A 7 week old raspberry

I am officially 7 weeks PG today. It is STILL surreal to me to think that I have a baby growing inside me, even after we saw the little beanie on Monday. I call it "beanie" because my Grandma Gina calls it "beanie baby": "how is beanie baby doing today?", she'll ask my mom. And every day, in the morning, I read to my mom about the development of beanie baby so she can relay the information to my Grams.
I surprised my mom for her birthday yesterday by driving up to Duluth last minute with the dogs and surprising her by our being there when she got home. She was completely shocked and happy to see us. When she saw my green Camry in the driveway, she said to herself "whose car is that? it can't be Carrie's, who else drives a green Camry?". DUH. It was me. She knew it was as soon as Treble poked his head halfway through the window to greet her. LOL. We celebrated her birthday with our family at my aunt and uncle's house, and my Grandma Gina was able to make it for awhile. The first thing she asked was "how is beanie baby?" and the second was "how are you feeling". Apparently the women in our family used to suffer from horrible morning sickness; at least, she did, as well as my mom with both me and my brother. *knock on wood* I've been VERY lucky for the past few weeks, as the only sickness I've felt has been in the first week from anxiety of actually BEING PG, and now when I eat TOO much I feel very "on the verge" of throwing up, simply from gorging myself.

Ahhh, yes, the hunger. It is true that you are eating for two. I honestly feel like I"m eating for six. I am hungry NONSTOP. All day. I'll eat a huge breakfast, and within an hour and a half, the hunger pains are back. It was funny, I was talking to my cousin, Becky, about the hunger last night, and she completly related as she was always hungry when she was PG with 14 month old, Aubrie. Today, before I left town, Becky was going to stop by to drop off some new pictures for me of Aubrie. Of course, when I answered, I was eating. She said "are you eating??", and we both laughed ourselves silly over that one. *sigh* Hee Hee. "Feed me" should be my theme song for Keifer, or "baby Bongo", as my mom is convinced the baby is ("Baby Bongo" because she swears she saw him in one of the embryos!).

Besides the hunger, the only other "signs" I've had have been the continuous cramping in the uterine area, and occasional sharper round ligament pains. I swore a week ago I was going to lose the baby, but had no blood, thank God, and apparently my symptoms were exactly those of round ligament pains. They hit me so hard, I was keeled over the cart at Target, with CJ pushing. Freaking him out, I hobbled to the parking lot very slowly, where I then whimpered and fretted in the car. I thought round ligament pains didn't start until the 2nd trimester, but apparently most women get them as early as I have been.

The other "sign" would be my sudden inability to keep my eyes open. I honestly didn't think I had gotten hit very hard by the sleepy fairy. Wrong. I found out a week ago that skipping my nap was not a good thing, and in the past few days, I've been ready to fall asleep in my lunch plate. Driving home today from Duluth was very difficult. I should be in bed now *blush* but I had to blog. All these thoughts whirling and twirling inside my head that need to get out.

Today, at 7 weeks PG, babycenter.com tells me that: Your baby still appears to have a small tail (actually, it's an extension of his tailbone), which will disappear in the next few weeks. But that's the only thing getting smaller. Now almost half an inch long — roughly the size of a raspberry — he has elbow joints and distinct, slightly webbed fingers and toes. In his oversized head, both hemispheres of his brain are developing. His teeth and the inside of his mouth are forming, and his ears continue to develop. Eyelid folds partially cover his tiny peepers, which already have some color, and the tip of that nose you'll be tweaking someday is emerging. His skin is paper-thin and his veins are clearly visible.Your little one also has an appendix and a pancreas, which will eventually produce the hormone insulin to aid in digestion. His liver is busy producing red blood cells, and a loop of your baby's growing intestines is bulging into his umbilical cord, which now has distinct blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from his tiny body. You can't feel his gyrations yet, but your baby is like a little jumping bean, moving in fits and starts around his watery home.

My other PG source of daily reading, among the many books on PG that we've been so lovingly gifted, my Pregnancy Journal tells me that the size of my baby would be half of a plastic bottle cap from a 2 liter bottle. So raspberry or half of a bottle cap, either way, it's still a small little beanie Bongo baby (Keifer), and it is still surreal to me. I sometimes wonder, daydreaming to myself, if its all so surreal to me still because I'm scared to actually let my guard down COMPLETELY and accept the fact that "yes, I am PG". I think after 3 years of infertility and nothing but heartache, the joy of a real, live PG is frightening me to death, and I truly don't think I'll feel its real until we see an ultrasound that resembles more of something that looks like a real baby. Or maybe when I start feeling flutters of movement. That is the thing I look forward to the most -- the feeling the baby. Although I by no means want to rush this PG, I wish in a small way I could feel something at this point, to KNOW that the baby is telling me its alive and kicking, and then that way maybe I could feel more "connected" , if that makes any sense.

Just for shits and giggles, I posted my early PG belly. This first one is the night of my BFP blood confirmation. Exactly 4 weeks PG.
The second picture is tonight, exactly 7 weeks PG. You can slightly see the slight bulge at the waist. Any sign of muscle tone that I used to have, years ago, is starting to become hidden. Ha, I totally had my gut sucked in as best I could. If I let that belly go, it would resemble a full-on 10 month PG belly! LOL. I am not kidding. The bloat at night is INCREDIBLE. *(and still a wee bit too embarrassing to share, sorry)* Last night, my mom was oohing and ahhing over the bloat, poking it , proclaiming it hard as a rock. Tonight, CJ just smiled at it. He likes to see it, it means its real to him and he is already so in love with his baby Keifer, it's incredible.