Pregnancy Week By Week
Tracking your pregnancy week by week is a memorable experience during each stage of fetal development including your first trimester, second trimester, and third trimester. After all, your body is perfectly designed to create and sustain new life inside your womb for nearly a year, which means that you’ll see plenty of physical and emotional changes during that period of time—all of which you can certainly count on.
A pregnant woman doesn’t just experience sudden weight gain. With pregnancy hormones raging, every aspect of your body is affected including your skin, hair, nails, uterus, hips, and even your feet.
Plus, babies grow and develop from teeny tiny embryos to full-size humans with adorable physical features like itty bitty hearts, brains, ears, fingers, and toes within a short window of time.
So who wouldn’t want to learn more about pregnancy with all of that exciting business taking place?
Ready for a new dopamine rush? Here is what you can expect at 9 weeks pregnant:
9 Weeks Pregnant
Congratulations! You’re 9 weeks pregnant now. While still considered to be in a stage of early pregnancy, you’re finally hit your third month of pregnancy, and boy, does that feel good.
Hormonal changes are taking place each and every day with hCG, estrogen, and progesterone working their magic to keep baby’s development trucking along.
Measuring in at about 1 inch long and just under an ounce, your baby is about the size of a green olive right now. You could also say that baby is the size of a strawberry, the size of a cherry, or the size of a peanut too. It doesn’t get any cuter than that!
And while you may not feel like you’re on top of the world physically at the moment, rest assured this is perfectly normal and something you should definitely discuss with your healthcare provider at your first prenatal visit.
A healthy pregnancy looks different from one experience to the next, so talk to your doctor or midwife about what’s happening inside at the moment, how you’re feeling, and what recommendations you should know about from respected health organizations around the world. Bloating is normal, heartburn is normal, and feeling a little sad is normal too. But sometimes, it takes a professional to tell you that these things are entirely normal for you to feel some sense of relief.
Pregnancy Symptoms
Many moms-to-be notice symptoms and body changes during week 9 that they may not have experienced before now. Your baby at 9 weeks is bigger than your little one at 5 weeks pregnant, say, and this means that you’ve had many more weeks to feel the effects of pregnancy hormones coursing through your body—and wreaking havoc on how you feel along the way.
Around week 9 of pregnancy, the symptoms you may notice most include:
• Fatigue
• Bloating and gas
• Constipation
• Frequent urination
• Heartburn and indigestion
• Food cravings and food aversions
• Heightened sense of smell
• Nausea and vomiting
Thankfully, the more you learn about pregnancy, the more you realize that there are several things you can do to lessen the effects of symptoms when you’re around 9 weeks pregnant. For example, avoiding spicy and greasy foods, drinking lots of water, using warm or cold compresses, taking more trips to the bathroom, and eating smaller meals throughout the day can all help you whenever you might be feeling off.
It’s also important to check with your healthcare provider to learn about medications that are safe to take while you’re pregnant.
Baby Development at 9 Weeks
If there’s one thing we can say about baby at week 9, it’s that baby is growing. And it’s not just their size we’re talking about either.
This week your little one’s muscles are beginning to develop, tiny taste buds are starting to line their tongue, and their eyelids are fully visible—even though their eyes will remain fused shut for quite some time. Plus, their teeth are starting to form under the gumline. The better with to eat, my dear.
At this stage in the game, baby’s heart is beating very fast and can easily be detected on a Doppler, but their heartbeat will naturally slow down in the coming weeks. Moreover, their digestive system continues to develop and so too do their urinary, nervous, and reproductive systems among other things.
And after months of limb buds giving them that T-rex look, your little sweetie now has fully developed arms and legs to call their own. While they are still fused together, clear fingers and toes are visible and continuing to grow.
If you haven’t done so yet, now’s the time to buy a comfy body pillow and get some added rest. The baby in your belly has already accomplished so much, but they still have a long way to go. And you’ll need the extra energy to help them get there.
Pregnant Belly at 9 Weeks
If you’ve had a pregnancy in the past, are pregnant with twins, or you’re just one of the lucky ones, this week may mark the first time you see a baby bump starting to take shape. Morning sickness may have you down, but seeing your cute stomach rounding out can certainly elevate your mood and bring some excitement back into your life.
Once you’re there, wearing your regular clothes may become a thing of the past as maternity clothes start to take over your closet.
Boy or a Girl
Nowadays, you don’t have to wait until baby arrives to have a gender reveal. While your little one isn’t developed enough to accurately guess just yet, in as early as two short weeks, gender can be determined with a more than 70% accuracy rate.
That’s not to say that some blood tests or ultrasounds don’t check for gender from week 6 onwards. They certainly do. It’s just that the success rate of predicting goes up significantly in week 11.
