from BabyCenter: Week 7

Your pregnancy: 7 weeks


How your baby's growing:
The big news 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.

See what's going on in your uterus this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:
Your uterus has doubled in size in the past five weeks, and eating may feel like a chore — or worse — thanks to morning sickness, which by now may be in full swing. (If you're feeling fine, don't worry — you're lucky!)

You may need to pee more than usual, too, thanks to your increasing blood volume and the extra fluid being processed through your kidneys. (By now, you already have about 10 percent more blood than you did before you were pregnant. And by the end of your pregnancy, you'll have 40 to 45 percent more blood running through your veins to meet the demands of your full-term baby.) As your uterus grows, pressure on your bladder will send you to the bathroom as well.

About half of the women who feel nauseated during the first trimester will find complete relief by about 14 weeks. For most of the rest, it'll take another month or so for the queasiness to ease up. It's unlikely, though, that the need to pee more than usual will ease up. In fact, research shows that both the frequency and volume of urine tends to increase over the course of pregnancy.

at home births?

Now, I know that my opinion is purely formed on the fact that I am the daughter of a doctor, a health care administrator AND I currently work for a hospital. However, I am also a big hippy and revel in anything that is natural, pure and eco-friendly.

But, that being said... I cannot for the LIFE of me understand at-home birthing BY YOURSELF. Yup. Not WITH a midwife/nurse practitioner. BY YOURSELF. As in, all by your lonesome, maybe plus significant other, gettin' down, hoping you know what the hell you're doing, cutting the cord yourself, praying it's not a breech birth kind of thing.

This rant was started by a gal posting on Tribe.net about how she's scared about her plans to home birth her first baby by herself. She started by stating how, as she's read and researched (not sure the hell where) about the dangers of hospital birthing and how it breeds a state of fear in women, she cannot imagine doing anything BUT birthing her own baby at home, the natural way. However, she's scared of being in an emergency situation, having the baby die, bleeding to death, etc. at home. So, she asked for opinions/guidance.

I'm holding back answering her, because I think I would sound coarse or judgmental, because I really am boggled by this whole thing. OF COURSE you're scared of all those things, because you're greatly increasing the risk of all of them by doing this yourself. Doctors, for the most part, want you to be healthy. At the very least, it's because they make money, maintain their career and receive more clients the better they are. But also at best they're an individual with YEARS of training in both clinical and scholarly settings who are much more capable of dealing with traumas and emergencies than we laymen are. Also, at a hospital you possess not only your OB/GYN and his staff of nurses, but a world of other specialists who can aid your doctor if the worst happens. Instead, you are trusting this very trying process to yourself and whatever knowledge you may have about delivering babies (which I sure don't have a lot of). This is just CUH-RAZEE!

Now, I can understand at-home births WITH a midwife and/or doula. Then you have someone with experience to help you and guide you through your birthing process. But to go it alone?


I am planning on having my child at my hospital because I really trust the doctors, nurses and staff here. I may even have a doula, if I can save up for it. It would be NICE... but I dunno if I can swing the $750 total. I couldn't personally see myself going it alone.

Yes, every woman is master of her own body. And this girl has the right to do what she wishes... BUT to go it alone? Put herself in a really risky position? That just seems foolish to me.

reeving up my bidness?

I am a totally over-preparer when it comes to life. I want to cover all of my bases and make sure that every option is open to me. Though this can lead to a stressful life, I ultimately think it's not a bad thing to try to consider all of your options.

I have decided that one of my goals is to FINALLY finish perfecting my design website and starting to put myself out there for more freelance work. Mostly because I have no idea how much child care costs and, frankly, I'm a considering that it MAY be more economically sound for me to try to build up my business and, if it takes off enough, have the possibility of working from home once the larvae makes its appearance.

Now, that said, I love my job. Really. But I've never been a mom and, if you haven't already noticed, I'm a bit nervous about balancing everything out. So, part of me figures it can't hurt to build up my business in the next 6 months or so just to see where it goes. Then, if for some nice act of fate it's taking off, then I have my answer. If not, I have a bit extra money in the kip for baby stuff.

The odd thing is that as I was contemplating this idea on my ride home, I heard a beep on my cell phone. I had accidentally left it in the car all day yesterday and the tell-tale beep was letting me know I had a message. Turns out it's one of my client's daughters on the phone. She wants me to design her logo/identity materials for her new company. I took that as an odd sign that it's at least time for me to TRY to make this thing happen.

SO, dear friends... if you have anyone looking for design skills, let me know! My first plan is to finally finish three websites I've been commissioned to do a LONG while back for fellow dancers, working on the new logo job, looking into a co-worker's design needs for their business and, in the meantime, getting my google ADwords on.

Let's see if this thing works...

Really Cute Clothes...sigh

And now, a parade of really cute maternity clothes I'd love to rock out when I have a huge belly:


Treehouse 3/4 length sleeve top



Gauze Octopus Top


Cute Disco Belly Top




Another tee by Disco Belly





And, of course, ANYTHING by RockstarMoms


Sigh.. must remember not to spend all our dough. Babies cost some moolah, I tell ya! But it's just all so cute and sassy... making a wishlist!

mmmmmm butter

Being knocked-up means never having to feel bad for eating as many damned butter croissants as you wish.

I seriously can't get enough of these things... though I'm limiting myself to only one per day. But really, I could eat like 20.

mmmmmmmmm 20.


On a healthier note, I went to the gym for a half hour today. I did the elliptical machine on the "Cross Country" setting, for whatever that means. It actually did me a world of good to get off my ass and do some exercise. I'm feeling much more alert and less stressed. Work has been insane, though I'm finally getting the hang of how much work I can send my freelancer, so that's great.

Man, though... I could really use this weekend right about now.

Telling Work

I'm so nervous about telling my job. Mostly, because I know how essential my position is here (I'm the only designer, besides the web designer) and I'm worried about upsetting my boss (who rules) and stressing her out. I know that's lame. But there, I said it.

What's really hard for me is the whole being-the-breadwinner thing. Since I make a bit more than Tim, it's a bit frightening to think of what we'll do financially when I take maternity leave. The one good thing about my job is that you technically get four months leave. Month one, you use your CLB (Combined Leave Benefits) and get all of your salary for one month. maternity leave doesn't kick in until one month after you go, so the issue is that if you don't have CLB, you're screwed in the first month. However, months 2-4 you get 60% of your pay.

My issue is the conflict between wanting to be home as much as I can with the realization that we probably can't swing things for too long on only 60% of my salary. Sadly, Tim doesn't get paternity leave, so that's out of the question.

It's hard. I'm a real career girl, but I'm finding myself dreaming of being a stay at home mum. I know it would drive me crazy, but I just wish I had the option, or even that Tim could have the option.

Damn being an adult with a mortgage!

Take that, suckers!

Now that I'm preg-o, I love the idea that I'm sticking it to The Man by only paying admission for myself to things when I'm REALLY bringing in two people.

Like Body Worlds... I only bought ONE ticket. HAHA!