Pregnancy: 7 Weeks

Did you miss my big announcement last week? I'm pregnant!

I can't even begin to explain the joy I am feeling right now. Having another baby is something my heart has been longing for over many years. Hubby and I have been married 3 1/2 years but the timing never seemed right and I knew I didn't want to force the issue. I knew I wanted to wait until we were at a point financially where I could stay home with the baby full-time at least the first 6 months and mostly stay home (watch one other child) until the baby was in preschool, maybe longer. We still have some financial goals to meet (mainly paying off student loan debt) but we've made great progress these past two years paying off both our cars and all our credit card debt. We also bought our first house where we plan to live forever. Hubby has a great job and now we live closer to family. I figured it would be next spring before we started trying for a baby but after some long talks during our family vacation at Yellowstone hubby said, "why are we waiting? If we're going to have a baby let's do it." So we started trying in August and BAM! after one month of trying, a positive pregnancy test. I was beyond overjoyed but admittedly a bit shocked because I was convinced it would take at least 6 months or more. Everyone else I know has had to try for months to get pregnant, some people even years, or even had to resort to fertility treatment. We are definitely feeling blessed right now.

Now for the details:

Due date: May 4th Our midwife says the due date is only an estimate since full-term babies can come between 37-42 weeks. The range she gave for us is April 13th-May17th.

How far along: 7 weeks

Weight gain: 1 pound so far. My goal is 25 pounds this pregnancy but we will see.

Maternity clothes: Not yet though my size 4 pants are all too tight. I have a few size 6 pants that fit ok but they aren't my favorite pants to start with. I've used the belly band with the size 4 pants once and that was ok. Maternity pants are too baggy through the butt and hips. All my shirts are fine. I think a lot of shirts will last partway through my pregnancy. I am definitely entering that awkward phase were none of the pre-pregnancy pants fit and all the maternity pants are too big.

Baby bump: See for yourself in the photos below but I definitely have a little baby bump. This is my 2nd pregnancy and with my son I wasn't showing this much until 20-22 weeks. Everyone told me with your 2nd you show much sooner but I wasn't sure. I fully expect by 9-10 weeks to be obviously pregnant.

Gender: We aren't sure if we'll find out the gender though my Type A personality will most likely win out and we'll try at a 20 weeks ultrasound we request. I have had an intuition from the beginning that the baby is a boy, I guess we'll find out.

Heartbeat: Not yet

Movement: Not yet

Symptoms: Overall I feel great! My pregnancy with Brennan was really easy so I am hoping for the same. Symptoms so far are: tender breasts, hungry more often (I have to eat something every 2-3 hours or I don't feel well), pregnancy bloat and beginning of baby belly. I am still sleeping ok though I am tired by 8 or 8:30pm. I have found if I go to bed by 9pm I can still wake up at 6am and not be tired most of the day. I have had three evenings where I have had an hour or two of mild nausea but it always passed quickly and I have never felt like I was going to throw up. One night as I was laying down to sleep I was pretty nauseous and couldn't decide if I needed to eat something or if I should just fall asleep. I feel asleep and woke up feeling great.

Exercise: I am pretty active so I want to keep that up. My goal is to run 3 miles, 3 times per week throughout my pregnancy. In addition I want to keep up long bike rides with the kids and going for hikes and walks. Carving out the time can be hard but I need to make it a priority. Nate also got me the Your Shape for the XBox Kinect so I will do some yoga and workouts on that. I know the importance of exercise in pregnancy so I hope I can keep it up throughout the winter months.

Here's the link to the Baby Center: Your Pregnancy: 7 Weeks Some of the highlights are: hands and feet are emerging from growing arms and legs, about the size of a blueberry, having doubled in size since last week,  heart is already beating, brain is growing, liver is working, and umbilical cord is beginning to function.

Our positive pregnancy test: August 26th

The 4 week baby bump (nothing there)

The 7 week baby bump (getting bigger)

Keep a watch out on my blog for more pregnancy and baby related posts: Why We Chose A Midwife?, Homebirth, To Find Out The Gender or Not?, Ultrasound or Not?, Cloth Diapers, To Circumcise or Not?, Delayed Vaccine Schedule, How To Choose A Pediatrician?, The Nursery, Co-Sleeping or Not?, Breastfeeding, The Real 411, Medical Conditions In Pregnancy, Fertility Awareness, and much, much more! I am looking forward to documenting my pregnancy on my blog and connecting with other pregnant women. Don't worry if you aren't interested in pregnancy and baby stuff, I'll blog about my regular stuff too.