Being 10 weeks pregnant covers days 70–76 after the first day of your last period (10+0 to 10+6 weeks), and you are in the 3rd month of pregnancy. According to the NHS, your baby is about 30 mm from head to bottom, its jerky movements can be seen on a scan, and its heart beats about 180 times a minute. As the first trimester draws to a close, it is time to think about screening tests.
About 2 months and 9 days have passed since the first day of your last period; 10 weeks pregnant is in the 3rd month of pregnancy.
According to the NHS, your baby is about 30 mm long, about the size of a small apricot, and going through another growth spurt. The head is still large for the body, but the face is becoming more in proportion. The half-closed eyes can react to light; the ears are forming, the mouth has a delicate upper lip and the nose has two little nostrils. The jaw bone is shaping up and contains tiny versions of the milk teeth. The heart beats very fast, about 180 times a minute, roughly 3 times your own heart rate.
According to UpToDate, the embryonic period ends at the end of the 8th week after conception, that is when 10 weeks of pregnancy are completed. Ultrasound reports, however, prefer “embryo” up to 10+6 weeks and “fetus” from 11+0 weeks. The NHS places this change earlier, around week 8 (see the 8 weeks pregnant page).
You may be struggling to do up your jeans. According to the NHS, your womb is about the size of a large orange; UpToDate also describes the womb as orange-sized at 8–10 weeks and grapefruit-sized at 10–12 weeks, staying inside the pelvis until about 12 weeks. That is why your bump is not yet obvious from the outside.
Bloating, burping and wind are common: according to the NHS, the hormone progesterone relaxes the muscles of the womb so it can expand, but it also loosens the muscles of the digestive tract, which can cause heartburn and indigestion. Tiredness, nausea, dizziness, headaches, mood swings and greasier, spotty skin are also common this week.
The NHS suggests these steps for heartburn and bloating:
NICE also recommends dietary and lifestyle advice first for heartburn, and suggests an antacid or alginate may be tried if needed.
According to the NHS, you are nearly at the end of the first trimester; in the second trimester most women have more energy and the early pregnancy symptoms gradually fade.
When are screening tests done? Organisations give similar but not identical timings:
According to UpToDate, the combined test is usually done between 10+0 and 13+6 weeks, with the blood test and scan often on the same day between 11+0 and 13+6 weeks. For cell-free DNA testing, most laboratories ask you to wait until at least 9 to 10 weeks. Screening is optional; whether to have it is your choice (ACOG). For details, see our prenatal screening tests guide.
Supplements coming up: according to the Turkish Ministry of Health guideline, vitamin D starts from 12 weeks and, if you are not anaemic, iron from 16 weeks; your doctor will set the doses.
According to the NHS, the baby's jerky movements can be seen on a scan, although it will be weeks before you can feel them. The yolk sac reaches a maximum of 6 mm across by 10 weeks and starts to disappear between 10 and 12 weeks; the thigh bone (femur length, FL) can be measured from 10 weeks (UpToDate, 2026). Nuchal translucency (NT) is measured at 11–14 weeks according to the Turkish Ministry of Health guideline.
| Symptom | Usually | Seek care if |
|---|---|---|
| Heartburn and bloating | Common, because progesterone relaxes the muscles of the digestive tract (NHS). | Do not wait if you have severe or persistent abdominal pain, which is one of the danger signs in the Turkish Ministry of Health guideline. |
| Dizziness | The NHS lists dizziness among the symptoms this week. | Go to the emergency department if vomiting means you cannot keep fluids down, you feel dizzy when standing and you are passing less urine (UpToDate). Do not wait either if dizziness comes with severe abdominal pain or fainting. |
| Nausea | After peaking at around 9 weeks, it starts to ease for most women and usually settles by 16–20 weeks (UpToDate). | Go to the emergency department if you cannot keep food or fluids down for more than 12 hours (UpToDate). |
| Spotting or bleeding | Bleeding is common in the first trimester and most women who bleed do not miscarry (UpToDate), but because it also occurs with miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy it is not treated as normal. | The NHS advises seeing a doctor for any bleeding; do not wait if it is heavy or comes with pain. |
Most of these are danger signs or emergency referral criteria in the Turkish Ministry of Health guideline; the 12-hour threshold for severe vomiting is based on UpToDate (UpToDate, 2026). The NHS also advises seeing a doctor for any bleeding in pregnancy. Contact your doctor or go to the nearest emergency department without waiting; for sudden severe abdominal pain or fainting, go straight to the emergency department.
Being 10 weeks pregnant is about 2 months and 9 days since the first day of your last period, which counts as the 3rd month of pregnancy. The end of the first trimester is approaching.
Not on ultrasound yet: UpToDate says the sex is usually seen on ultrasound at 17 to 20 weeks, and the NHS says you will probably find out at the anomaly scan at around 18 to 21 weeks. A cell-free DNA test on the mother's blood, however, can also report the sex at 10 to 13 weeks (UpToDate, 2026). The main purpose of that test is to screen for chromosomal differences.
The combined test pairs a blood test measuring two substances in the mother's blood with an ultrasound measurement of nuchal translucency (NT). The Turkish Ministry of Health guideline recommends it at 11–14 weeks; ACOG says first-trimester screening is usually done at 10–13 weeks; according to UpToDate, the blood test and scan are often done on the same day between 11+0 and 13+6 weeks.
The heartbeat can be seen on ultrasound; according to the NHS, the heart beats about 180 times a minute this week. The Turkish Ministry of Health guideline, however, says the heartbeat can be heard with a handheld Doppler from 16 weeks, so not hearing it with a handheld Doppler this week is expected.
According to the NHS, about 30 mm from head to bottom, about the size of a small apricot.
Last updated: . All sources have been confirmed with their latest versions. This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for a doctor's examination.