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Pregnancy Week 8 - Pregnancy Week by Week - Pregnancy Calendar

By Robin Elise Weiss, LCCE, About.com

Mother:

You have probably scheduled the first office visit by now. Some practitioners do not want to see you for your first visit until after you've missed two periods. This will decrease the numbers of false pregnancies and miscarriages. Many things will take place at the first prenatal visit.

Every practitioner has a different schedule and each visit will not be as lengthy as this initial visit. This is a good time to ask any questions that have come up or to go over the list of questions for choosing a care provider.

Baby:

Your baby will be about 8-11 mm CR by the end of the week. The baby's hind brain is clearly visible. This week the baby's gonads will become either testes or ovaries. And spontaneous movement begins! There are a lot of things that we do know about life before birth.

Bones and joints this week have many things going on. Elbows appear and the process of ossification (hardening of the bones) begins. Toe rays become present, almost ready for you to count!

Dad:

Looking for a way to treat her? Why not fix dinner and offer her a nap in the afternoon? The fatigue of the first trimester is really hard on most women, particularly if they normally are very active. Getting extra rest helps. If a nap isn't possible perhaps you could tuck other children in bed or close the house up for the night while she runs to bed a bit earlier. Or the opposite, you can get everyone up or fix breakfast, allowing her to sleep in for a few minutes. These will be much appreciated.

Twin Tips:

Indigestion, heartburn and other gastrointestinal problems can start earlier when there is more than one baby. This caused by both the greater expanse in the uterus at this point as well as an increase in hormones from a single pregnancy.

Suggested Reading:

Pregnancy Day by Day: The Expectant Mother's Journal by Sheila Kitzinger
A great journal with space for thoughts and thought provoking question, aside blurbs of information.
Click Here to Order

Photo © S. Lazier

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