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
Mood changes including anxiety can creep up on you, and it’s no surprise that pregnancy can unmask a mental condition that was unrecognized before. Now is the time to start a program to soothe the nerves. Yoga’s a fabulous de-stresser if you have time to take a class. You can get a brain fog during pregnancy. So, it’s a good idea to schedule regular exercise and talk to other women who have been through pregnancy. Now, you may be noticing a strange dark line running down the middle of your body from the belly button. It’s called the ‘lineanigra’ or dark line.
Some women (more often darker-skinned ones) notice discoloration on the face too, especially in the area around the nose, forehead, cheeks, and eyes. It’s called the mask of pregnancy because it appears as a mask-like configuration on the face.
Don’t worry – all these skin discolorations will fade within a few months after delivery.
And the darned insomnia is maddening. Try putting pillows between your legs and lie on your left side with a pillow wedged under a small part of the back so that you are neither on your back or wholly on your side. It’s a favorite technique that nurses use in the Labor suite.
Baby Development
No matter what color the skin will be at one month of age, all babies have red skin at this point. Studies show that she or he likes music and classical ranks the highest. Loud noises won’t bother the baby inside of the uterus which makes researchers believe that’s why they do not cry when these noises occur once born. The lungs continue to develop with little breathing sacs that grow up around small tubes like pieces of cotton. The production of lung enzymes starts now so that once the baby is born, the air sacs can expand and not burst. Right now, they are bathed in fluid so there is no risk and of course, there’s no air, either. Either way, they practice breathing inside the uterus and is one-way doctors measure how mature the infant is when the baby gets closer to term. It’s called a biophysical profile, and it is an ultrasound test measures the amount of amniotic fluid, fetal movements, fetal muscle tone such as opening and closing the hand to make a fist, breaths per minute, and heart rate. It is not commonly performed in the majority of pregnancies.
Pregnancy Nutrition Week 6
If you realize that you’ve indulged a little too much during pregnancy, don’t panic: Lots of women have that “oops” moment — when they step on the scale at the beginning of the second trimester and yikes—discover that they are up 10 pounds instead of three to four pounds. Taking the “eating for two” just a tad too literally, you can’t apply what you’ve gained so far neatly to the rest of your pregnancy. Cutting back on calories isn’t a smart plan: Your baby needs a steady supply of nutrients, especially in the second and third trimesters. But you can aim to keep your gain on target for the rest of your pregnancy. Cut empty calories. Try smart substitutions: skim milk for whole or two percent; fresh fruit for dried; baked potatoes, grilled white-meat chicken with no skin for fried dark-meat with skin. Other calories that can go? Need I say, ‘sugary treats.’ Focus on efficiency. Choose foods that are big on bulk (so they fill you up and keep you filled) but low on calories: fresh vegetables and fruits (especially ones with high water content, like melon); lean poultry, meat, and fish; and oatmeal.