Week 8 is a biggie for your developing embryo with a growing heart, parathyroid, thymus, and adrenal glands. This little one is growing about a millimeter a day and is about as big as a raspberry or kidney bean, measuring 0.63 inches and weighing about 0.04 of an ounce.
Your little embryo looks less like a tadpole and more like a human. The embryo is busy forming a mouth, eyelids, and abdominal walls. It has defined fingers and toes even though they are still slightly webbed. The tiny tail stub is almost gone, and an upper lip, nose tip, and taste buds are all beginning to form and will be finished in a few weeks. By the end of week 8, all the main organs will be underway, and right now, the heart is already beating at a rate of 150-170 beats per minute. This rate is about twice as fast as yours!
This week also marks the beginning of the development of a nerve network. Nerves are spreading through the embryo connecting to one another to create a network with muscles, organs, and tissues. You can see how important good health and vitamins are during these early months as the framework for so much is being formed and started.