Pregnancy Week 7

Who doesn’t like a chocolate analogy?

Can you believe that your growing baby is now 10,000 times bigger than it was at conception!  The fact that it is still only the size of a chocolate M&M doesn’t seem so disappointing now does it?

Concentration this week centres around the brain.  In preparation for your super clever offspring brain cells are being generated at a rate of 100 per minute!  At the moment the liver is making all the blood cells until the bone marrow is developed enough to take over the job.

In preparation for sports day the arms and legs are growing too!  Developing into the different segments, separations are happening for hands and feet – you wouldn’t recognise it as this as they are still in the form of buds but it’s all in the making. Your uterus has doubled in size and although you would think all this extra work would make you hungry you may find that eating is a job in itself – especially if you are feeling sick.

Because your blood and overall fluid volume is increasing (up to a third by the time you are done!) you may find that you need to visit the ladies a bit more often to have a wee!  Wish I could tell you that that settles down but once your baby is really bouncing around you’ll be back and forth like a yo-yo!  Just think of all the steps you’ll be doing!

You should be starting to think about letting the maternity unit know that you are pregnant so that they can give you an appointment for your booking visit.  I will talk more about that next week!

Sickness may or may not have started. This can be pretty miserable but should pass by week 14 or so.  For some unlucky ones the sickness carries on throughout and you may need help with rehydration at some point.  Just keep focusing on what you are growing – it won’t make it better but it is a sliver lining!

You still need to be taking the folic acid and should have tried to cut down or ideally stop with cigarettes and alcohol.

Take a look at our quick guide of what foods you need to avoid.