"During this week, I will get eyes and hands and flipper-like feet, just like a tadpole."
8 Weeks Pregnant
The Baby By now your baby is approximately three-quarters of an inch (2 centimeters) long and weighs about a gram. He keeps on developing at a rapid speed: the beginnings of a skeleton are being created, with cartilage prior to the actual formation of bones. The little heart has started beating at about 60 times a minute, the stomach produces gastric juices, the liver makes blood cells and the brain starts working. Now the resemblance to a tadpole is quite clear, because webbed fingers and toes appear on the hands and feet! In the meantime, your little bean is growing pretty fast: less than two weeks ago he was the size of a grain of rice, now he's as big as your thumbnail.
Mother Although your little one's heart is beating already, you can't hear it yet with a stethoscope or ultrasound. Because it's best not to disturb your baby in this growth phase, the handheld ultrasound device known as a Doppler or Doptone isn't used yet. Are you going to have an ultrasound done? Some mothers choose to have ultrasound during their pregnancy.Although there are no proven risks of ultrasound, there is no conclusive evidence proving it is safe, either. Standards of care differ widely from country to country. If you do choose an ultrasound, it's pretty cool to see that all is going well with the pregnancy and that his little heart is moving. If you have two little babies inside you, it's likely to be a bit of a shock! You're going to have twins! The chances of a twin pregnancy are 1 in 60 and it's nice to know at an early stage that twins are on the way. It also explains why you may have extra complaints and feel extra tired. At the end of the pregnancy, however, you're rewarded with two children at once.
Before an early pregnancy abdominal ultrasound you should drink a lot. Fluids are good conductors of sound waves and your full bladder will push up your uterus. At about 10 to 12 weeks there's enough amniotic fluid surrounding your baby so that the image will automatically improve. Don't be scared when the ultrasound only shows vague spots. That's normal. The person who performs the ultrasound examination can tell you exactly what the spots and stripes stand for.
If you experience continuous or recurring loss of blood, always consult your health care provider. It doesn't have to mean anything, but it might also be the onset of a miscarriage or it may indicate placenta previa, a serious condition in which the placenta implants in the uterus covering the cervix. In many cases the loss of blood is harmless; it could result from a little wound on the cervix or that a blood vessel broke while making love.
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He keeps on developing at a rapid speed: the beginnings of a skeleton are being created, with cartilage prior to the actual formation of bones. The little heart has started beating at about 60 times a minute, the stomach produces gastric juices, the liver makes blood cells and the brain starts working. Now the resemblance to a tadpole is quite clear, because webbed fingers and toes appear on the hands and feet! In the meantime, your little bean is growing pretty fast: less than two weeks ago he was the size of a grain of rice, now he's as big as your thumbnail.
