Week 6 is when nausea most often turns up, and it rarely keeps to mornings. The name is one of the least accurate in medicine. Meanwhile arms, legs and ears are starting to form, all inside something the size of a pea.
Your body this week
Outwardly, nothing. Inwardly, hormones are running at a level most women feel. Nausea, exhaustion and a sense of smell that has become a liability are the three complaints of this week.
The NHS describes morning sickness as something that can happen at any time of day, though it is often worse on waking. Its practical suggestions are unglamorous and do help some women: a snack by the bed, six small meals rather than three large ones, plenty of fluids, and rest. Some find ginger useful, or ice cubes, or acupressure wristbands.
What matters more than any of those is the line where it stops being ordinary. If you cannot keep food or fluids down, that is a reason to contact a midwife or doctor rather than to endure it. ACOG describes severe, persistent nausea and vomiting in pregnancy as a condition clinicians assess and manage, not a rite of passage.
What you may notice
Alongside nausea and tiredness: a metallic taste, sore breasts, mood swings, headaches, new food likes and dislikes, a sharper sense of smell, needing to pee more often, a white milky discharge, cramping like period pain, and bloating.
Many women feel considerably better after the first trimester ends at week 12, which is a long way off when you are in the middle of week 6.
Bleeding, severe pain and one-sided pain are the three things not to wait on. Contact a service today.
Your baby this week
Around week 6, an embryo measures roughly 6mm — the NHS compares it to a pea, and notes some people think it looks like a tadpole with a small tail. The figures are averages drawn from many pregnancies rather than a description of anyone's own.
Arms and legs are appearing as limb buds. There are dents where the ears will be, a bump where the heart is, and another where the head will be. A heartbeat can sometimes be seen on a vaginal ultrasound scan at this stage, though in most systems no scan is offered this early unless there is a specific reason.
What care usually happens around now
Still nothing routine for most women. If you have had fertility treatment, an early scan may be part of your care, and if you have had an ectopic pregnancy before, guidance is usually to be seen early. Both are individual reasons rather than a general schedule, and schedules differ between countries.
This week's tip
Eat something before you get out of bed — literally before your feet touch the floor. Nausea is often worst on an empty stomach after a night's gap, and putting a packet of plain biscuits or crackers on the bedside table the night before is the version of this advice that actually works, because it does not require you to feel well enough to go to the kitchen.
When to see a doctor
Contact a midwife or GP if you cannot keep fluids down, if you are losing weight, if you feel dizzy on standing, or if you are passing very little urine. Any bleeding should be reported. Pregnancy warning signs has the full list.
Seek care now: Contact your local emergency services or go to your nearest emergency department if you have heavy bleeding, severe or one-sided tummy pain, pain in the tip of your shoulder, a severe headache with vision changes, sudden swelling of the face or hands, a fever, chest pain, trouble breathing, fainting, or a seizure. Femio cannot assess a pregnancy.
Frequently asked questions
My nausea stopped suddenly. Should I worry?
Symptoms come and go, and many women have a good day in the middle of a bad fortnight. It is not something to interpret alone either way — if it worries you, ring your midwife and say so.
Is it normal to feel sick all day?
Yes, and the name misleads people. Week 7 and week 5 cover the same stretch. If you cannot keep anything down, that is the point at which to ask for help.