With each week of embryonic development, important biological changes occur in the baby's body. The child is growing and developing rapidly.
How do doctors determine the term?
Doctors use a special system for calculating the age of the fetus in their daily practice. They measure in obstetric months and weeks. Thus, 8 obstetric week of pregnancy is equivalent to 6 weeks from the date of conception.
Expectant mothers use the calendar method more often. They calculate the age of the baby from the immediate date of conception.
To determine the obstetric period, doctors use the date of the first day of the last menstrual cycle before pregnancy. This calculation method is more accurate and has been used by doctors quite a lot. The entire period of bearing a baby with the obstetric counting method is 280 days or forty weeks. It is best for expectant mothers to use the system for calculating the child's age, which is common with doctors.
The 8th week of pregnancy is accompanied by the appearance of various sensations in a pregnant woman. Her mood and emotional background change, there are nagging pains in the abdomen. Many women get tired faster. Specific changes develop not only in the mother's body. In the first weeks of pregnancy, the process of formation of internal organs is actively developing in the child.
Such a huge leap in intrauterine development is possible only during the first trimester of pregnancy. Several weeks have passed since the fusion of the germ cells. During this time, a small organism has already formed from several cells.
What's going on with the baby?
In this period of pregnancy, doctors call the child in the mother's belly an embryo. It is so small that it can only be determined with an ultrasound examination. This period of intrauterine life is extremely important. At this time, the laying of all vital organs and systems is actively continuing. If it happens efficiently, then the child's body will function fully in the future.
The embryo is very small at this stage. It is 15 mm long. The baby's weight is very small: it is only 2 grams. In addition to the formation of the body, internal organs begin to actively form in the embryo. Kidneys and liver are laid. In a small embryo, the pancreas and stomach have already formed.
Interestingly, even in this early period of pregnancy, the formation of gastric juice occurs.
At this stage, the child has already formed a heart. Moreover, it is already beating. A small embryo weighing 2 grams already has its own heartbeat. This is a real natural miracle.
By this period of pregnancy, the baby's heart has a four-chambered structure. A septum appears between the atria. This structure is normal for the entire human population.
A baby's heartbeat is an important clinical sign. It is determined during the ultrasound examination. To calculate it, the number of heartbeats in one minute is determined. If the heart of the embryo beats too fast, then in this case, doctors establish tachycardia... With a decrease in the number of heart contractions within a minute, it is determined bradycardia.
It is important that the baby's heart rate remains within normal limits. This condition indicates that the cardiovascular system of the embryo is functioning well.
It is very important to regularly assess the baby's heartbeat in dynamics. Significant deviations from the norm may indicate that in this way various pathologies of the course of pregnancy manifest themselves. This stage of embryonic development is also accompanied by the establishment of the digestive and respiratory systems. The lungs will be finally formed in the future. Their full functioning is possible only after the birth of the baby.
The bronchial tree is also transformed. The bronchi that forms it begin to branch out. In the future, their diameter and clearance will change.
Also, at 7-8 weeks of pregnancy, the child's reproductive system is formed. The genitals are just beginning to form. But you can determine the sex of the fetus a little later. By this time of pregnancy, the child's nervous system is almost completely formed. Also, by this period, the main anatomical elements of the brain were formed.
This stage of intrauterine development is accompanied by the active formation of the musculoskeletal system. The mobility of small children's joints gradually increases.
The child's muscular apparatus is well developed, but it is difficult to notice due to the small size of the embryo. Not only the muscular apparatus of the body is actively developing, but also the smooth-muscular muscles of the internal organs are formed.
In a small embryo, the chewing and facial muscles, the muscles of the arms and legs, and also the pharynx are already well developed. The lower extremities at this period of intrauterine development are somewhat "lagging" behind the upper ones. The increase in dynamic functions leads to the fact that the baby's nervous system continues to form and develop... Gradually, the internal organs begin to respond to the effect of nerve impulses. This is necessary so that the digestive system continues to develop actively.
The embryo gradually begins to outline the diaphragm. The external secretion glands (sweat, salivary) continue their active development.
The first auxiliary structures required for the development of the embryo begin to transform at this stage. The chorionic villi gradually become the placenta. In the future, through the placenta, the baby will receive all the necessary nutritional components for its intrauterine development. This stage is accompanied by the initial formation of the immune system. The child is actively developing the thymus gland. In the future, this organ of immunity will be filled with lymphocytic cells.
