Your baby, your body, your partner and the prenatal visit, plus tips for the 9th week of pregnancy.

Your baby

By the 9th week, cartilage is forming and bones are growing. Baby is forming the skeleton that s/he will use to stand, walk, and run later in life. Eye structure is progressing and the tongue is beginning to develop. Intestines have formed in the umbilical cord, but are now moving out of the cord and into the baby’s abdomen. Fingers and toes continue to lengthen but are still webbed. The fetus weighs about one gram. Multiples continue to grow at the same rate as singlets.

9-week fetus on ultrasound

Your body 

You have now missed your second period, and your breasts are growing larger by the day. Milk ducts are growing in preparation for feeding the baby after birth. Indigestion may be a problem starting in the 9th week. Hormones can be hard on the body and the digestive system seems to take a hard hit during the latter weeks of the first trimester.

At the prenatal visit

A cell-free DNA blood test can be done as early as the 9th pregnancy weeks but also, later on, to check for Down syndrome and other chromosome anomalies. The cell-free DNA test is a screening test, not a diagnostic test. It provides risks for certain conditions but does not make a definite diagnosis.

Your partner

Although intercourse is safe during all stages of pregnancy, it is important to consider how your pregnant partner is feeling. It is common to feel sick, tired, and sore during this stage of pregnancy. Remember, there are other ways to maintain closeness and intimacy as a couple.

Tips for this week

—Keep eating crackers and small meals throughout the day if morning sickness is sticking around.

—If dad is trying to be intimate, understand that he does not feel the physical changes of pregnancy, and may not understand what you are going through. On the flip side, if you are not in the mood that’s perfectly okay, too. Communication is everything.

—Weight gain will start soon, if it hasn’t already, so make sure to eat a balanced meal plan rich in folic acid and keep taking those vitamins.