6 weeks pregnant

weeks pregnant
You are now six weeks pregnant (or in your seventh week if that's how you prefer to count it).



How your baby's growing

By the end of the week, your baby is about the size of a small bean. If you could see inside yourself, you'd find a large head and dark spots where the eyes and nostrils are beginning to form. The emerging ears are marked and the arms and legs look like protruding buds. The hands and feet are shaped like paddles, and fingers are beginning to form even now. The heart has divided into the right and left chambers and is beating about 150 times a minute - roughly twice the rate of an adult heart. Read more information on your baby's development this week.

Go to our early pregnancy resource centre.



Want to know what happens next week?
You could have this information sent straight to your inbox. Sign up here.


How your life's changing

The outside world won't see any sign of the dramatic developments taking place inside you but tiredness and nausea can make you feel low, especially as you may not have told anyone at work that you're pregnant yet. To compensate, offload as much as you can at home and involve your partner in your pregnancy at the same time. Try to prioritise rest and see your GP if sickness is making your life miserable or if you really can't keep anything down. Distraction can help - have a think about the sort of antenatal care and birth you'd like, you do have some choice in the matter - find out more.

You may have thought that disturbed nights start when the baby has arrived, but many women find their sleep is disrupted right from the start of pregnancy. Sometimes the cause is physical - your growing uterus puts pressure on your bladder necessitating trips to the loo throughout the night. Or perhaps sore boobs mean that you can't get comfortable or you wake up in need of a midnight feast. Follow our basics of good sleep to help you get a decent night's rest.



Parent tip: breakfast of champions

"I was worried about my vitamin intake as I was very sick in the mornings, so my doctor suggested eating a bowl of vitamin-fortified cereal at night." A. G.
Share your tips!



Community

Sadly many women lose their baby in the early stages of pregnancy. If this happens to you, why not visit our coping with miscarriage message board for support and advice from others who have been through this too.



Things to consider

Cravings! Try to satisfy them without binging on junk food by choosing healthy nibbles, such as celery and carrot sticks, hummus, melon and mango.

Looking for an alternative exercise class? Why not try low impact aerobics or have a one-to-one session on weight training.

Why many pregnant women get constipation and the steps to take to avoid it.

Need to buy bigger bras to support your rapidly expanding bust? Find out why you may be better off avoiding under-wired bras during pregnancy