Pregnancy Week By Week : 6 Weeks Pregnant - What To Expect

Hi, mommies! You have sailed well into your first trimester and now there is no doubt about your pregnancy. Your little one is taking a prominent shape and is growing quite fast. Your morning sickness may be getting worse, but hold on for a few weeks more and you will begin to enjoy this journey! Let us now see all the things that are happening to your baby and to you during the 6th week of your pregnancy.

Baby Development

Finally, your baby is forming a visible shape. You may have been asked to take an ultrasound scan by your gynecologist to check the growth pattern of the little one. Here are the changes your baby would undergo at this stage:

Something of a head: The tiny indiscernible mass of cells is slowly differentiating into the head and body. The folds of tissues that have been forming on top of the head are helping to give the head a rounded shape.

Ears and nose development: These parts are forming now and the ultrasound will be able to pick them up in form of tiny black dots. Though not fully formed yet, you can easily make out the shape. The nostrils are also developing and you will be able to see the fully formed nose in a few days.

Mouth cavity: A mouth cavity is developing though the lips are yet to take shape. But you can at least figure out the place where the development is taking place.

Facial framework: It is still quite early for a fully developed facial structure in the 6th week of your pregnancy, but the tissue cluster at the top of your baby's so-called bodily form is structuring into the jaw, chin, and cheeks.

A functional heart: The scan of the tiny living baby inside your womb will now clearly show a beating heart pumping blood. You will be excited to hear prominent heartbeats ranging between 100 to 140 beats per minute.

Liver, lungs, and kidney: These organs have begun to take shape and in a few weeks time you will be able to see their shapes in the ultrasound photos.

The size of your little one: Honestly, it is sort of difficult to get an exact measurement of your baby at this stage because the top and bottom ends of your baby are undergoing developmental activities and the stumps that will form the arms and legs are quite bent. But to give you a fair idea you baby is roughly the size of a sweet pea.

Body Changes & Common Symptoms

A pregnant body will undergo several changes throughout the 40-week journey. This is just the 6th week and you are already feeling irritable, moody, and racing to the bathroom every now and then. These are pretty much the only visible changes that you will experience right now as there is no baby bump as yet. Want to know all that is happening to you internally? Read on to find out.

Blood flow in your pelvic area

If you have been feeling increased bladder pressure in the last few days, blame it on the human growth hormone, HCG. This hormone is rapidly pushing blood in your pelvic area thereby creating a pressure on your bladder. But it is a good thing because the HCG is critical to the sustenance of your pregnancy.

Sudden increase in your libido

After all the nausea and vomiting, you wouldn't think of sexual pleasures? Right? Wrong. The increase in hormonal activities in your body may often lead to an increased libido and you would have a sudden urge for conjugal activities.
Kidney efficiency: At this stage, your kidneys have become extra efficient in getting rid of your body wastes to cleanse toxicity in your system. This also a adds to the reason for your frequent trips to the washroom.

Uterus growth

As your baby is growing inside the womb, the uterus is also making space to accommodate its needs for the soon-to-occur movements. This growing uterus starts pushing down the bladder, affecting the latter's capability to store urine. With limited space for urine storage, it becomes important (and inconvenient) for you to relieve yourself every now and then.

Disturbances in the stomach

No matter how careful you are about your eating habits at this stage, it is likely that you will be tortured by acid reflux and heartburn during the next few months. For some women, it is not so frequent but for many, it is an acute case. This happens because of progesterone, a hormone produced by the placenta. In addition to relaxing the smooth muscles of the uterus, it also ends up relaxing the muscle in the upper part of the stomach which results in gastric acid seeping back into the esophagus causing the burning sensation in your digestive tract.

Health Tips

Here are the health tips for this week:

• As mentioned in the earlier week, it is advisable to stop the consumption of mercury rich seafood such as swordfish and sharks.
• Don't contain your seafood craving as it is completely safe to have well-cooked shellfish and other river fish.
• Salmonella poisoning can affect you and your baby's health if you are not careful about consuming certain kinds of foods. To avoid the chances of a salmonella outbreak in your system, avoid unhygienic places to eat. This bacteria is commonly found in raw meat, eggs, and poultry. Make sure that you avoid cold cuts and undercooked food during the tenure of your pregnancy.
• Don't remain hungry. Your appetite may have suffered because of the nausea and morning sickness but you should never remain in an empty stomach as it may aggravate your discomfort. Try to break your meals into smaller portions and keep eating a little throughout the day. If you are a working woman, pack smaller boxes containing dry fruits, cucumber, carrots, and sprouts. These are not only healthy food options at this stage but will also keep your taste buds happy.

Some women tend to gain weight during this time and some lose weight due to the vomiting and nausea. In either case, there is no need to worry. Keep taking your nutrition supplements as prescribed by your doctor, eat healthy (no, you don't have to eat for two people now) and try to keep yourself relaxed.