Weekly Baby Update: Week 7

Today starts week 7.This week, baby is 10,000 times the size he/she was at conception. That's amazing, especially when you think about the fact that baby is only the size of a blueberry this week. Baby is growing quickly, especially the brain which has 100 new cells being generated every minute. Baby still has a tail and is still considered an embryo. The tail, an extension of the tailbone, is shrinking but everything else is growing rapidly. Baby has the start of arms and legs and has eyelids which are partially covering baby's eyes. Believer it or not, at this week, baby has some color in his/her eyes. Organ-wise, baby has a liver which is currently making red blood cells until his/her bone marrow forms to take this over. Baby also has a pancreas and appendix, both hemispheres of his/her brain, and baby's intestine has a loop which is part of the umbilical cord and has vessels to deliver oxygen.

My uterus has now doubled in size from where it started, I have 10% more blood than before I was pregnant. This is another reason why pregnant women need to go to the bathroom so often. And yes, I'm still finding myself going to the bathroom rather frequently.

Additionally, I haven't had morning sickness per se. What I've had has been an overall nausea that makes it difficult to find things to eat. I eat something, feel happy with it, then the thought of eating that same thing again, makes me nauseated. For example, last night, I had half and artichoke and two ribs. I ate one rib and by the second one, baby said, "NO!" So I ate one rib, and half an artichoke. Fortunately, baby didn't hate the artichoke, just the rib. The other night, it was the chicken and mushrooms and coleslaw. I ate most of the chicken and mushrooms but baby decided that wasn't yummy either, halfway through. Worse yet, if I get too hungry, I end up feeling more nauseated. Which really does not help.

Baby has also decided black olives are evil. And fresh crab. And not so hot on shrimp either. I'm sure this makes Working Man so happy as he hates seafood. And my mom will be thrilled that I hate olives now...for now...I hope. I really liked olives. Putting them on my fingers...anyway...

I'm still really tired. I wake up tired, go to bed tired, I'm at work tired. My apologies to my co-workers and clients. I'm tired.

I weighed myself a couple days ago and I've lost weight. This isn't abnormal for the first trimester. There are multiple reasons for this. One, usually moms have terrible morning sickness so they aren't digesting as much. I don't have this problem. However, my body is putting a ton of energy into building baby. As such, I've lost four pounds. I'm sure my body will make up for this later.

This week, Working Man and I have our first ultrasound. It's probably too early to hear the heartbeat but I keep hoping. I'm very much looking forward to making sure baby is in the uterus too, and not in a tube. It's a scary thought, that is.

I'm sure you'll see the ultrasound soon enough.

FFR

Weekly Baby Update: Week 6

Today begins week 6. This is the week the majority of books/websites say starts the morning sickness. I've been fortunate not to experience it this morning. Here's to hoping it will never happen. My mom didn't have any morning sickness so I think my chances are pretty decent.

Today, baby is the size of a lentil but the head to bum measurement is only the size of the head of a nail. That's itty bitty! Last week, baby's heart started beating, now it's beating about 80 beats per minute. This week, eyes and ears are starting to form. The jaw and nose are also beginning to form along with the cheeks I can't wait to pinch. Chubby cheeks! Organ-wise, we've got kidneys, liver, and lungs developing. It's amazing how something so small is developing so much already!

Side effects, I'm still constantly tired, I can still smell everything (a fact I'm still not enjoying most of the time, who knew the world smelled so bad?), and I'm still emotional. On the positive side, my trips to the bathroom are not quite as often as they were. For new side effects, my lips are more red it seems to me, possibly more blood flow. This is nice because it looks like I have lipstick...but I don't actually have to wear any. Which I never do anyway, but that's besides the point. Nothing else that I've noticed which is great!

Until next week,
FFR

LOH Taco Night

On Friday we hosted the Ladies of Harley taco bar at our house. This is pretty much the main reason for why our house has been on such a renovation topsy turvy for the last couple months. Finally it came around and our house was busy!

