Week 8: The first flickers of movement

At around the size of a cherry, your baby is busy. All the essential organs — heart, kidneys, liver, lungs — are forming, fingers and toes are starting to separate, and tiny eyelids are taking shape. There are even little jerky movements now, far too small for you to feel.

Your body is working hard too. The uterus has already doubled in size since conception, your breasts may feel fuller with veins more visible, and that heightened sense of smell can ambush you out of nowhere. Your jeans might feel snug — for now that’s bloating rather than bump.

Your first ultrasound may fall around this time, which can be a wonderful, slightly surreal milestone. In the lead-up, iron-rich foods like lean meat, legumes and spinach — paired with a little vitamin C — support the extra blood your body is making. Australian guidelines also recommend an iodine supplement in pregnancy, so it’s worth asking your GP or midwife whether it’s right for you.

If your first ultrasound falls around now, it’s usually a “dating” scan: it confirms how far along you are and your due date (measured from your baby’s length), checks the heartbeat, makes sure the pregnancy is in the uterus, and reveals whether there’s one baby or more. Very early on it’s sometimes done as a transvaginal scan for a clearer picture — completely routine and safe.

Symptom-wise, this is often a peak stretch: nausea, exhaustion, sore breasts and that bloodhound sense of smell can all be in full force. Constipation is common too, as pregnancy hormones slow your digestion — fibre, fluids and gentle movement help. None of it means anything is wrong, and if your symptoms suddenly ease off, that’s usually nothing to worry about either, though it’s always fine to ask for reassurance.

Take the pressure off “eating perfectly” for now — in these weeks, whatever you can keep down is enough, and you’ll make up the nutrition later. Keep your fluids up, rest when your body demands it, and lean on your partner or a friend on the unglamorous days. If you can’t keep anything down at all, don’t push through it — severe vomiting (hyperemesis) is treatable, and your GP can help.

Those first antenatal blood tests cover a lot of useful ground — your blood group and Rh status, iron levels, immunity to things like rubella and chickenpox, and screening for some infections — all of which help your care team look after you and your baby well. It’s worth asking any questions you have at this appointment; no question is too small, and it’s the start of a relationship with the people who’ll support you all the way to birth.

It can feel surreal to see a flickering heartbeat on screen when you barely feel pregnant beyond the nausea — for many people it’s the first time it all feels real, and it’s completely normal to be overwhelmed, teary or oddly detached. However you react is fine. If you’re anxious before the scan, especially after a previous loss, that’s understandable; let the clinic know, and take a support person if you can.

Day to day, the kindest thing you can do right now is lower your expectations of yourself. Sleep is medicine in the first trimester, so go to bed early and nap without guilt. Keep snacks within reach to head off the empty-stomach queasiness, sip fluids steadily, and don’t worry about exercise beyond a gentle walk if you’re up to it. This intense stretch really does ease for most people as the second trimester arrives.

If you haven’t had your first round of antenatal blood tests yet, they’re usually done about now and are covered by Medicare.