What does an embryo look like?
At such an early stage of pregnancy, a small embryo in its appearance already resembles a small person. His body is elongated. Even the face of the fetus at this stage of its embryonic development changes. Eyes become visible. They look quite large as the eyelids are missing. Also at this stage of pregnancy, the first rudiments of the retina and color pigments of the eyes appear. The eye sockets are clearly visible. At the same time, the eyes are closer to the temporal zones of the baby's head. In the future, the child's face will be transformed, which will lead to closer eye contact.
The nose has a sharper outline, but still remains flat. The nerve endings of the olfactory analyzer gradually begin to form. The baby's nostrils are closed at this stage of its development with mucous plugs. In the oral cavity, the gums are actively formed. Even the rudiments of milk teeth are beginning to appear. The contour of the upper lip is well defined.
The baby's tongue is already forming taste buds. In the future, these nerve endings will change and improve, but the basic laying takes place already by this period.
In a small embryo, which is actively developing in the mother's womb, ears begin to form. The first rudiments of small fingers appear on the hands and feet. At this stage, they have not yet spliced together. After a while, they will disconnect. The active development of the nervous and musculoskeletal system contributes to the fact that the joints become more mobile.
In some babies, at this stage of their development, during ultrasound examination, small movements in large joints can be seen. This is usually manifested by small swaying hand movements.
In the future, the baby will develop and become more active.... With each week of pregnancy, the number of movements performed by the baby increases. The child carries out small oscillatory movements in the mother's womb, but it is so small that the woman does not feel the motor activity of her baby at this stage of pregnancy. By this period, the final formation of large blood vessels occurs. They are necessary for proper nutrition of the child during its intrauterine development.
How is a baby's development diagnosed?
To determine the main parameters of the fetus, doctors use ultrasound examination methods. They are assigned to all expectant mothers to confirm the fact of pregnancy, as well as to exclude an ectopic form.
At this time, a rather dangerous pathology is tubal pregnancy. In this case, the development of the baby does not occur in the uterine cavity, but in its appendages. In this case, the full development of the child is impossible. A tubal pregnancy always ends tragically. With the help of modern ultrasound studies, you can very accurately determine the location of the fetus. With multiple pregnancies, the position of each baby is assessed separately.
Despite the baby's tiny size, ultrasound doctors can determine the length of his torso. So, the coccygeal-parietal size at this stage of pregnancy is approximately a couple of centimeters.
For the active and full development of the embryo, an aquatic environment is required. The diameter of the gestational egg, which contains the amniotic fluid, at this stage is about 3 centimeters. When conducting an ultrasound examination, the condition of the mother's reproductive organs is also assessed. The structure of the uterus is evaluated, its tone is determined.
With the help of a Doppler study, specialists can determine the main indicators of blood flow in the main uterine blood vessels. With this diagnostic method, you can assess how well the blood supply to the uterus is. Adequate blood flow is necessary for the baby in the mother's womb to grow and develop fully.
To assess the growth of the fetus, ultrasound examination is carried out in dynamics. In this way, the doctor can assess how well the baby is developing.
If a woman is carrying several babies at the same time, then her ultrasound examination may require more. The frequency of their appointment is determined by the obstetrician-gynecologist.
Ultrasound at this stage of pregnancy can be performed in different ways. The most commonly used is the transvaginal method. In this case, the study is carried out using a sensor that is inserted into the vagina. The transvaginal research method at this stage of pregnancy allows you to get more accurate and reliable results... This technique has a number of contraindications. If they have been identified, then a transabdominal ultrasound is performed.
Many mothers-to-be are worried before doing research about whether they will need any preparation. At this stage of pregnancy, as a rule, special preparatory procedures are not required. Often, expectant mothers become very anxious before doing research. You can understand their excitement: they are very worried about the result and the presence of any pathologies in the child.
You should not worry: from the early weeks of pregnancy, the baby feels all the experiences of the mother. A calm and balanced mood during the diagnostic examination is essential.
Conducting an ultrasound scan in the early stages of pregnancy makes it possible to timely identify various pathologies in both the expectant mother and her baby. It is very important to conduct such an examination for women who have difficulties in bearing babies and various gynecological diseases. If a woman has a burdened history of genetic and chromosomal diseases, then ultrasound examination allows timely detection of their signs in the fetus.
About what happens to the pregnant woman and the fetus at the 8th week of pregnancy, see the next video.
