8 weeks pregnant: your dating scan, blood tests and first visit

At 8 weeks pregnant, your baby is about 1.5cm long, KKH says, slightly smaller than a Singapore 5-cent coin. For a lot of women this is the week of the first antenatal visit and the dating scan. It's also when morning sickness tends to hit hardest. Here's what happens at that first appointment, test by test.

Your baby at 8 weeks

Grooves are appearing on the paddle-shaped limb buds, and they'll become elbows, fingers and toes. If you have your dating scan this week you might see the heartbeat, and the heart may even show its four chambers, though they aren't fully developed. The yolk sac that fed the embryo is shrinking as the placenta takes over. Your doctor may point out a small tail on the scan; KKH says everyone has one at this stage, and it gets shorter week by week.

Your womb is now about the size of an orange.

Your first antenatal visit, step by step

KKH's planner sets out what usually happens:

1. Questions about your periods, your lifestyle (smoking, drinking, medicines) and any earlier pregnancies, so your doctor can work out a first due date.
2. A dating scan, which HealthHub says confirms the pregnancy is in the right place, shows the heartbeat and estimates your due date. It can be done anytime from week 6 to 12.
3. Blood tests for anaemia and thalassaemia (a full blood count), your blood group and rhesus status, hepatitis B, syphilis, HIV and rubella immunity, with a glucose check added in KKH's planner.
4. A urine test for sugar, protein or infection.
5. A first talk about Down syndrome screening.

HealthHub explains why each one matters. Thalassaemia is a common inherited blood disorder in Singapore, which is why it's on the list. If you test positive for hepatitis B, your newborn gets the hepatitis B vaccine and immunoglobulin within 12 hours of birth to prevent infection. And if you turn out not to be immune to rubella, you'll be advised to get vaccinated after delivery, to protect future pregnancies.

What's due in Singapore at 8 weeks

KKH's pregnancy timeline lists the flu vaccine at weeks 8 to 12 and says it can be given safely at any stage. Expect roughly 8 to 12 antenatal visits over the whole pregnancy: KKH's patient pages say around 8 to 10 for a healthy woman, and its planner says 10 to 12. Visits get closer together after 20 weeks.

Save every bill. Under the MediSave Maternity Package, up to $900 of pre-delivery costs, including consultations, scans, tests and medicines, can be paid from MediSave. After the birth, you hand the bills to the hospital where you delivered, and it claims them together with the delivery bill. The delivery cost calculator estimates the rest.

Getting through peak nausea

KKH says morning sickness peaks in weeks 8 to 10. Its tips:

• eat small, frequent meals instead of large, heavy ones
• keep to a regular eating schedule and don't skip meals
• avoid the foods and smells that set you off
• drink enough water, because vomiting dehydrates you
• try sour foods, which some women find help

See your doctor if the vomiting is getting worse; you may need anti-vomiting medicine, or there may be another cause to check. KKH says losing 5kg or more needs a gynae's review. Our morning sickness remedies guide has more.

When to go to the hospital

Bleeding with cramps, severe tummy pain, fainting, chest pain or breathlessness need a same-day check.

At KKH, early pregnancy problems such as bleeding and tummy pain go to the Urgent O&G Centre, a 24-hour walk-in centre at Basement 1 of the Women's Tower. For minimal bleeding or mild pain under 16 weeks, KKH's Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit offers appointments the same or next working day. Booked elsewhere? Call that hospital's O&G clinic, or go to its emergency department after hours.

Frequently asked questions

Can you find out the gender at 8 weeks?

Not on a scan yet. HealthXchange says the sex can usually be seen at the anomaly scan around 18 to 20 weeks, and even then it isn't guaranteed.

8 weeks pregnant is how many months?

Two months. KKH's planner calls week 8 the 2-month mark.

How many antenatal visits will I have in Singapore?

Usually 8 to 12. KKH's planner spaces them every 4 weeks from week 20 to 32, every 2 weeks from 32 to 36, then weekly.

What should I bring to my first antenatal appointment?

The date your last period started, a list of medicines and supplements you take, your questions, and your referral letter if you're going in as a subsidised patient.

Week by week. Previous week: 7 weeks pregnant. Next week: 9 weeks pregnant. Every week from 4 to 40: pregnancy week by week.