In the 9th week, your baby moves from being an embryo to a full-fledged fetus. The tail at the back which used to give it a tadpole appearance would be gone this week. Apart from this, there would be many other important developments this week. If you didn’t have your prenatal appointment last week, you might have one this week. If you haven’t fixed one already, make sure that you get in touch with your obstetrician as soon as possible so that the professionals can ensure that everything is alright with you as well as the baby.
As for the symptoms, there won’t be much of a difference from what you went through last week. But on the physical front, you might start noticing that your breasts are getting larger and you’ve started putting on some weight. While the breasts might have started growing a couple weeks ago, you’ll finally start noticing the growth. Similarly, the areolas and the nipples would grow too. This is happening due to the hormones that are trying to prepare your breasts for lactation. Do not worry as this completely normal.
This might also be the right time to think about your maternity leave if you are a working woman and start budgeting for the baby. As the belly is yet to grow considerably, you might still be able to move easily and you should try to make good use of this freedom to get a lot of important tasks done. Here is what else you should expect from the 9th week of your pregnancy.
Baby’s Development in the 9th Week
As mentioned above, your baby would drop its tail this week and would look more human than ever. By the 9th week, the baby is as big as 1-inch or the size of an olive. Most of the major organs have been developed already and they’d just go through a lot of fine-tuning to ensure that they look and function like they should when it’s time for the delivery.
Another important development this week is the formation of tiny muscles. However, it is just the beginning of a process that would last several weeks. So, you won’t really start feeling the punches and kicks until a few weeks more. Apart from this, the heart of your baby is now neatly divided into four different chambers and within a couple of weeks; it’d also have tiny valves.
Even the external genital of your baby would start developing this week. There will be a very tiny bud between the legs which would gradually turn into a penis or clitoris. But if you want to know the gender of your baby, you’d have to wait until the mid-pregnancy ultrasound which takes place between the 16th-20th-week.
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Physical Changes in Women in the 9th Week
When you are 9 weeks pregnant, you start putting on a bit of weight. Your belly has grown a little and you’ll start finding it difficult to get into your favorite skirts and jeans. If you are pregnant with twins, which can be confirmed with the ultrasound, the weight gain would be more. Doctors recommend that the healthy weight gain for a woman with average BMI should be about 25-30 pounds throughout the pregnancy.
But during the first trimester, you’d only gain about 3-5 pounds and the rest would happen in the remaining trimesters. If you are pregnant with twins, a gain of about 1 pound every week around the 9th week is pretty common. However, as a lot of women suffer from food aversions and morning sickness around this phase and are not really able to eat much. As a result, they are unable to put on the expected wait and some women also start losing weight. This is normal too. Just talk to your doctor about it to find an effective solution to the problem.
As discussed in the beginning, this is also the time when women generally notice their breasts are growing. You can’t really do anything about it and as a matter of fact, the hormones are actually trying to help you by preparing the breasts for feeding. Just look for bigger and more comfortable bras to accommodate the breasts. You can also find adjustable maternity bras which a lot of women prefer during pregnancy.
Symptoms of 9th Week Pregnancy
As you are getting close to the ending of your first trimester, the hormone levels in your body are at its peak. As a result, the symptoms can be pretty severe for a lot of women, especially for ones who are pregnant with twins. Some common symptoms in the 9th week of pregnancy are as follows-
- Morning sickness
- Mood swings
- Tiredness
- Frequent urination
- Headaches
- Gas and bloating
- Heartburn
- Constipation
9th Week Pregnancy Ultrasound
If you didn’t have your prenatal appointment last week, you might have it this week. It’d involve a number of blood and urine tests along with an ultrasound where you’d finally be able to see your baby for the first time. While it doesn’t look much like a human baby, things will change significantly from now to your mid-pregnancy ultrasound.