As you enter your 6th week of pregnancy, you are reaching a milestone of being halfway through of your first trimester. Whew! There are 5 such phases left to go.
If you have been a woman who is proud of being in control, this could be the time to shed the pride. Your mood may spring from one extreme to other making you feel embarrassed of yourself. But don’t be; it is not you but the upheavals in the hormones that are causing all the changes in your mood and your body.
You are not alone; there are thousands of mommy-to-be around the world who share this predicament with you. Being aware of your 6th week pregnancy symptoms will make you deal with them conveniently.
The First Prenatal Visit:
Your home pregnancy test can predict your pregnancy accurately by the 6th week. You may or may not have confirmed your pregnancy with your gynaecologist yet. If you haven’t been there yet, plan for your first and very important prenatal check up sometime soon.
The visit is not just to confirm your pregnancy, but also to get some necessary and important tests done which include-
The doctors will take necessary tests to ensure that you and your baby will be safe and healthy for the next 8 months. You will have to answer all their questions honestly. If you have addictions, drink alcohol or smoke, confess about it honestly with your doctor. Do not hide information which could mislead them.
Apart from answering their questions honestly, get all the doubts you have lingering on your mind cleared by asking questions. Take your partner along with you, so that he can get answers to his own questions as well. Also, after knowing what is good for you, he will be there to help you make right decisions during your pregnancy. This would be the best time to get clear picture about how sex during pregnancy is going to affect you or your baby.
Most probably you will have to go through an ultrasound scan after the confirmation of your pregnancy. Ultrasound scan early in the pregnancy can detect ectopic pregnancy, which can be life threatening if left undetected.
You need to have a full bladder for the abdominal scanning, because it will provide a wider and deeper field of view. Anyway it would be wise to wait another week or two before going for an ultrasound scan which makes the findings more clear. Often, a scan in the 6th week will show very little of what is going in your uterus or nothing at all.
6 weeks Pregnancy Symptoms and Signs To Watch Out For:
There are no visible changes in your body yet, but internally there is huge surge of pregnancy related hormones that are changing the functions of your organs including the uterus and bladder. You may either gain as much as 5 pounds of weight by the time you step into 6th week of pregnancy, or lose some weight due to morning sickness and nausea. Both are natural occurrences which you need not worry about.
Your uterus is beginning to grow to accommodate the baby and the placenta, but it is not enough to show on the outward. Let us discuss in details some of the 6th week pregnancy symptoms but will continue for few more weeks.
1. Increased Frequency in Urination:
The increased urine output is something you can notice and feel easily, as this can be a matter of discomfort to you; especially if you have to get up in the middle of the night to relieve your bladder.
6th week of pregnancy would be just a beginning, hence you better mend your relationship with the bathroom as you are going to spend more and more time there as the pregnancy progresses.
The mother’s blood volume will expand during her pregnancy, as a result the kidneys will receive more blood flow and moreover the blood is flowing at a faster rate. The increase in volume and rate of blood flow will help better functioning of the uterus and also provides the required nourishment for the growing baby. But unfortunately, this will also increase your urine production. Take plenty of fluids, especially water to keep up with the change.
2. Congestion:
Do not panic and rush pop in pills if you feel as though you are congested or have a cold. It is nothing but the result of swollen mucus membranes which are more mucous due to the hormonal changes of pregnancy.
3. Fainting Spells or Dizziness:
During pregnancy, you are more prone to a vagal reaction, which is a neurological reaction which dilates blood vessels and decreases your blood pressure.
The cardiovascular and nervous system sometimes fails to cope with the changes in blood pressure. The lowered blood pressure decreases blood supply to your brain which may cause a temporary feeling of light-headedness or dizziness.There could be spells of fainting during this period, which will pass away.
4. Mood Swings:
You will be shocked to notice the extreme mood swings you will have during the first trimester of your pregnancy. You may begin to notice that you may feel extremely happy one moment and then start feeling extremely sad the other.
