Week 7

I really thought that these weeks would feel like they lasted forever, but they are actually flying by pretty quickly! Some of that is due to the fact that I still feel great- no morning sickness thus far and I am still working out reguarly. I have also been working extra now while I can so that I can take the full 12 weeks when the baby is born and that makes time pass quickly as well.
The new craving of the week is fresh pineapple- I CANT get enough!

What's going on in my belly this week: Hands and feet are emerging from developing arms and legs — although they look more like paddles at this point than the tiny, pudgy extremities you're daydreaming about holding and tickling. Technically, your baby is still considered an embryo and has something of a small tail, which is an extension of her tailbone. The tail will disappear within a few weeks, but that's the only thing getting smaller. Your baby has doubled in size since last week and now measures half an inch long, about the size of a blueberry.If you could see inside your womb, you'd spot eyelid folds partially covering her peepers, which already have some color, as well as the tip of her nose and tiny veins beneath parchment-thin skin. Both hemispheres of your baby's brain are growing, and her liver is churning out red blood cells until her bone marrow forms and takes over this role. She also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. A loop in your baby's growing intestines is bulging into her umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from her tiny body.

Have a great week!

The Belly Progression, Week 7

Week 6

SO for the first time I actually FEEL a little pregnant. Not because my waist is expanding or because I have morning sickness...I am just HUNGRY like you would not believe. This kind of hunger isnt your normal hunger pangs when you haven't eaten in a few hours- it is more like "I MIGHT ACTUALLY DIE IF I DON'T EAT RIGHT NOW" hungry. At my dr's appt last week he told me "Don't worry about calories, just eat when you are hungry". This is the same Dr that followed my pregnancy with Ave and he must have said the same thing then- I gained EIGHTY pounds with her! I was just silently hoping that my inner fat girl didn't hear him this time :) For now I am just trying my best to make good choices (even if they are every hour) and since the only cravings I have had are salad and oranges this hasnt been too difficult.

Here is what is going on in my belly this week:
How your baby's growing: This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

Pretty cool stuff huh?!

The Belly Progression, Week 6

The cat is out of the bag

Well despite our initial thoughts of keeping this pregnancy under wraps until mid May it is now out there for everyone to know! I was talking to MIL this am and she started talking about trips and holidays and vacation time and I almost had a panic attack. SO we decided to go ahead and tell her, and then it kinda just snowballed from there. I mean we CERTAINLY didn't expect her to keep it a secret and if we told her we had to tell my mom, so here we are. Of course we are very apprehensive, and we won't rest easy until we are thru all of the testing (I will talk more in detail about that later) but we are thrilled to say the least! We had our first dr appt yesterday and it went really well- even though I KNEW I was pregnant there is just a thrill to have someone in a white coat tell you congratulations! I am still feeling great but the dr assures me that will come to an end soon :) Will keep you posted on our progress!

The Belly Progression, Week 5

We're about a week behind getting the first of these belly pictures up, but we'll put 2 weeks worth in this post and then every Friday going forward they'll be updated. I'm putting a poll on the blog, we want to see how soon you think Mandi will start showing. Well, I do at least. As an update of sorts, I'd say the early weeks of this pregnancy are going well. Mandi's been tired, but not to the point where she can't go to work or stay active on her days off. She's been able to will herself to the gym and continue to do her baking and cooking marathons. There has also been some sensitivity to smells, in particular in Wal-Mart a few days ago, but nothing strong enough to induce vomiting . . yet. Anyway, hopefully she'll get motivated to write a little blurb now and then. Until that happens, I give you these photos.


Time to go, the toddler's screaming for me from the other room. Have a great weekend!

Longing

I miss my pregnant wife. I know it sounds silly, after all she's been out of town for less than twelve hours and there have been at least a dozen text messages since she got out of the car at the airport. But I never really spend nights apart from her, and now that my free time is spent imagining what our next baby is doing every moment in her belly I really look forward to our nights together after the kids are in bed. This post is for you babe. I love you.