10 weeks pregnant

Your baby at 10 weeks

Pregnancy is counted from the first day of your last period, and ACOG explains that the first two of those weeks come before conception. So at 10 weeks your baby has been developing for about eight weeks, and today it is a kumquat in the comparison this page uses.

ACOG's week-by-week guide groups weeks 9 to 12 together. Inside that band, the kidneys start making urine, the pancreas begins to produce insulin and the liver is under development. Fingernails form. The cartilage that will become the arms, legs, hands and feet is in place, though it will not harden into bone for a few more weeks. The eyelids exist but stay shut, and the genitals are starting to form. Most of the body plan is already drawn; the coming weeks are about fine detail and rapid growth.

The size figure needs a little explanation. Before about 14 weeks there is no usable weight standard, because a baby this small is measured by length rather than weighed. A scan measures crown–rump length, the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the torso, and the number is also used to date the pregnancy. The INTERGROWTH-21st standard (Papageorghiou and colleagues, 2014) puts the middle value at exactly 10 weeks at 32.6 mm, with 23.8 mm at the 3rd centile and 41.4 mm at the 97th. That is a wide band, because babies grow quickly in these weeks and a difference of a few days in dating shifts the number noticeably.

ACOG says a first-trimester ultrasound is not the standard exam, because many limbs and organs are still too small to see in detail. An early scan is mainly used to check how far along you are and how many babies there are, and it can be part of screening. The detailed look comes at the mid-pregnancy exam.

Your body at 10 weeks

You are about a quarter of the way through, with 30 weeks still to go. Many people feel more pregnant than they look: your waistband may feel snug, and whether a bump shows yet varies a lot. Your uterus is growing, and so is the placenta, the organ that ACOG describes as passing oxygen and nutrients to your baby and carrying waste away.

This is also the week when the paperwork catches up with the biology. In England, the NHS says the first midwife appointment, often called the booking appointment, happens between 8 and 12 weeks and can take around an hour. Your blood pressure and urine are checked, and you are offered screening. The blood tests listed in the table on this page, such as blood group and rubella immunity, are typically arranged around this visit. At booking, your midwife or doctor also asks about risk factors for gestational diabetes, such as a previous large baby or a close relative with diabetes. The NHS says anyone with one or more of these should be offered a glucose test later in pregnancy, and that most people with gestational diabetes have no symptoms at all.

Tiredness may still dominate. The NHS says exhaustion is common, especially in the first 12 weeks, when hormone changes can leave you tired, queasy and emotional together. Rest is the main answer, and so is saying yes when someone offers to cook.

Common symptoms around 10 weeks

• Nausea and food aversions. The NHS says sickness can strike at any time of day and usually clears by weeks 16 to 20. Its suggestions include sipping fluids little and often, choosing cold food if cooking smells set you off, and plain, starchy snacks such as dry toast or crackers. Eat what appeals rather than what you think you should.
• Peeing more often. The NHS lists this among the early signs of pregnancy, and it counts as ordinary as long as peeing does not hurt. Keep drinking normally; the NHS advises plenty of fluids when you are being sick.
• Tiredness. Hormonal changes are the likely cause. Sit down when you can, go to bed early, and look after your diet.
• Skin and waistline changes. Some people notice their skin looks different or that their waist thickens. These vary a great deal from person to person, and there is no right amount of change at this stage.

Tips for this week

• Book your first appointments. If no one has contacted you yet, ring your midwife or doctor's office. In England the booking visit falls between 8 and 12 weeks.
• Ask about screening before you decide. ACOG says cell-free DNA testing can be done from 10 weeks and takes about a week for results. The NHS offers a combined test at the 12-week scan for Down, Edwards and Patau syndromes. You can accept or decline either.
• Eat little and often. When nausea makes meals hard, small plain snacks every couple of hours keep your stomach from emptying completely.
• Move gently. The NHS says exercise is safe in pregnancy and it is usually fine to continue what you already do. Aim for about 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, where you can talk but not sing, and build up slowly if you are new to it.
• Decide who to tell. There is no deadline for sharing the news, so choose people you would want near if you needed support.

When to call your doctor or midwife

These are reasons to call rather than wait for your next appointment, and the symptom tells you how fast. Heavy bleeding, severe tummy pain, fainting or pain in the tip of your shoulder: call your local emergency number now. Light spotting or mild cramps: contact your midwife or doctor the same day. Before 20 weeks your early pregnancy unit may be the right number, and if you cannot reach anyone, your local non-emergency health line can help.

• Call the same day if you notice light vaginal bleeding or spotting with little or no pain, or only mild cramps. The NHS advises getting urgent help from your maternity unit or early pregnancy unit.
• Call your emergency number if the bleeding is heavy and soaks a pad soon after you put it on, or if you have bleeding with severe belly pain, pain in your shoulder, or feel sick, faint or dizzy.
• Call now if you cannot keep food or fluids down for 24 hours, if you have not peed for more than 8 hours or your pee is very dark, or if you feel very weak, dizzy or faint when you stand.
• Call now if you are vomiting and also have belly pain, a high temperature or blood in your vomit, or if you are losing weight.
• Call now if peeing hurts or burns, especially with a fever or pain in your side. The NHS notes that a urine infection can also cause sickness.