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Day 56 of 280 · 8 weeks

Paddle hands

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Eight weeks: the embryo is now a foetus, and the booking visit is in sight. Today you write the five questions you'll take to it.

Size this week
about the size of a raspberry
Length this week
around 16 mm from head to bottom
A Black couple at a kitchen table in the evening, she writing on a lined pad while he reads over her shoulder, a bowl of raspberries between them, warm lamp light.

Eight weeks. The NHS changes its word this week: the embryo is now called a foetus (NHS). Today is the list you'll carry into the first long appointment.

Your baby

A single ripe raspberry on a plain pale wooden table, close up, soft window light.

Around 16mm long, about the size of a raspberry (NHS). The head is starting to uncurl, and "their arms are getting longer and are bigger than the legs" (NHS). Last week the NHS described the flattened ends of the arm buds that will become tiny hands (NHS); this week those arms outgrow the legs.

Your body

You may feel bloated, have swollen breasts, and feel tired or sick (NHS). This is also the week the NHS's booking appointment window opens: it usually falls between weeks 8 and 12 and lasts about an hour (NHS).

In the US, the first visit typically includes a review of your health history, a physical exam, and lab tests, and your due date is calculated at 40 weeks (MedlinePlus). The Office on Women's Health lists a full physical exam, blood tests, and the due date calculation, possibly with a Pap test and pelvic and breast exams, plus screening for blood type and Rh factor, anemia, several infections, and immunity to rubella and chickenpox (OWH). After that, checkups run about monthly through week 28 (OWH).

Try today

  1. The appointment list

    Time: 15 minutes

    1. Write the first day of your last period and any dates you're unsure of; the dating scan comes between 8 and 14 weeks (NHS).

    2. List every medicine and supplement, with doses. The NHS's own lines: 400 micrograms of folic acid daily until at least week 12, plus vitamin D (NHS).

    3. Write your five questions. Start with whatever these notes have left you carrying: the smell, the craving, the headache, the mood.

    4. Add anything about your job you want checked: what you lift, how long you stand, which chemicals you handle (MedlinePlus).

    5. Leave the list where your partner can add a line.

    Make it work:

    Bring it on paper. The NHS says the booking appointment lasts about an hour (NHS), and an hour of questions is easier to steer with a page in your hand.

Watch for

  • Normal

    light cramping or spotting, both on the NHS's list for this week (NHS).

    Call your provider

    about any bleeding; the NHS says to contact your doctor (NHS).

  • Normal

    spotting, meaning a few drops of blood, not enough to cover a panty liner (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider right away

    for bleeding that needs a liner or pad, for bleeding with pain or cramping, or for belly or pelvic pain; if you can't reach them, go to the emergency room (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    feeling bloated, swollen-breasted, tired or sick (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for fever or chills, which MedlinePlus lists among the first-trimester reasons to call (MedlinePlus); the CDC's urgent threshold is a fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher (CDC).

For you

Telling your employer is your choice and your timing. Nothing on the appointment list requires it, and most pregnant women can keep working, some until delivery (MedlinePlus). If a question about your job goes on the list today, it's so a provider can answer it, not so anyone at work has to know yet.

One small freedom from the NHS's page this week: there's no need to eat for two, and if you're starting to move more, about 10 minutes a day is the place to begin, working toward 150 minutes a week (NHS).

If you're the partner: ask the office whether you can come to the booking visit, and block the hour now.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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