8 Weeks Pregnant - What To Expect Your 8Th Week Of Pregnancy - Pregnancy Week By Week - 2023
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8 Weeks Pregnant – What to Expect Your 8th Week of Pregnancy

Author of “What to Expect When Expecting” and the “What to Expect” series Heidi Murkoff reveals what’s happening to your baby at week 8 of pregnancy.

Your baby is growing at an amazing rate — about a millimeter every day and is about the size of a raspberry. What else is changing at 8 weeks pregnant? Your baby now has lips, a nose, and eyelids forming.

Grow, grow, grow. That’s what your baby’s doing around the clock at a pretty spectacular rate. By week 8, your baby measures just over half an inch long and has grown from blueberry size to the size of a big juicy raspberry. Much of baby’s bulk is taken up by its big head, where all that brain building activity is going on. Nerve cells are multiplying and connecting with each other – the beginnings of a neural network that will later transmit messages from brain to body.

But it’s not just the brain that’s bulking up. Growth spurts are happening all over baby’s body now. One place you’ll notice a big change: the arms and legs. Those limbs are getting longer and stronger thanks to newly developing cartilage and bones. Joint formation is also on the agenda this week, which means shoulders, elbows, and knees are just around the bend.

Fortunately, your baby’s tadpole tail isn’t part of these growth spurts. It’s completely gone now and your embryo finally looks less reptilian and more human. He’s got the beginnings of a neck, the upper lip is forming, and there’s the sweet suggestion of a button nose. Tiny eyelids cover tiny eyes, and fingers and toes are developing, though they’re still webbed.

Your baby’s umbilical cord is visible now, and the intestines are starting to develop inside of it. Don’t worry! Those intestines will migrate into baby’s belly soon enough. Baby’s heart has divided into the right and left chambers and is beating around 150 beats per minute now. That’s more than twice the rate of yours!

It’s not just baby who’s getting bigger by the day. His cozy quarters are also getting bigger. Your amniotic fluid increases by about two tablespoons a week so your roomie’s got room to move and to keep on growing. It won’t be long before your bigger-by-the-minute baby and uterus start making your bump look bigger by the minute, too.

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  1. Im 8 weeks. It fascinates me and terrified me a thing a creature is growing inside. Its a good thing and im happy. I just hope it will be a healthy baby. Good luck everyone else!!

  2. My wife and I tried out this guide when we made a decision to get one more kid. I was able to attain pregnancy right after 3 months of following the plan and eating healthy foods. Even though I`m older, I was still able to change my life style utilizing this method. Get more info about this excellent method on Google. I remembered its name is Sofia Goρazna
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  3. I will be 8 weeks tomorrow, I still can't warp my head around the fact I have a tiny human growing inside of me that is now a zise of raspberry, my 1st pegnancy, 1st baby, been trying to get pregnant for 2 years. I am in extreme joy, I pray that God gives me a healthy, smart, beautiful baby and same for all the pregnant women out there we have been blessed it is an honor that God has chosen us to carry 1 of his children.

  4. I turned 8 weeks yesterday. I can’t believe it was a shock! I have PCOS so it’s hard to conceive. I had a miscarriage at 7 in 2010 and I’m paranoid it may happen again. This will be my 4th baby. Already a mom to 3 boys (12,11,5) as I got older it gets harder to conceive. From my middle to my youngest they are 6 years apart and when this bundle of joy is born the youngest to the baby will be 6 years apart. Sending blessings and good vibes to everyone.

  5. Super cool to think human embryo still has gill slits at this stage (as do many other animal embryos). Although they end up turning into our jawbone and vocal chords, it's still cool to see that trait from our fish ancestors 😀

  6. 8 weeks pregnant today with baby #2!! Super excited for this May baby!! Baby #1 was born in my Mom's birth month, baby #2 is gonna be born in my dad's birth month 😅😂 it's odd but cool!

  7. I'm 8,weeks in 2,days lots of morning sickness in through out the day very tired can't fit nothing in my closet but I'm happy in excited this my 3rd pregnancy praying for a healthy pregnancy and baby God thank you❤

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Written by Claire

Claire is our Community Manager here at New Moms Forum. A mom of two (almost grown-up babies), Claire has been building and operating community-based websites for almost 20 years. In her downtime, Claire enjoys spending time with her family and drinking copious amounts of red wine!

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