Now I am Eight weeks old – Week 8

Eight weeks old and that has been a very busy and fruitful time for me. I have grown and built myself until I resemble what you expect me to look like. I am not a blood clot any more. I have hand plates, a sex tubercle and my nasal pits are appearing. I am not sure, but I think I will be a little girl.

The eighth week of pregnancy is very important, both to baby and to the mother. The mother’s nausea may be worse due to hormone levels. Her breasts may be fuller, heavier and the nipples grow darker. This is in preparation for being able to give milk to the baby when it is born.

Clothes may be starting to feel a little tight. There can be a very slight bulge, if one previously had a very flat stomach, and good muscle control. Some women see no difference in their shape at all, being accustomed to not being as flat as the proverbial board.

This week and those following is not ideal to change cat litter. A disease called toxoplasmosis can be caught, which will possibly cause problems with the pregnancy or the newborn. But there is no reason to get rid of the cat. Most cat owners have probably had toxoplasmosis and thought it just to be the flu. Simply get someone else to change the litter.

Where one’s partner is concerned, this can be a trying time. He does not like either watching the unpleasant nausea or vomiting, but sometimes also finds an offer to help being denied hurtful. It is really a time to play it by ear. Make suggestions, and listen to what she says. It can save a great deal of stress for both partners. Above all, be supportive and do not take it personally.

I am growing my internal organs now. I have a heart, which is not inside my body yet, but it beats fast and hard. Most of my internal organs, like liver, pancreas, lungs and stomach can be seen. I have the beginnings of my speech system, the larynx. A scan can show most of my development.

The changes in the mother to be often will confirm the pregnancy to her, if she is still not completely convinced. Some women, missing out on the nausea and vomiting, and feeling no real difference, have been able to pass off other changes as weight gain, overeating, and even early menopause, if close female relatives have had menopause very early. Changes to breasts usually disillusion this thinking. Fuller, heavier breasts and darker nipples are a strong sign of pregnancy.

It is time to start, if one has not already, to make time to pamper oneself. Rub a moisturising cream into the abdomen to aid with the stretch marks which will come, no matter how little weight one gains. Have the feet massaged, to relieve any swelling and tiredness, and just to be pampered.

The baby is now approximately one quarter of in inch long. Women have reported a fluttering feeling from it, but this is debatable. The feeling can be down to gas in the abdomen, muscles quivering as they give a small amount in order for the growth, or simple nerve twitches. But it does no harm at all to believe the feeling is due to the baby. It merely reaffirms that one is pregnant, and about to become a mother.