9 Weeks Pregnant – What to Expect Your 9th Week of Pregnancy

by Claire October 15, 2015, 4:09 am 1k Views 36 Comments

Pregnancy author Heidi Murkoff from WhatToExpect.com and the What To Expect series spells out what’s happening during week 9 of pregnancy with your baby.

At 9 weeks pregnant, your baby has ended the embryonic stage and is entering the fetal period now (good-bye embryo, hello fetus). Your practictioner can now detect your sweet baby’s audible heartbeat.

Your baby’s not quite ready for a cap and gown, but this week, it’s graduation time, as your little one graduates from her embryonic stage and officially enters the fetal period. At about an inch long, the graduate is the size of a medium green cocktail olive. But please, hold the martini!

Baby’s heart is now both developed and large enough to be picked up by ultrasound. But if your practitioner can’t detect the thump-thump of that little ticker this week, don’t worry. It probably means your tiny target is hiding out in a far corner of your uterus or facing away from the sensor. Sometime in the next few weeks, you’ll get a listen for sure.

Your little body builder can boast the groundbreaking of some brand new organs this week. The liver, the spleen, and the gallbladder are all under construction now. The bladder and urethra separate from the developing digestive tract, and the intestines begin to move out of the umbilical cord and into the abdominal cavity, which has grown big enough to house them.

The diaphragm starts to form. It’s the muscular membrane that will separate the chest and abdomen, plus help your cutie breathe after she’s born. And though you won’t feel it yet, your baby is trying out some early moves. Tiny muscles are starting to develop, allowing your little dancer to make spontaneous reflex movements with those tiny arms and legs.

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Written by Claire

Claire is our Community Manager here at New Moms Forum. A mom of two (almost grown-up babies), Claire has been building and operating community-based websites for almost 20 years. In her downtime, Claire enjoys spending time with her family and drinking copious amounts of red wine!