Category Archives: guide

40 Weeks Of Pregnancy – Week 8

Welcome back. I am glad to see you are all still here, following along. Which means a whole lot of you are either pregnant or thinking about it. Or just curious. Either way, I hope you are enjoying. For this week, I present…
Week 8
If this is your first baby, you probably aren’t showing yet. If it is not your first baby, you may start pouching out a bit. I know with Ducky I was showing around this time and got much bigger than I was with Munchie. Ducky was in fact a lot bigger than Munchie was, but mostly this had to do with my stomach muscles. After your first baby they are no longer as tight, and never really will be (I currently boast a six pack, but should I get preggers again, I will be showing really quick).
However, even for those of you not showing, your waist line will be slightly increasing. Even if you are on the kind of diet that should be not be yielding these types of results, your body is holding onto nutrients and fat, getting ready to carry the baby full term, and then to produce milk afterwards. All this extra work requires those fat stores.
Some of you may have told the world over about your bundle of joy. Others of you may still be holding out until after the first trimester is over. Either way, you are okay. When people find out, they will be thrilled for you. If you are one of the few holding out on telling people, take this time to enjoy the quiet because once you are showing, there is no going back.
Otherwise life is pretty uneventful as far as pregnancy is concerned. The same stuff which was happening to you a few weeks ago, is still happening now. Nothing new to report. If you want to see what has been happening in the life of a pregnant woman, sift through previous weeks, and come back next week for an update.
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40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 7

Good morning! Welcome to Week 7 of the Pregnancy Series… If you want to read any of the previous weeks, scroll to the bottom and feel free to browse.
Week 7
Not a whole lot is changing as far as you are concerned. Your baby, however, is making huge strides. Your bean sprout is starting to look vaguely like a see monkey. You may be getting an ultra sound right around now. No, you won’t know the gender, but you will see your wee one, and think it is adorable. And if you are like me, you will post your ultrasound picture on facebook, and everyone will oohh and aww… but no one, including yourself, will actually know what you are looking at. That is okay. The next one will be better.
You are not showing yet. That bump is probably from being bloated. Some women actually lose weight during these weeks. This is perfectly normal. You are still experiencing the first trimester sickness, sleepiness, and all that fun stuff. For most women, you only have a few more weeks to go and then it will get better.
The one change you may be noticing is your skin. For the majority of women, pregnancy clears up your face due to all the hormones, and you may look better than ever. Even if you are not glowing yet (because you look a little green with nausea), your acne, if you have any, is slowly disappearing. I did have this kind of luck, and for me, pregnancy actually made my remotely okay face totally break out. But I assure you, I am in the minority. For some, this never reverts back, and you get nice skin courtesy of your little one.
Speaking of your skin, this is a perfect time to start using Cocoa butter on your belly and breasts. Even though you are not showing yet, and hardly growing, it is never too early. I used the stuff on my belly every morning and every night and now I have no stretch marks after two kids. Remember, stretch marks are not visible so much during the pregnancy. It is not until after you give birth that they become noticeable. So just because you don’t see them, don’t stop lotioning up. These are not things you want sneaking up on you.
If you haven’t started already, you will start having cravings around this time. Indulging a little here and there is not bad, even if a lot of it is junk food. Just don’t over do it, and you won’t have to worry about weight, or baby’s health. Most cravings are pretty harmless in themselves. Unless you are having pica cravings, don’t worry about them.
I hope you pregnancy is going well, and is as mild as possible. This wraps up our Week 7 edition. Check back next Monday for my newest pregnancy update.
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40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 6

Another Monday, and another installment of the pregnancy edition. If you are new, every week I am posting another week’s information on pregnancy. If you want to catch up, scroll to the bottom and click on previous articles. Otherwise, here is…
Week 6
The baby is growing! And pressing down on your bladder making you want to pee every five minutes or less. Really, it is not that bad. It is not going to go away until after birth, but you will get used to it.
If you haven’t started already, you will start getting emotional. I was pretty emotional to begin with, so this was just me in over-hyper-super drive. I liked to think of it as a purging. I got to cry out twenty five years worth of everything. Every chance I got. And Hubby got to pretend I was PMSing for nine months straight. Win win. No?
At this point you want to start assessing your diet, and make sure you are eating healthy. Also make sure you are not eating for two. Because, really, the little bean sprout growing inside of you only requires an extra 150 calories per day. Which is less than most granola bars. You can look into some light exercise. If you were pretty active before, you can continue being pretty active now. If you were a couch potato, now is not the time to start training for a marathon. Do some light walking for twenty to thirty minutes a day. You can also look into some yoga. I heard it is great. I didn’t get into yoga until recently, so I have no idea what yoga while pregnant feels like. But I am sure it is fine.
Your hormone levels are spiking so morning sickness may increase right about now. It should go back down in a couple of weeks.
In other news, it is super early, but if you are a planner like me, you want to start considering different types of birthing plans. Do your research, talk to you doctor, and see what is best for you. You may already know, and have done your homework before you even got pregnant. Now would be a good time to look into it to make sure it is still the path you want to follow.
 With that, I leave you for this week’s installment.
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