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4 Weeks Pregnant
 The Baby The dot in your belly now measures 1 millimeter. It's dividing very rapidly and beginning to show some structure already. The young embryo is busy creating the placenta and umbilical cord, followed by the spinal cord and then the brain. In a week, work on the gastrointestinal organs will start.In the meantime, another group of cells is in the process of creating the amnion and chorion. Next to the miniscule fetus, there's a cavity filled with amniotic fluid. A membrane, the amnion, covers the fetus and fluid. Wrapped around it is another membrane, the chorion. On the outside of the chorion are miniscule fingerlike structures which reach out from the chorion and tap into the mother's circulation. When your baby is born, the inner and outer membranes are touching one another.In case you are expecting twins, there can be two embryos (from two fertilized egg cells), each with their own amnion and chorion: fraternal twins. Or if you're pregnant with identical twins, they could share one outer (chorion) and one inner (amnion) membrane. That is, if the division takes place after day 8. This rarely happens, though. Most commonly, the embryo divides between the third and eighth day after the impregnation. In that case, the embryos will each have their own amnion but they share the outer membrane. If the division takes place within 3 days after the impregnation, each embryo will have its own amnion, chorion and placenta, just like with fraternal twins but in this case these originate from one egg cell. Therefore, the children will be each other's spitting image. And they'll always be either 2 boys or 2 girls.
 MotherAfter a few days of tension and being late with your period, some new sensations may give you an indication that you might be pregnant. What is it you might notice?
- Breast changes; the same feeling you experience shortly before you have your period, but a little bit more intense than that. Your breasts may feel heavy, tingly, sensitive, or uncomfortable.
- A bit (and sometimes a lot more than a bit) of nausea; different from what you'd feel if you have a hangover or the flu. Sometimes only in the morning, and sometimes constant.
- A tired, heavy feeling, primarily in your stomach, but also a weird feeling - you may just feel different than usual.
- Easily irritated
- More visits to the bathroom
- Red palms
- More vaginal discharge
- Snoring, as a result of your nose's swollen mucous membranes
- A 'different', slightly more smoothly shaped face
You may experience any or all of these discomforts or none of them, but these signs in addition to the fact that your period is late indicate you might be pregnant. You could do a pregnancy test, but may also decide to wait a few more days. In the meantime, you're racking your brain about when and how to bring the exciting news to your partner. And what will your parents think about becoming Grandpa and Grandma (again)?
Brother / SisterMom doesn't have breakfast with you. She doesn't even come downstairs to make your sandwiches, but just stays in bed with a cup of tea and a cracker. Does she have the flu? It's not fair, you had to take the school bus, in the pouring rain. Well, yesterday Dad gave you a ride, that was kind of fun, but why was that? Is something going on or does Mom just have the flu? If it was something else they would tell you, wouldn't they? You decide to discuss what to do. Maybe for now it's best to wait and see.In the meantime, you guys daydream about getting a new brother or sister. Maybe that'll be fun after all. It'll be exciting to do fun things with the baby and teach him about your world. You're quite big already. Maybe you can even stay home for a while to help Mom. Hey, daydreaming about a new baby is not too bad after all.
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Once you decide to tell your children that there's a baby on the way, you may be tempted to explain away any new symptoms on the growing baby. Your older kids may, through their own logic, decide that the baby is making mommy sick, and start to resent the baby. After the baby is born, they may treat the baby negatively since in their minds, he was responsible for mommy throwing up and not being able to play with them.You could say "I have some new hormones (or body chemicals) in my body that are making me feel bad." |
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