Your Pregnancy at Week 8
by Your Baby ClubDid you know that the Old Wives suggest that a faster beating heart is a sign you may be having a baby girl! Either way, your baby’s heart is beating twice as fast as yours and is currently drumming away at around 140-170 beats per minute. Later in pregnancy, this will drop to between 110-160bpm. However, at the moment the growth of arms, legs (which are developing at a rapid rate) takes lots of energy and their tiny heart is working hard to get everything in place.
This week will see his or her eye colour start to develop and your baby has been promoted from an embryo to a fetus.
Baby is growing around 1mm per day in size.
Things should be bumbling along just the same for you as your blood volume continues to increase and your clothes may be feeling a little tighter. You may notice an increase in discharge which can be blamed on pregnancy hormones and is nothing to worry about,
Your First Scan
Your first sneaky peek at your baby is an exciting event at around 8-14 weeks, and one that makes things seem so real - and just a little bit scary! However, your first scan is not just for a preview.
Most hospitals offer two routine scans (more are arranged if needed). Often referred to as a dating scan at your first scan the sonographer will give you an estimated date of delivery (EDD). At this appointment, you can also choose to have Nucha Translucency screening which tests for Down’s Syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome as well as any other Neural Tube Defects.
