Week 7

I'm starting this blog as a favor to my sister-in-law, Trisha. She is far, far away but still wants details!

To catch everyone up to speed, Chris and I went for our first doctor's appt. on June 12--I was 6 weeks, 4 days by my calculations. We waited a while to see the doc, but it was worth the wait! He is great about making everyone feel at ease and was full of information. I was just ready for him to stop talking and to have a look with the ultrasound on the table next to me! We got to see what looked like a little kidney bean--aww, our baby bean. Best of all, we saw a flickering light right in the middle of the bean and it was the heartbeat. Chugging right along at 170 bpm, which the doc said is right on target. I have to say, it is an amazing thing to see a living being inside of you with it's own heartbeat. Surreal, to be sure. They also took 4 or 5 vials of blood, and I'm assuming all is well because no call to say any different! Oh, and the doc said my calculations of how far along I was was right on. Our official due date is February 2, 2009. I figure it's a good time--Chris' birthday is on Feb. 1st and Ben's is Jan 31st, and my cousin's son has a birthday on Feb. 3rd. This baby will be in good company.

On to week 7. Week 7=chronic nausea. Bound to hit with no warning and settle in for the day. No puking, just being on the verge over and over and over and . . . well, you get the point. I figure this is where the phobia of throwing up that I share with my sister comes in. . .I am almost positive there have been several times I would have felt better if I just let it all out. Gross. So there's the nausea. . . and you're asking what else? I am almost constantly hungry--I have to eat about every hour and a half to 2 hours, but still only increase my calorie intake by only 300 calories. Needless to say, that's lots of fruit and 100 calorie packs! The run down of the rest of the symptoms: bigger boobs (I have waited for this my whole life), tired in the afternoons, but don't sleep as well at night, heartburn, chronic thirst for ice water, and a total intolerance for structured waistbands. Weird cravings, you ask? Um. Yeah. A few: eggs, grapefruit juice and processed cheese. Seriously. If I could eat Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner, I would. I have never craved such a thing.. . bizarro.

So that's about it for this week. We'll see what next week brings. I am still quite nervous that something will go wrong, but I think every new mother likely has the same fears. I am sure it will all be bueno. Look for the week 8 update next week :)