Blueberry

This site I use to get my weekly updates on pregnancy always refers to the baby as a certain type of food to give a reference point to their size. Until we find out the gender and figure out a name, baby Sheats is commonly referred to as their appropriate food of the week. Hence, blueberry.
I'll be 8 weeks this Saturday, but I wanted to share what's been going on in baby Sheats' life for the past week.
-arms & legs continue to develop, while hands and feet begin to sprout!
-baby has doubled in size within the past week & is now 1/2 an inch long
-eyelid folds partially begin to cover the eyes (which already have some color)
-both hemispheres of the brain are rapidly growing
-baby's liver is producing red blood cells until bone marrow forms & takes over
-appendix & pancreas have formed
-a loop in baby's growing intestines is bulging into the umbilical cord

Other things going on in my body:
-uterus has doubled in size over the past month
-I have 10% more blood flowing through my body (will be 45% more by the end of pregnancy)

Info on that picture: that tail that you see is the tailbone, and will be getting smaller each day. By next week it'll be almost completely gone, and baby will have more of a human-like face, with an exceptionally big brain on top. 10-12 weeks is when they really start resembling more of a 'baby'. I love it though. Seeing pictures like that is helping me get through these difficult weeks! First ultrasound in T-14 days!

"Chew & swallow"

The title comes from an old family saying. I guess it comes from the need to overeat at those wonderful holiday meals. Once you're full but feel the need to keep stuffing your face, it's a chant that helps get you through those extra bites. It's rather funny... but sounds extremely odd when written down. I'll move on..

Point being, that's been my mantra the past two weeks. Pregnancy does such incredibly odd things to your body. The complete loss of wanting to eat, but the complete need to eat every twenty minutes so I won't keel over from starvation. It's a cycle. Everything I smell makes me sick, but I have to suck it up and get the food in! It's gotten increasingly difficult to make lunches for my son, because the mere sight of grilled cheese, or most anything else for that matter, makes me gag non-stop. By dinner time I'm usually curled up in the fetal position on the couch while Brian lovingly offers to make dinner. I've been so impressed with his cooking abilities this past week! So, aside from the nausea morning til night, I'm just tired. Always tired. All I ever want to do is sleep, but I never get enough.

In other news... Caleb got another haircut this week. I took my banana to the hair salon, and prayed that I didn't up-chuck on the floor the whole time, but I made it through! It's much shorter this time... which definitely makes him look more like his daddy. I can't believe he's 17 months already. Now when strangers ask me how old he is I say "almost 1 1/2". Maybe that's only a big deal to me, but it is. He's saying new words everyday.... and up to about 50 now. After 6 months of constantly learning new words, on Valentines Day I FINALLY heard one of the words I've been dying to hear. Mommy. Now he says it all the time. I just love the sounds of it. Of course it sounds more like "Maaaiiiyy" if that makes any sense, but I love it. There are going to be a lot of changes going on this summer for my little guy before his new brother or sister comes. Two being: switching to a toddler bed & the dredded 'taking away of the pacifier'.

I'm going to end this awkwardly abrupt. Hunger just struck me, and I may die if I don't eat within the next 45 seconds. To be continued...

I'm not fat, I'm...

...due in early October! Well, I can't quite get away with that excuse yet. As right now the baby is the size of a sesame seed-- but yep there's still a baby in there! And yes, an embryo is still a baby. This week the heart & circulatory system even begin to form... as we speak the heart is dividing into chambers and will begin to pump blood in the next few days. AMAZING. How can someone that small have a working heart? Furthermore, how do people still not believe in God after witnessing miracles like this? That's a story for another day I suppose...
As of now, I'm still feeling ok. I've been getting plenty of sleep, but by 11am I'm so tired again I feel like I haven't slept in days. Other than that, no morning sickness yet! ...but I am already waking up in the middle of the night to pee. I know this sounds ambitious, possibly crazy, but my goal is to have Caleb somewhat potty trained by October. As of now, he just likes to sit on his potty and read Goodnight Gorilla over and over again, and if he's there at the right time, we get lucky. Two days ago we had our first 'sign' of him somewhat realizing he had to go though. I think it was a sign at least, we ran to the potty, and he ended up going almost instantly. I figure right now I have nothing else to do but grow a baby, so why not spend some time focusing on potty training while I can and see if we get lucky. If it doesn't work out, no harm done.... it's not like I have other pressing appointments though. Heck, the boy likes reading so much we might just camp out in the bathroom with books and juice. So, that's where you can imagine me this summer. Sitting on the bathroom floor with my big baby belly. At least we just got the bathroom painted. I must admit it's much more appealing to sit in there now.
Anywho, back to Baby #2. My first appointments aren't until the first week of March. A whole month til that first ultrasound. Man, I can't wait to see those pictures. In the meantime, we're already starting to look at names (and are agreeing much more this time)! However, I'm not allowed to spill the beans this time-- hubby's orders :-) Speaking of husbands, have I mentioned how incredible mine is lately? He's been late twice for work in the past week because he was so determined to surprise me with an empty dishwasher when I came down in the morning. I'm so blessed...