Pregnancy Journal, Weeks 5-6

We’re expecting! I’m full of excitement and joy while at the same time very nervous. We’re still not out of the woods yet, but I wanted to start documenting this pregnancy journey so that I do not forget anything! I also wanted a way to keep our friends and family who don’t live close to us in the loop about how our little Michael is progressing!

How far along: 5-6 weeks (this first post combines two weeks but I hope that future ones can be broken down by week).

Estimated due date: We haven’t gone to the doctor yet, but based on the internet, my due date is June 10 or 11, 2015 (depending on if you go by my last period or my ovulation date).

Next doctor’s appointment: Our first appointment is October 21. At that time I believe I will be 6 weeks, 6 days but we’ll see what the doctor says on that. I can’t wait to see our little bean!

Signs and symptoms: I’ve gone through a range of symptoms already. Before I even knew I was pregnant, my boobs were incredibly sore. Then they just got downright painful. They’re still a little tender and feel very heavy, but the pain has mostly gone away. Jason swears they’re bigger; I’ll just trust him on that one.

Nausea is pretty much constant with me and has been since the beginning of week 5. I haven’t thrown up yet, but I always feel like I need to. I’ve managed to keep from throwing up by eating small snacks (read, saltine crackers) throughout the day starting from the second I get out of bed. I also drink a lot of ginger ale. I told my doctor about this over the phone and she recommended a combination of vitamin B-6 and Unisom sleep tablets. I will probably hold off on taking the Unisom unless I start getting really miserable, because I’d rather not take any medication if I don’t have to.

Tired. I am oh so tired all the time. I’ve pushed my bedtime up by about an hour to try and help combat this, but I’m still always exhausted. Thankfully I am sleeping okay for the most part. I do have to wake up once a night to go to the bathroom.

Weight gain: I weighed myself on the day I turned 5 weeks so I’ll be using that as a baseline. I haven’t gained any weight since then.

Food cravings: This section should be taken with a grain of salt right now because while I do have fleeting cravings, the thought of food in general right now is not so great for me. In any case, here are some things I’ve wanted to eat these past 2 weeks:
Cheesecake
Fried rice
Plain toast with just a little butter
Lime jell-o
French fries

Aversions: Most food. Cooking right now is tough for me because while I do WANT to eat, the smell of food makes me sick. This also made grocery shopping tough and I felt like I needed to throw up the entire time we were in the store.
I’m particularly averse to sweet things right now, but I did enjoy that lime jell-o.
Really overly sweet smells. I’m not too smell-averse, but if there’s a scent that’s overly sweet it makes me feel not great.

What’s going on with the baby: According to the apps I have, the baby is growing like crazy right now.
At 5 weeks, it was the size of a sesame seed (roughly 1/20 of an inch long). Its heart and skeleton are starting to form, as is the placenta. Structures that become the baby’s eyes and ears are also forming. Aw!
At 6 weeks, the baby is the size of a pea (about 1/12 to 1/6 of an inch long). Grow baby, grow! The arm and leg buds have formed webbed structures that will become hands and feet. Baby now has a distinguishable head and body and is starting to develop facial features (mine or Jason’s? stay tuned!). Our baby now also has a brain which I’m sure is magnificent. The teeny little heart is already pumping blood.

What I miss: Not feeling sick all the time. Not feeling tired all the time. Eating.

What I’m looking forward to: Seeing the baby’s heart beat at the doctor’s appointment (fingers crossed!) Actually telling people that we’re pregnant! No one knows yet. And I’m a little bit excited about showing!

Changes: I feel like I have a tiny little bump but Jason says I’m not showing yet. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part. As I mentioned, I’ve pushed my weekday bedtime up by an hour to try and overcome the sleepiness. 

6 weeks!