8 weeks is an important period of pregnancy. There is an intensive development of internal organs, their establishment has already been completed. The embryo is no longer at all like the embryo of an animal, every day acquiring more and more new human features. We will tell you about what the ultrasound will show at this time in this article.
The purpose of the survey
Mandatory ultrasound at 8 obstetric week is not considered. Before the first scheduled examination, the first trimester screening, there are still about 3-4 weeks. However, even at this time, the doctor may recommend that the woman undergo ultrasound diagnostics.
Many in this obstetric week for the first time go to the consultation to get registered. Ultrasound may be needed to clarify the duration of pregnancyif a woman, for example, does not know the exact period of conception or cannot remember the first day of her last menstruation.
There are other reasons why an expectant mother at 8 weeks can be sent to an ultrasound diagnostic room:
- Confirm the fact of pregnancy if the obstetrician-gynecologist doubted this during the examination (the size of the uterus is too small on palpation).
- Make sure that the pregnancy is uterine, if the woman has previously had cases of ectopic pregnancy, miscarriages, frozen pregnancies.
- Make sure that pregnancy develops if a woman has bloody discharge, pain.
- To clarify whether a woman has fibroids, cysts that could affect the delay in the absence of pregnancy.
- Find out the number of fetuses if the woman has already had multiple pregnancies, as well as in the case of high levels of hCG in the blood.
Examination method and preparation
Ultrasound examination at such a short time (8 weeks by obstetric standards is only 6 weeks from the moment of conception) is carried out mainly in a transvaginal way. A sensor in a condom is inserted into the woman's vagina. This method is more accurate at an early date.than transabdominal ultrasound, in which the uterus and its contents are examined through the peritoneum.
If the ultrasound is planned, then it is advisable for the woman to prepare for the diagnosis.
A few hours before visiting a doctor, you should take Espumisan or Simethicone to eliminate the accumulation of gas in the intestines, since swollen intestinal loops can compress the pelvic organs and distort the ultrasound results.
Drinking plenty of water to fill your bladder is not necessary before having a transvaginal ultrasound. Instead, the doctor may ask you to come with an empty bladder to get a clearer image.
The very examination of the pelvic organs by ultrasound does not give a woman unpleasant or painful sensations, does not harm the unborn child... It lasts about 5-7 minutes.
What will ultrasound show at 8 weeks?
If there is a modern high-resolution machine in the ultrasound office, and the diagnostician is so kind that he shows the expectant mother the monitor and explains what is happening there, then the woman will be able to see enough to understand that her baby has already passed a long evolutionary path. The ultrasound shows that the embryo's head has increased in size, it can be almost half of all sizes. The baby's limbs begin to form, and the tail that was before is no longer there.
During this period, the formation of the eyes, eyelids, nose and lips, as well as the optic nerve, begins, but all this cannot be seen on ultrasound, the dimensions of the unborn child are too miniature. But you can hear the heartbeat of the baby and see how the aortic valves contract in his already quite four-chambered heart. The ultrasound doctor will be able to record and evaluate the baby's motor activity, which the woman herself cannot yet feel due to the small size of the embryo.
8 week ends the embryonic period of development, already after seven days, the baby will no longer be called an embryo, it will officially become a fetus. Also during this period, testicles form in the baby's abdominal cavity, if it is a boy, or ovaries, if it is a girl. However, it is not yet possible to see the sex on ultrasound, because the embryo does not yet have external sexual characteristics.
In addition, the doctor will assess the state of women's health, note whether there is a threat of miscarriage, interruption, discharge of the ovum from the walls, whether the walls of the uterus are homogeneous in structure, in what condition are the female ovaries, tubes and the neck of the genital organ.
According to the parameters of the ovum and embryo, he will be able to adjust the exact duration of pregnancy.
Decoding the results
The expectant mother will leave the ultrasound diagnostics doctor's office with an ultrasound examination protocol, which will outline all the main parameters of her pregnancy at the current stage. To understand what abbreviations and numerical values mean, only specialists can do it. But pregnant women are very curious, and they can't wait to learn as much as possible about their baby! Therefore, for informational purposes, we will tell you how to decipher the ultrasound protocol made in the eighth week.
Fertile egg
When there is no doubt that there is a pregnancy, the doctor writes that a fertilized egg is visualized in the uterine cavity. Its shape and size are carefully examined. The main parameter is determined by the inner average diameter (this size is indicated in the conclusion as SVD).
The fertilized egg is an indisputable confirmation of the fact of pregnancy, but it cannot be a parameter that determines the exact date, because the form of this formation is an individual feature. On average, the size of the ovum this week varies from 24 to 30 mm.
The average inner diameter of the ovum can be used to clarify the gestational age, but this parameter is not essential for this purpose either.
SVD at 8 weeks gestation:
At the eighth week, the state of the yolk sac is still assessed - a special organ - the "food storage" of the embryo, which exists only at the earliest stages, and then disappears. Normally, the diameter of this bag at 8 weeks is 4.0-4.5 mm. Starting from the 10th week, it decreases, and gradually disappears, transferring its functions to the formed placenta.
