Welcome to the Pregged pregnancy week-by-week series. Each week-by-week post is separated into three handy sections.
1. Mom – Section one covers the changes mom will experience and the things she may need to consider health-wise.
2. Baby – Section two looks at the development of the fetus and what’s going on with baby inside the womb.
3. Nutrition – Section three covers nutrition for each week of pregnancy so that you know what foods are important to include in your diet at each stage.
6 WEEKS PREGNANT – MOM
Even though you can’t see any outward physical signs of pregnancy, you can definitely feel pregnant inside. Every ‘body’ system is affected by the hormones of pregnancy—your bowels, your skin, your brain, your heart, your kidneys, and most importantly your uterus. Either the organ works harder to get the job done like the kidneys and heart or it acts out and slows down—like the gastrointestinal tract. The intestines come to a screeching stop and that causes bloat, constipation, hemorrhoids, and a bunch of weird noises. The key to minimize these issues is to drink plenty of water and increase your fiber intake. As the little fetus grows inside, it also lives in a little sac of water that the placenta supplies. It’s called the gestational sac in early pregnancy, then amniotic sac later on—but everybody calls it a ‘bag of water’. It keeps the baby’s skin soft and hydrated and cushions the umbilical cord so that your baby can float around like he or she is in outer space.
Baby Development
This is a crucial week as are the next six because this is the make or break period when most losses occur. Early pregnancies are full of complex interactions of maternal hormones, the placenta, and the rapid formation of organs. Do not worry, though. If there’s a heartbeat now, you are in a great situation, but it’s a good idea to wait until 12-14 weeks before telling the whole world about your contribution to the human race. The heartbeat cannot be heard with a doppler stethoscope, but it can be heard and seen on an ultrasound. It looks like the entire tiny baby is beating, but that’s just due to the sound waves bouncing off a small object creating visual signals akin to fireworks. It is going very fast, twice as fast as an adult—more like a little mouse heartbeat. The brain is growing quickly, and brain waves can be detected while the eyes and nostrils are starting to form with small coverings for protection. The skin is see-through, and if you were actually able to see up close, little lung buds and intestines start their formation while the entire embryo is only a quarter of an inch
Pregnancy Nutrition Week 6
Morning sickness is not just in the mornings! Here’s some help for every woman coping with nausea during pregnancy.
Eat early even before you get out of bed. Keep crackers by the bedside with some water. Morning sickness is a 24/7 problem. In fact, nausea is most likely to strike when you’re running on empty, and hungry after a good night’s sleep.
Eat before going to bed by eating a light snack high in protein and complex carbs to keep your blood sugar steady all night.
Eat six to eight small meals throughout the day rather than three bigger meals because once you feel hunger pains, you’ll likely to feel yucky.