All about baby
Your baby has already grown 10,000 times bigger than the size of the fertilised egg!
Because of its rapidly growing brain, which now has two distinct hemispheres, your baby's head is huge compared with the rest of the body but it's starting to look more human. Nostrils, external ears and eyes are now visible under a thin membrane of skin. The mouth has lips and a tongue and, amazingly, tooth buds have already formed.
All the organs have started to form and are now in the right position. Your baby now develops testes if its a boy or ovaries if its a girl. The spinal column is visible and bones are beginning to form, with obvious knee and elbow joints. Although fingers are well defined, they are still webbed. In the next few days, the foot plates develop ridges that will become the toes.
- Measures around 13-16mm crown to rump
Over to you
Come over all tired and emotional? You may feel overwhelmingly tired at this stage of pregnancy, especially if you’re running round after little ones, holding down a career, or both. So if you find yourself nodding off mid-afternoon, remember it's because your body is working hard to cope with a rapid and crucial stage in your baby's development. Give yourself a break and go easy.
Hormonal changes can make you feel very emotional too – and your partner is probably as confused and worried as you are! Remind yourself that feeling weepy, bad-tempered or depressed (or everything all at once) is part of pregnancy and it does fade as the weeks go by.
If you’ve been longing for a baby, you may feel guilty that you’re not as happy as you’d imagined - pregnancy is hard work. And if your baby is unplanned, the hormonal disruption can make being pregnant even more of an upheaval. Whatever your situation, try talking to someone you trust – however bad you’re feeling, it can really put things into perspective.
In the know
Everyone knows too many (if any) tipples are a no-no when you're expecting, but what's the latest advice and how about everything else? Here's your pregnancy drinks guide:
Alcohol
While research has shown that heavy drinking puts the baby at risk of developing foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, scientists are unsure about the exact effects of small amounts of alcohol on the unborn baby.
Current government advice is to avoid alcohol altogether in pregnancy, while the The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends abstaining for the first trimester and then limiting intake to one or two units a week after that.
Caffeine
Caffeine is found in tea, coffee and many soft drinks, as well as chocolate. Because it interferes with your body's absorption of iron and other nutrients, current recommendations suggest that pregnant women should have no more than 200mg of caffeine per day - about two cups of coffee or four cups of tea.
You don't have to miss out on hot drinks - try green, white, red or black teas instead. They have little or no caffeine and contain powerful antioxidants, which your body can use to fight infection. Or there are plenty of herbal teas to chose from; rosehip, spearmint, lemongrass, ginger and fennel infusions are thought to be particularly helpful for pregnancy.
Healthy Drinks
- Plenty of water is always important and is the best option for cooling down after exercise. Sports drinks contain minerals, but also a lot of sugar.
- Two pints of milk or soymilk will help to meet your body's fluid needs, while providing calcium, magnesium, vitamin D and protein
- Smoothies are a great way of quenching your thirst while adding extra vitamins to your diet - just add chopped fruit like bananas, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries to yoghurt and milk before blendering it up. Add honey as a sweetener.
- Pure black cherry juice is high in nutrients rather than calories. It contains lots of iron as well as vitamin C, and is a good mixer to add to mineral water.
- Meat and vegetable broths are great for keeping you hydrated and satisfied without making you feel nauseous
Go to next week's article: Pregnancy Week 9
Please note that the contents of this section are for information only and are not intended as medical advice or as a substitute to your doctor's advice. For medical care and advice, you should consult your doctor on a regular basis. If you have any problem which concerns you, consult your doctor immediately.
