I find that timescale very hard to believe, sorry, Leeneia. Are you talking about from date of conception - or as pregnancies are usually calculated, from date of last menstrual period (LMP)? Even if from conception, that would make your later date only 2 days after the first missed period. Most women who had affected babies took Thalidomide to help with pregnancy sickness, which would usually only start 10-14 days after the first missed period (or 24 -28 days from conception).
A quote from Wikipedia also (though they also do not specify which date they are starting from!)
"The severity and location of the deformities depended on how many days into the pregnancy the mother was before beginning treatment; thalidomide taken on the 20th day of pregnancy caused central brain damage, day 21 would damage the eyes, day 22 the ears and face, day 24 the arms, and leg damage would occur if taken up to day 28. Thalidomide did not damage the fetus if taken after 42 days' gestation."
I did look after a number of children with physical disabilities(Phocomelia)presumed resulting from their mothers having taken thalidomide during their pregnancies during my house surgeon job in Brighton, Sussex in 1971. The drug was withdrawn from use in the UK in 1961, but remained available in other countries until much later on.
Most of these children lived in a special home for children with such disabilities rather than in their family homes: I guess things might have been managed differently now.