Your week 9 guide

The digestive tract has formed and the small tail-like extension at the base of the spine is disappearing. That tail is a normal, temporary feature of early development that shortens and is absorbed as the spine and pelvis take shape. Its disappearance is one of the visible markers of the shift from embryo to fetus.

Bones and muscles are developing enough to allow small bends and movements. Cartilage is beginning to be replaced by bone in some places, and muscle fibres are attaching across the newly forming joints. The result is real movement of arms and legs, still far too faint for you to feel through the uterine wall.

Facial features are becoming more distinct. The eyes have formed but are still positioned toward the sides of the head and are covered by fused eyelids, and the nose, upper lip and tiny external ears are emerging. The face at this stage looks more like a sketch of a face than a portrait, and it changes noticeably every week.

Nausea, exhaustion, mood swings, cravings and food aversions may still be at their strongest. For most women hCG peaks somewhere between nine and eleven weeks, which is often when sickness is at its worst. Knowing there is usually a downward slope after this point does not fix today, but it does mean the current stretch is unlikely to be permanent.

Increased blood volume can make veins more visible, particularly across your chest and breasts. Your circulating blood volume is already climbing toward the substantial increase it reaches later in pregnancy. Blue lines appearing under the skin are a sign of that expansion rather than anything to treat.

Bloating may make your clothes feel tight well before there is a real bump. Slowed digestion and trapped wind account for most of it, which is why it is worse in the evening and better on waking. It can be disheartening to look bloated rather than pregnant, but this stage does pass into something more clearly recognisable.

Find out what happens at upcoming appointments and what screening you will be offered. First-trimester screening is usually offered in a specific window, and the choices involved are easier to think about before you are sitting in the room. Screening is always optional, and understanding what a test can and cannot tell you is the point of asking early.

Keep one running list of symptoms and questions rather than trying to remember. Patterns matter to your midwife, and a note of when something started and how often it happens is far more useful than a general impression. It also spares you from the familiar experience of remembering everything on the walk back to the car.

Keep taking your prenatal vitamin and eat whatever safe food you can tolerate. If the vitamin itself is making you sick, taking it at night or with food often helps, and a folic-acid-only tablet is sometimes a reasonable temporary option. Ask before dropping it altogether rather than quietly stopping. InshaAllah, asking about a more manageable supplement routine can take one worry off your list.

Work with your senses: Strong smells, hot food and rich or fatty meals worsen nausea for many women. Cold or room-temperature foods give off less aroma and are often easier to face.

Foods or drinks containing ginger help some women with mild nausea. Check with a pharmacist, midwife or doctor before using concentrated ginger supplements or herbal products in pregnancy, because a strong supplement is not the same as ginger in food and herbal preparations are not regulated in the way medicines are.