9 weeks pregnant: what is happening this week

Twenty-two millimetres - strawberry territory, and up from sixteen a week ago. The eyes have eyelids and are starting to take on colour. Hands and feet have formed with grooves marking where the fingers and toes will separate. The major organs are all under construction at once: heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, gut, and the beginnings of bone. Externally, the changes are small and specific. Breasts are noticeably bigger by now for most people and the waist has started to thicken, neither of which is a bump and both of which are noticeable to the person they are happening to. A word about the emotional side, because week nine is often where it lands hardest. The symptoms are at their peak, the scan has not happened, and most people have told almost nobody - which means carrying something significant in private while performing normality at work. That combination is difficult and it is not a sign that anything is wrong. If low mood or anxiety is persistent rather than passing, the NHS asks people to raise it with a midwife or GP, and mental health is a standard part of what the booking appointment covers rather than an awkward addition to it.