Pregnancy Week 6: The Facial Features

Lentil size — about 0.25 inches. The face is taking shape: dark spots where the eyes will be, small pits for ears, and the start of a nose and jaw. Arm and leg buds have sprouted, and the heart is beating in a steady rhythm around 110-160 bpm.

Peak nausea zone. The exhaustion is physical and metabolic — she's running a marathon while sitting on the couch as her body builds the placenta. Smell aversions hit hard: coffee, cooking, and trash can become intolerable, and a food she loved can turn stomach-churning overnight.

• 01Stock anti-nausea supplies everywhere she goes — ginger chews, saltines, plain crackers, and hard candies in the kitchen, her bag, her car, and her nightstand. An empty stomach is the number-one trigger.
• 02Take over the kitchen. Cooking smells are a top trigger, along with coffee, trash, and perfume — cook simple, run the fan, or cook outside, and handle the trash before she asks.

Bring her water and a snack before she asks — heading off nausea is easier than fixing it. And say the quiet part out loud: 'You're doing the hard part; tell me what would actually help.' You can't take the nausea away, but you can take everything else off her plate.