As of yesterday I am officially six weeks pregnant. Halfway done with the first trimester… well, sort of, considering the two freebie weeks in the beginning. This week has felt similar to last, only… more. More nauseated, more bloated, more emotional.
Week 6
How big is baby? The size of a sweet pea (or a lentil, depending on which website you’re reading).
Milestones this week: Baby is starting to form a nose, mouth and ears – it has a FACE! Holy crap. Arms and legs are also starting to protrude, but at this point are still just little nubs. It’s morphing from a tadpole shape to something that resembles more of a shrimp, but, you know… with nubs. The heart should be beating about 100 to 160 times per minute, which is about twice the rate of a grown person’s. The intestine and lungs are forming, as are the rest of the brain, muscles and bones. Wow, that’s a lot in one week!
Symptoms: Ugh. As I mentioned earlier, similar to last week, only worse. The nausea has turned into actual puking nearly every morning in the shower – or rather, I would be puking if there was anything in my stomach. And the bloating? I thought last week was bad, but clearly it’s gotten worse. Believe it or not, I am sucking in my stomach as best I can in the photo above and I still look way pudgier than last week’s photo. It’s not quite a baby bump yet, since the actual baby isn’t what’s making it pooch. It’s just bloat. A blump, if you will.
Something that scared me a little earlier in the week was the tiniest bit of spotting. It wasn’t much at all, and I know some spotting is considered normal, but it was enough to freak me out a little, since I also know spotting can be the first sign of miscarriage. So naturally, I got a little emotional about it.
Speaking of emotional, I also may or may not have had a complete waterworks meltdown in the kitchen last night because D gets to go out and drink with his friends and I have to keep blowing mine off and making excuses because it’s too hard to be inconspicuous. Not to mention my boobs are sore and I’m queasy all the time and his life isn’t affected for another eight months and why can’t he be more supportive?! And then of course, I started laughing at myself, because I knew how ridiculous I sounded but still couldn’t stop the tears. Yeah, I’m a mess.
What I miss: Again, being honest with people. I’m tired of turning down happy hours or making excuses for why I can’t go to the football game tonight. Yes, I realize I could still just go, but everyone is tailgating ahead of time and it would be way too obvious if I wasn’t drinking.
What I’m looking forward to: Our first appointment! I just want to see the heartbeat and know everything is okay. I’m still terrified every day of losing this baby, and I know the chances of miscarriage go down dramatically after seeing the heartbeat. 16 more days…
Other stuff: I went to a baby shower today – first one since finding out we’re pregnant. Definitely did a lot more paying attention to gifts and making mental notes. A friend admitted to me that she and her husband had “pulled the goalie” and I told her we had too. I didn’t let her know we had, in fact, been successful already, but it felt good to admit at least part of the story to someone.
Five weeks until we can tell everyone, for real. Can’t come soon enough.
Keeping up with the Hoffmans 