Women experiencing unplanned pregnancies come to True Care to find out about their pregnancy options, get resources, and confirm the viabilty of their pregnancies.

Viabilty means we can see a baby with a heart beat in the mom’s uterus.  Many of our patients are suprised to see a heart beating in the 5th week of pregnancy.  The heart starts beating at 5 weeks 1 day, however, the tiny embryo still is too small for us to see on our ultrasound equipment until around 5 weeks 4 days.  At 8 weeks the little one start to move.  By the end of the 12th week all of the important body systems such as the circulatory, respiratory and reproductive systems are there as well as all of his or her organs. Baby is bouncing around, however, mom won’t usually feel a first baby move until 19 weeks. The growth and development of these tiny humans is amazing.  Here are some images of little ones at different stages of development in the first trimester.

This little one is in the late 5th week. By the time we can see the baby, we can also see the tiny heart beating. The ring is called a yolk sac and the little embryo is on the left side in this image…Like a little daimond on a ring.  At 5 weeks 5 days into a pregnancy, the embryo measures 2mm.

The embryo grows at a very fast rate.  In the 6th week, you can see how much bigger the baby already is compared to the yolk sac.

Here are a pair of twins in the 7th week. Both had heart beats and mom was very suprised.  A twin pregnancy has some increased risks.  It is very important for these moms to get into prenatal care right away.

In the 8th week, the little one already has arms and legs and begins to do an occasional little wiggle.

Here you can see the profile of a baby in the 9th week.  These babies are fairly active, moving and waving their arms and legs. Most people watching the ultrasound can now make out the head, limbs, and body fairly easily.

Here is a front view of a baby in the 10th week.  The face is to the left.  You can see the eyes and a little of the mouth and the arms coming up by the face.  Many moms are shocked to see how much the baby is moving in the 10th week because they can’t feel it yet.

12 weeks…Yay! Finally we have come to the end of the 1st trimester. Hopefully the morning (all day) sickness begins to fade soon.  You can see the profile of this baby (called a fetus after 11 weeks).  All the important systems are present and just need time to develop and mature.

As you can see, the unborn develop significantly duirng the first trimester. Ultrasound is an amazing window into the womb!