Embryo
Normally, the doctor at 8 weeks determines a living embryo inside the ovum. The fact that the baby, the size of which is only about 4-5 mm, is alive, can be indicated by its heartbeat and the first movements. If the baby shows signs of life, then the doctor measures it from head to tailbone. And this is so far the only "measure" that can be taken, other parts of the body and organs are still impossible to measure.
CTE
This size can tell much more about the timing and development of the baby-embryo. Behind the abbreviation KTR lies "Coccygeal-parietal size", that is, the distance from the coccyx to the crown. If a snapshot is attached to the conclusion, then this segment on the first "photo" of the baby is indicated by a segment.
Heart rate (HR)
The most "mysterious" value - heart rate - allows to judge the state of the embryo. Many mothers, guessing about the gender of the child, try to predict who is behind the frequency indicated by the doctor - a boy or a girl. Experienced obstetricians do say that boys 'hearts beat slightly slower than girls' hearts.
But this statement is relatively true only during long periods of pregnancy, when the midwife can distinguish by ear not only the pace, but also the tone of the baby's heart.
In the early stages, the heart rate in boys and girls does not differ in any way by gender. Normally, for the eighth week, the heart rate is 125 - 165 beats per minute.
Female reproductive organs
A careful examination of the condition of the uterus, appendages, ovaries and cervical canal allows the doctor to draw conclusions about the prognosis of pregnancy and whether it is proceeding favorably. The size of the uterus, the thickness of its walls, the presence or absence of retrochorial hematoma (a sign of detachment of the ovum) are assessed.
If everything is in order, then in the conclusion the dimensions of the uterine cavity are indicated, the lack of tone is emphasized, the cervix is described as completely closed, closed, the ovaries are without features.
Ultrasound for multiple pregnancy
At 8 weeks, the diagnostician, using a good scanner, perfectly sees the presence of two fetal eggs with two embryos or one egg with two embryos during twin pregnancy. The above parameters are measured in relation to each of the embryos.
When pregnant with twins it is not always possible to immediately find the second fertilized egg. Often, it is not implanted in the uterine cavity, but outside of it, so when examining a woman with a likely multiple pregnancy, the doctor will take a closer look at the tubes, ovaries and the space behind the uterus.
Possible problems
During an ultrasound scan, the diagnostician will immediately see the presence of pathologies:
- Anembryony. This is a pathology in which there is a fertilized egg in the uterus, but there is no embryo in it. If the doctor does not see the embryo at 8 weeks, he will prescribe a re-diagnosis in 10-14 days. If the second ultrasound does not detect the baby, then the pregnancy will be recognized as non-developing. The absence of an embryo can also be indicated by such a sign as the absence of a yolk sac, if the ovum in size has already exceeded 13 mm. At the eighth week, the ovum already has a diameter of about 20 mm.
There is still time to wait for the appearance of the yolk sac. Its absence is recognized as a sure sign of anembryony if the diameter of the ovum has already exceeded 35-40 mm.
- Frozen pregnancy. An existing embryo can stop in development for various reasons - both due to genetic mutations and due to an infectious disease that the mother suffered at the very beginning of her pregnancy, due to the adverse effects of radiation, alcohol, nicotine, drugs on the maternal body ... Such a conclusion can be made in the eighth week, if the heartbeat is not recorded, and the embryo itself does not move.
- The threat of termination of pregnancy. The thickening of the walls of the uterus indicates that the woman's reproductive organ is in an increased tone. In this case, the doctor gives recommendations on maintaining the pregnancy at home or in hospital. If a retrochorial hematoma is found - a site of detachment of the ovum from the uterine wall, then the prognosis depends on the size of the hematoma. In the conclusion of the ultrasound, the doctor necessarily describes them and gives recommendations for treatment.
- Miscarriage. A woman can guess about a miscarriage that has begun by abdominal pain and bloody discharge. On an ultrasound scan at 8 weeks, the doctor can confirm these concerns or refute them. If the miscarriage has already begun, then the equipment will record the development of uterine hypertonicity, the ovum will be deformed, as if flattened from above, uneven. Its large partial or complete detachment is possible. If it came out spontaneously, then fragments of the membranes may be found in the uterus, but this is not necessary.
- Development lag. A strong delay in development of the embryo at the eighth week is recorded if its CTE and SVD are below normal by 40-50%. If at the same time a heartbeat is recorded, then the pregnancy is taken under special control and given time to develop, as well as the timing is checked and adjusted - it is possible that an error occurred with their calculation.
A strong lag in size and the absence of signs of life is the basis for making such a diagnosis as a frozen pregnancy.
Accuracy of the survey
The accuracy of ultrasound as a diagnostic method is estimated at about 80-90%, but in the early stages, the accuracy is reduced to 70-75%. That is why, if problems are identified in the eighth week, a second ultrasound scan is scheduled after one to two weeks to double-check the data.
The only exception is a frozen pregnancy and a diagnosed miscarriage, which carry high risk of infection of the mother's body, the likelihood of sepsis. These problems require prompt surgical intervention.
In all other cases, no one rushes things. Time allows you to wait a little and observe the crumbs in dynamics. What is visible at 7-8 weeks may disappear at 10-12, and such a development of events is not at all uncommon if a woman follows all the recommendations of her doctor.
