Pregnancy Week 8

What’s happening to your baby?

At week 8 pregnancy, your baby’s little body parts are taking advanced shapes. The tiny features on her face which were etching out in the last two weeks are getting more defined contours now. The dark spot making the primitive eyes are protruding further this week. Her eyelids and upper lips are forming for the first time and the tip of her nose is almost visible now.

Her tail which made her look like a tadpole is retracting, leaving behind the tail bone. Her webbed fingers and toes are beginning to form ridges in-between them and will soon take their individual shapes and sizes.

Unbelievably, she is already moving inside your belly though you might not feel her movements yet. The cells in her brain, in addition to growing exponentially, are forming neuronal connections between them setting up the early neural pathways.  

What’s happening to your body?

Morning sickness that pregnancy brought along in your life is getting no better. In fact, at week 8 pregnancy, your body may give away pregnancy symptoms more prominently. Having food might seem almost an impossible task until your baby is out. And the fact that your weight is dropping down might be panicking. Do not worry, all that your body requires now for your growing baby is an additional 300 calories per day, which a small snack can easily give you.

In another eight months, you will be a busy nursing mom (if you choose to breast feed). And your body has already started preparing for your motherhood. Your breasts begin to feel different at this stage owing to the development of tiny globules in your breasts which are bestowed to make your baby’s feed.

Your first visit to the OB is scheduled for one of the days this week. If your doctor prefers to perform an early ultrasound, you will get to see a real-time image of your baby for the first time. Although it will only be a white and grey, shady form, the first glimpse of your baby can certainly give you goose bumps. If this is your fortunate week, you may also get to listen to your baby’s racing heart beat. Most doctors, however, may ask you to wait for another week.

Tips and advice for Pregnancy Week 8 ü  Eat smaller, healthy meals

There isn’t anything to relieve you from the queasy feeling altogether. That’s the bad news. But the good news is that having smaller and healthy meals like a mango smoothie or cottage cheese can let you survive the hormonal tantrums. It is alright to give up your regular meal plans now. Create a menu that matches your moods, cravings and taste buds even if it means a chocolate cake in the early morning hours.

ü  Shop some large size bras

Even before you can realize, your breasts may suddenly get bigger and heavier soon. Having to tolerate chest tightness is not something you deserve now. It is the right time to shop bras of one size bigger, or you may even want to stock up on an additional larger size because in the coming months, your breasts are going to do nothing but swell.

ü  Note down your baby’s estimated due date

If you have proactively worked on your pregnancy thus far, you must have calculated your baby’s due date by now. Whether you did it manually or used an online tool, know that its accuracy is definitely in question. However, following your first ultrasound, your OB will give you baby’s estimated due date (EDD, based on baby’s growth. By far, EDD is the most reliable date of your delivery. Make a mental note of your EDD for any preparatory plans you need to make in the coming months.