Week 9: Natural foods to boost energy at work
Nothing much might change for you this week but lots is still going on for Baby as they continue to change with every new day.
Your Baby in Week 9 of Pregnancy
Baby’s fingers and toes are almost formed this week and the webbing between them is fading away, giving them a more defined appearance and the beginnings of their final structure.
Most of Baby’s essential body parts and organs exist now although there is a lot of fine tuning for Mother nature to do over the coming weeks and months. Most babies are about the size of a large grape this week although as we mentioned for Week 8 fetal growth will vary to a certain degree from then on.
The ‘tail’ which gave Baby a rather reptilian appearance is now completely gone. baby’s organs and muscles are all beginning to function as they should and there is even a little muscle building going on this week.
The face is becoming more defined this week as well. Earlobes are clearly visible and the eyes are fully formed. They are not visible however as the eyelids are completely closed and will not open again until around the 27th week.
Finally, the placenta is almost completely formed and ready to take over many of the hormone creating duties for the rest of the pregnancy, something that will be good news for you.
Your Body in Week 9 of Pregnancy
Many Mums to be have a small but distinct bump by now and yet in street clothes most do not look very different. The way the much talked about ‘baby bump’ develops will be different for every woman though and it may not always have a great deal to do with how much actual weight has been gained.
Possible New Pregnancy Symptoms in Week 9 of Pregnancy
Most women do not experience any earth shattering new symptoms and side effects of pregnancy this week, which is the good news. The not so good news is that you may have never felt so tired and drained in your life and for most the horrible nausea has not even begun to improve and may even seem a little bit worse.
To cope with the constant feeling of tiredness that they are fighting with many expectant Mums are tempted to use the fact that coffee is not quite off the menu (most doctor feel that a single cup a day is still OK) to order a big coffee in the middle of the day in an attempt to perk them up, the same way they might have done before they were expecting.
What they find though is that it really does not work too well at all any more and the crash they experience after the tiny little boost they get from their java fix make everything even worse.
The best natural energy booster is some form of protein. A handful of nuts is a great idea, if you can stomach them at this point.
The new one pregnancy related symptom that some women do begin to experience, which can be rather alarming, is sudden periods of light headedness. This is usually caused by the fact that all of the systems that are working hard to help Baby grow need lots and lots of extra blood to function properly and there may be days when your body is just not responding fast enough, leaving you with that light headed feeling. If this happens a great deal, or you are actually fainting away call your doctor to ask their opinion about it. If the feelings are fleeting though lie down whenever you can and if that is not possible at least put your head between your knees for a few minutes until the feeling passes.
Pregnancy Tip for Your Ninth Week – When To Spill the Beans at Work – If you are a working Mum to Be one of the big decisions you have to make in early pregnancy is when you are going to make the big reveal at work.
As is the case with telling everyone else many ladies would ideally like to wait to share the good news at work until they have passed the 12 week mark. However if you work in close proximity with others on a daily basis it is very hard to hide the fact that you have to keep rushing to the bathroom or the fact that their perfume/morning coffee/ greasy lunchtime snack is making you feel really bad.
Because so many women are members of the workforce these days many employers are far more progressive than they were about pregnancy and leave for their staff and there are legal protections in place as well that afford Mums to be some degree of job security. There are employers who use the announcement of a pregnancy as an excuse to let an employee go, even though they legally should not.
According to the Ministry of Manpower, they received an average of 96 complaints of unfair dismissal related to pregnancy between 2006 and 2011, a number that on the face of it is not too high but still higher than women’s advocates are happy with.
If you have been in your job for sometime you probably have a fairly good idea about the way your supervisors will react to the news but in a newer position it may be harder to gauge. If there are other women in the office who have had children while employed there a quiet word with them about their experience might help.
In the end though there is nothing you can – or would – do to change the situation and all you can really do is take a deep breath and announce your pregnancy. The encouraging news is that in a survey conducted by the MOM in 2010 83% of the female respondents said that their boss and coworkers’ reaction to the news that they were expecting was very positive and supportive.
For Dad – If you have already taken on some cooking duties you are to be commended, even if your partner’s changing tastes – and moods – means that your culinary efforts are not always as appreciated as you might have liked them to be. Now it is time for you to take on even more duties in the form of everyday household chores.
The fact that you voluntarily beat her to the vacuuming, ironing and other general cleaning tasks will be far more appreciated than any big bunch of flowers. Your partner is so fatigued right now that even the easiest household tasks can seem Herculean at the end of the day. any tasks you can take off her hands she will be truly grateful for, even if she does not show it.