First trimester
6 weeks pregnant
The embryo is around the size of a lentil and growing fast. If you have an early scan this week, a heartbeat is often visible — though not seeing one yet is common and usually just means it is early.
Size of
lentil
Length
4 mm
Weight
< 0.01 g
Your baby at 6 weeks
The heart is now beating at roughly 100 to 160 beats per minute, considerably faster than an adult heart. On an early ultrasound it appears as a rapid flicker.
The face is beginning to form: dark spots mark where the eyes will be, and small depressions indicate the nostrils and ears. The arm and leg buds lengthen and start to show paddle-like ends that become hands and feet.
The neural tube has closed and the brain is dividing into its major regions.
How you may be feeling
Symptoms typically intensify this week. Nausea, fatigue, and breast tenderness are often at their most noticeable, and the heightened sense of smell many people describe can make ordinary environments difficult.
Emotionally this stretch is frequently underestimated. You are managing significant physical symptoms while usually not telling anyone, with nothing visible to explain why you feel the way you do.
Common symptoms around week 6
- Nausea and vomiting, often peaking around now
- Exhaustion that interferes with normal activity
- A sense of smell that makes previously neutral things intolerable
- Mood swings, which are hormonal and extremely common
- Mild cramping and a bloated feeling
Appointments and tests around now
An early dating scan may be offered around weeks 6 to 9, particularly if your cycles are irregular, you have had previous pregnancy loss, or you are experiencing pain or bleeding.
What is normal, and what varies
Not seeing a heartbeat at six weeks is often simply a matter of dates. A scan a week or ten days later usually resolves it, and being asked to come back is not in itself bad news.
Worth doing this week
Keep something bland by the bed
Many people find eating a plain biscuit or cracker before getting up reduces morning nausea, because it prevents the stomach being completely empty.
Tell at least one person
Managing this stretch entirely alone is harder than it needs to be. One person who knows why you are exhausted makes a real difference.
Expect the smell thing
Heightened smell is one of the stranger early symptoms. Identifying your specific triggers and avoiding them is more effective than trying to tolerate them.
Looking ahead
Next week the embryo roughly doubles in size and distinct fingers begin to appear.
Nearby weeks
Not sure which week you are in? The week tracker works it out from the first day of your last period, and the due date calculator gives you an estimated due date.