the past, it’s perfectly fine to have sex with a pregnant woman assuming there are no problems with the pregnancy. Talk to her about your feelings and desires and be equally willing to listen to hers. Most women find a dramatic increase in their libido as the second trimester approaches and the fatigue and ill feelings fade.
