Week 8
Your baby is now about 1.2 cm long (around half an inch), roughly the size of a raspberry, though embryos vary. Arms and legs are lengthening, and ridges at the ends of the hand paddles mark where fingers will separate. The embryo has started making tiny movements, far too small for you to feel. Many people have their first prenatal visit around now or in the next few weeks, so this week walks you through it: what happens, which blood tests are offered and why. It also covers severe sickness, safe cooking, staying active and a less glamorous early symptom. If you feel more tired or queasy than glowing, that is the usual story at this stage.
Day 50 · 7 weeks 0 days
Your baby has started to move
This week, the embryo begins to make its first small movements. They are twitches and stretches rather than kicks, driven by a nervous system that is starting to connect brain, spinal cord and muscle. You will not feel anything for many weeks yet, usually not until somewhere between 16 and 22 weeks, but on a scan these flickers of motion are sometimes visible. The arms are now long enough to bend slightly at the elbow. The hands and feet are flat paddles with faint ridges where fingers and toes will form. The face is changing too: the eyes have some colour from early pigment, and the nose and upper lip are taking shape.
Inside, the heart is dividing into separate chambers, and the lungs are forming small branching tubes that will become airways. The intestines are growing so quickly that part of them bulges temporarily into the umbilical cord. This is normal and they move back into the abdomen in a few weeks. All of this is happening in an embryo about the length of a fingernail. Try this: Write a short note to your baby about this week, even just a few lines. It can be lovely to read later.
Day 51 · 7 weeks 1 day
What happens at the first prenatal visit
Your first full appointment with your midwife or doctor is mostly about getting to know you. Expect it to take longer than later visits, sometimes an hour or more.
Your care provider will go through your health history, past pregnancies, medications, family history, work and home life. Some questions are personal, including about your mental health, substance use and safety at home. They are asked of everyone, and honest answers help you get the right care.
You will usually have your blood pressure taken, along with your height and weight. You may be asked for a urine sample to check for protein, sugar or infection. A physical exam may be offered, and a cervical screening test if yours is due. Your care provider will estimate your due date, though it may be adjusted after a dating scan.
This is also your chance to ask questions and to talk about the kind of care you want. You can ask who to call with problems, how appointments will be scheduled, and what screening tests are available. Bring your list, and it is fine to take notes or bring someone with you.
Try this: Look over the questions you started in week 6 and add anything new before your visit.
Day 52 · 7 weeks 2 days
The early blood tests, and why they matter
At or around your first visit, you will be offered a set of blood tests, often called booking bloods. Most are done from a single blood draw. They check things that can affect your health or your baby's, so that anything found can be managed early.
The usual tests include:
Your blood type and Rh factor, plus a screen for antibodies.
A complete blood count, which looks for anemia and checks your platelets.
Immunity to rubella (German measles) and often chickenpox.
Infections that can pass to a baby, such as hepatitis B, HIV and syphilis, and in many places hepatitis C.
Depending on your history and background, you might also be offered tests for thyroid function, blood sugar, or inherited blood conditions such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia. A urine test may check for a hidden bladder infection.
If you are Rh negative, you will read more later about the injection that protects future pregnancies. If you are not immune to rubella or chickenpox, you will be advised to avoid people who have them and to get vaccinated after the birth.
Try this: Ask when and how you will get your results, and write it down so you are not left waiting and wondering.
Day 53 · 7 weeks 3 days
When sickness is more than ordinary nausea
For about 1 to 3 in 100 pregnant people, nausea and vomiting become severe. This is called hyperemesis gravidarum. It is not just bad morning sickness. It can mean vomiting many times a day, being unable to keep down food or fluids, losing weight and becoming dehydrated.
Hyperemesis can be exhausting and isolating, and it is not caused by anything you did or did not do. It is a medical condition, and it is treatable. Care may include anti-nausea medicines considered safe in pregnancy, fluids and vitamins through an IV, and sometimes a short hospital stay. Getting help early tends to make it easier to control.