You may keep changing your attitude towards your pregnancy, thinking whether this is the right thing happening to you or not. Do not doubt yourself as a parent because of this, as this roller coaster ride of emotions is common in pregnancy due to hormonal changes occurring in you. Do not hesitate to reach out and talk to your partner or a counselor about how you feel and what you are going through. You don’t have to deal with your emotions all alone.
5. Morning Sickness:
When you are 6 weeks pregnant, morning sickness is probably the best-known and one of the worst symptom that makes its presence felt quite early. You can identify the morning sickness with the queasy feeling you have and rushing to the bathroom to throw up.
Though there is no sure way to tell what causes morning sickness, like everything else, blame it on the hormonal changes. Morning sickness is going to last you for the whole of first trimester. Fortunately, it starts to subside as your pregnancy advances. Morning sickness can appear any time of day or even in night at times. Lot of things triggers it like the smell of trash (which is natural), smell of tea brewing (now that is surprising) or even the smell of flowers. You will feel the bile rising in your throat and have instant urge to throw everything up. That is morning sickness for you.
6. Concerns about your Body:
It is not unnatural for you to start worrying about your body and worry whether motherhood is going to make you less attractive. Don’t worry about that, pregnant women oozes of graceful beauty and a mother is the most beautiful woman in the world. Practically, you may notice that today, women do not change physically after motherhood if they take proper care of themselves.
The body bounces back to normalcy after childbirth, and on top of that you have your princess to boast of. Don’t go through the guilt, if you are worried about your body, because this is again a part of pregnancy woes.
7. Changes in the Baby:
The most important development you see in your baby in the 6th week is the first movement she makes. Since the early ovum stage when she has been motionless, finally now she is able to make gentle movements that cannot be felt by you, but nevertheless they are there.
Another important change is that the gorgeous mouth, the amazing eyes, the more than perfect nose and beautiful ears of your little princess, which you will not stop admiring in future, are developing in your womb at this moment. Don’t be too excited to have a look at your baby, because all the beautiful features are just taking shape at the moment. She still looks like a tadpole but the tail is not as long now as it was in the 5th week.
The eyes and nose appear just like dark spots on the head that is oversized. The ears instead of protruding outwards appear like a depression at the sides of the head where as the arms and legs look like tiny buds. The neural tube, connecting the brain and spinal cord, closes at this time forming brain at one end and spinal cord on the other.
The rate of your baby’s heartbeat will be more than double of your own. The heart beats somewhere between 100-160 times every minute, pumping blood inside the tiny body. There are tiny lesions which will later develop into lungs, pancreas, liver and intestines. Finally, by the end of 6 weeks of pregnancy, the embryo develops from a layered disc to adopt a C-shaped curvature. It is now fast changing into a curved body form with a head and tail.
8. Size Of The Baby:
The approximate CRM measurement of the baby is somewhere in between 1/5th – 1/4th of an inch or 2-4mm, which is about the size of a small pea or lentil. The shape is yet to resemble a human baby, though the head and torso are fast forming now.
Care and Tips:
Take care of health and avoid situations that will make you sick. Even if you have followed hygienic habits earlier, this is the time to take extra precautions. You don’t want to be sick in addition to suffering from morning sickness; moreover, it could harm the development of your baby.
For Dads to Be:
Take active part in the prenatal visit your partner will have with the doctor this week. Pay attention to what the gynaecologist is saying about taking care of your partner during her pregnancy. If you have any doubts or worries about 6th week pregnancy symptoms & signs your wife is showing, then discuss them with your doctor.
Most of the time, it will be nothing more than the normal changes taking place during pregnancy. This is the time when your partner is feeling insecure and vulnerable both physically and emotionally. Assure her that you are going to walk with her in every step she takes in the journey of parenthood.
Do not hesitate to rub her back, or bring her a glass of water when she is going through terrible morning sickness if you are around. It will mean a lot to her and will assure her that everything is going to be OK.
Hope you will follow all these useful tips, when you are 6 weeks pregnant. Be smart, remember that you’re staying healthy for two now.
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