6 Weeks Pregnant: Welcome To The Club

It’s pregnancy week 6, and here’s what to expect…

MIND:

You’re 6 weeks pregnant! Has the reality of pregnancy hit you yet, or are you in a state of total disbelief? Or maybe it depends on the hour — most pregnant women can go through mood swings with periods of extreme elation, uncontrollable sobbing and indescribable rage in less time than it takes for their partners to get home from the grocery store with that chocolate chunk ice cream they demanded for breakfast. (Pregnancy cravings hit you hard.) The emotional rollercoaster you may be on is all thanks to the increase in hormones that affects neurotransmitters which control your mood. Welcome to the club!

You’re probably also experiencing the very real symptom of “pregnancy brain.” Pregnancy brain excuses all questionable behavior until your baby arrives, and then transitions beautifully into “baby brain.” Basically? You’re dumb now. Oh, well.

BODY:

You might have already gained a little weight thanks to cravings, or maybe you lost some weight thanks to pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. (Ha! Yeah, thanks. Thanks a lot for the two-bag-per-day Doritos binges and that constant barfy feeling, pregnancy.)

There’s a 75% chance you’re suffering from morning sickness now, or will start to feel its effects in the next couple of weeks. Oh, and it’s not just morning sickness, it’s all the time sickness. If that enormous prenatal vitamin is making you feel even worse, ask your doctor if you can substitute children’s chewables with a folic acid supplement until things ease up in the second trimester. A vitamin does no good if you puke it right up!

BABY:

Your baby has tripled in size now, but is still only as big as a BB (yes, like the ones we know are WAY TOO DANGEROUS for our kids to play now, thank you very much). At six weeks, the baby is starting to take shape. Its head and adorable face are forming. The small indentations on the face will soon be eyes, ears, nose and mouth. That seems like a lot already, but internal organs are also starting to take shape like lungs, liver, kidneys and heart (which is beating at around 110 times per minute). Wow … are things really cookin’ now.

NEST:

Need some help with the pregnancy nausea? Try natural remedies like mint or acupressure wrist bands.

Read More:

7 Weeks Pregnant: Bring On The Kegels

A Guide to Your Pregnancy by Trimester

7 Actually Tasty Prenatal Vitamins That Are Not Horse Pills