For those of you who do not know, LOH is for the ladies. Obviously. It's a way to get wives/girlfriends/lady riders involved in something mostly guys are obsessed with. Our LOH leader coordinates rides for the ladies, at a leisurely pace comfortable for everyone.


This is the best shot I could get of most of the vehicles. I don't have a wide enough lens for all of them.


Nice Norm, thanks.




Our LOH leader, Kristie, had her husband bring their son to the taco night.


Aiden though Henry was pretty cool.


Actually, everyone thought Henry was cool.


The donkeys were a fan.


We figured we'd give Aiden a ride around for a bit.


Then another, smaller, type of ride-around.


And at the end of the night, we all played Remember When...Basically, in a list of things, we went around the room, remembering when. Like fads from when you were a kid, the price of gas, your first car...etc.

Overall it was a good night. I don't even know what time everyone left. Eventually I just went to bed. I was too tired to stay awake any longer. I'd love to go back to sleep now. But it's pesky Monday again and I have to go to pesky work. Pesky pesky.
FFR

'Paca Shearing

Once a year, the alpaca's need to be sheared. When we got them last year, they had just been sheared so this year was the first year we needed to do it. There are several alpaca farms around here and through them we found a shearer local to us. It was an interesting process. I wondered how they were going to do it considering we don't spend time making them like people or anything. They're pretty well untamed.

Anyway, they had a very interesting system for shearing. Extremely efficient.

Here goes Larry.


Shave shave


Look at how dark he is underneath!


And look how much hair he has!


Everybody together now for the tail.


I'm free!


Here's how it works, they put the back feet in loops, then the front feet.


Then using a winch, stretch them out and pull them to the ground.


And we're down.


Shave shave.


And fliiiip


"This is so degrading."


And the tail.


All finished!

They look funny all naked again. But I'm betting they are so much cooler than they were. Better yet, I have a feeling that pond is going to feel a lot cooler too.

FFR

Weekly Baby Update: Week 5

Today we start week 5. Today, our baby went from a poppy seed to a sesame. Ok, so our baby has been growing to this size, it wasn't a sudden shoot up in size but that's beside the point. So our little sesame seed is now growing organs and this week, the heart will divide into chambers and begin to beat. This is incredibly exciting. It will be some time before we can hear it, but it's starting.

Our baby is also separated into three layers. The first is the ectoderm which is currently creating the neural tube which, as you might have guessed, will give rise to the nerves, brain, spinal cord, and spinal cord. This layer will also become the skin, hair, nails and more. The mesoderm is the middle layer and is going to become the circulatory system and heart (which we talked about above) along with muscles, cartilage, bone, and tissues beneath the skin. The final layer is the endoderm which will house several organs including the lungs, intestines, pancreas and others. For now, the placenta and umbilical, although in the very early stage, are starting to function for the baby in many of these capacities.

As for symptoms, I have many the same as before: Tiredness: Wait, you mean I'm not awake? I could have sworn my eyes were open when I was driving occifer...er, officer.

Frequent trips to urinate: I'll be right back, just going to kill off another tree.

Sensitive olfactories: Okay, who didn't shower today?

Overly emotional: What do you mean I have to get my own water? You said you were bringing it to me! *Cries*

On the plus side, I've seen a few subside: acne (thank goodness!) and congestion

But now I have some cramping/stretching in my lower belly which is to be expected since the uterus is growing and everything holding it in place is learning to hold the extra weight. I also have a gurgle-y tummy most of the day. This is just a discomfort.

I had one of those days yesterday where I ate everything I had for the day...and did not feel like I had eaten at all. I strongly dislike the feeling of being hungry all the time, especially when I know I've eaten enough. Someone tell me this much will stop...For now, I'm just trying to keep track of portion sizes and nutritional content.Who knew babies were so needy when they were developing?

Plus, I'm pretty sure I've read too many studies during my time in college. It's taught me how to do proper research, how to read a study, and how many salt grains it's worth. Unfortunately, knowing all this, it makes my brain want to explode. Don't worry, I'm managing to contain it...is that brain leaking out of my ears?

I think it's time for me to go now. I think I just found a new zit.
FFR