Some people delay asking for help because they assume sickness is just part of pregnancy, or worry about taking medicine. Untreated severe vomiting carries more risk than the treatments do.
Call your care provider if you cannot keep down any food or fluids for 24 hours, you pee very little or your urine is dark, you feel dizzy or faint when you stand, you are losing weight, or you vomit blood.
Get help right away if you are very weak, confused or cannot stay upright, or you have severe abdominal pain with vomiting.
Try this: Keep a simple tally of how often you vomit and what you keep down today, so you can describe it clearly if you need to call.
Day 54 · 7 weeks 4 days
Cook it through, wash it well
Pregnancy changes your immune system in ways that make some food infections more likely or more serious. Salmonella, E. coli and other bacteria are not usually harmful to the baby directly, but a high fever and dehydration from food poisoning can be risky. A few simple kitchen habits cut the chances a lot.
Cook meat and poultry all the way through, with no pink in the middle and no pink juices. A food thermometer takes the guesswork out: about 71°C (160°F) for ground meat and about 74°C (165°F) for poultry. Avoid raw or cured meats that have not been cooked, such as salami or prosciutto, unless they go into a hot dish.
Cook eggs until the yolk and white are firm, or use pasteurized eggs. Watch for raw egg in homemade mayonnaise, mousse, tiramisu or cookie dough. Choose pasteurized milk and juice.
Wash fruit and vegetables well, keep raw meat away from ready-to-eat foods, and wash your hands, boards and knives after handling it. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and reheat them until steaming. Call your care provider if you have vomiting or diarrhea with a fever, or you cannot keep fluids down.
Try this: Buy or dig out a food thermometer and keep it with your cooking utensils.
Day 55 · 7 weeks 5 days
Staying active is good for both of you
Unless your care provider has given you a specific reason not to, regular physical activity is safe and helpful in pregnancy. It can ease tiredness and constipation, improve sleep and mood, and lower the risk of some complications later on. Exercise does not cause miscarriage.
The general aim is about 150 minutes of moderate activity a week, such as 30 minutes on five days. Moderate means you can still talk but not sing. If you were active before, you can usually carry on, adjusting as you go. If you were not, start small with walking, swimming, stationary cycling or a prenatal class.
Some activities are best skipped: contact sports, anything with a high risk of falling or being hit, scuba diving, and exercising in great heat, including hot yoga. Drink water and avoid getting overheated.
Call your care provider if you have vaginal bleeding, fluid leaking, chest pain, dizziness or faintness, a headache that will not go away, calf pain or swelling, or regular painful tightening in your abdomen. Stop exercising straight away if any of these happen.
On days when nausea or exhaustion wins, a slow ten-minute walk still counts.
For your partner: Suggest a regular walk together, a few evenings a week. It is easier to keep going with company.
Day 56 · 7 weeks 6 days
Constipation is common, and manageable
It is not the symptom anyone puts in the announcement, but constipation affects many people in early pregnancy. Progesterone relaxes the muscles of your gut, which slows digestion. Iron in prenatal vitamins can make it worse, and so can eating less or drinking less when you feel sick. Fibre and fluid are the first line. Whole grains, beans, lentils, fruit (especially pears, prunes and kiwis), vegetables and seeds all help, along with plenty to drink. Increase fibre gradually to avoid extra gas and bloating. Regular movement, even walking, helps your bowels move too. Do not ignore the urge to go, and give yourself unhurried time. If your vitamin seems to be the trigger, ask your care provider about switching. Some fibre supplements and gentle stool softeners are considered safe in pregnancy, but ask before taking laxatives or herbal remedies.
Bloating and gas often come along with constipation and can make your belly feel bigger than it is.
Call your care provider if you have severe or constant abdominal pain, blood in your stool, or you have not had a bowel movement for several days despite these steps.
Try this: Add one fibre-rich food to today's meals, such as a pear, a bowl of oatmeal or a handful of lentils in soup.