Week 9
At around 2cm long your baby is able to move around, turn their head, curl their toes and open and close their mouth. Their arms and legs are developing quickly and their fingers are slowly separating. Although not yet functioning, eyelids are forming, ears are growing and tooth buds are continuing to develop.
If you haven't visited your doctor, now's a good time to book an appointment to let them know you're pregnant.
All of your baby's growth and development is fuelled by the oxygen you’re supplying to your baby. If you’re a smoker, the amount of oxygen your baby is getting is reduced as other harmful chemicals contained in the cigarette smoke you’re inhaling take its place. Stopping smoking now will not only improve your health, but it will give your baby the best chance of developing without any health issues. Your doctor will be able to offer you help, or you could visit smokefree.nhs.uk to find out more.
It’s also important to stick to a healthy diet during pregnancy, which means knowing which foods to eat and which foods to avoid. Some foods can harm your baby and come with a risk of making you ill.
The following foods could make you ill as they risk giving you food poisoning:
- Raw or undercooked eggs; that includes any food that are made from them too (such as mayonnaise, certain ice cream and some home-made mousses)
- Rare and undercooked meat, fish and chicken
- Steak tartare, smoked salmon and sushi or foods which contain raw meat and fish
Foods which contain elements that could harm your baby:
- Unpasteurised milk, cheese or yogurt
- Liver or liver products such as pate both carry a risk of listeria and may contain high levels of vitamin A which can harm your baby.
- Swordfish, marlin and shark can contain mercury which can harm your baby’s developing nervous system and should be avoided. Oily fish such as mackerel, tuna, sardines and trout may also contain small amounts of toxins but these fish also provide a healthy range of nutrients so should be included in your diet in moderate amounts – that's why you’re advised to limit these to two portions a week.
Remember, if you’re not sure if something is safe to eat, you can always check with our team of pregnancy advisors by calling 0800 996 1000 anytime, or try our confidential instant messaging service, Live Chat, available Monday to Friday between the hours of 8am and 8pm.
PREVIOUS WEEK
nearing the end of week 9, week 10 begins tomorrow :) my 1st pregnancy, been lucky with just on and off nausea, no vomiting, weeks 3-7 absolutely exhausted!! feel like falling asleep at work! i've been drinking peppermint tea and eating ginger biscuits in the morning, found my nausea is worse on an empty stomach, mood swings were worse at 2-4 weeks, been fine since. 1st meeting with midwife tomorrow and hopefully get a scan date soon x
20 February 2011 16:43