Pregnancy: Week 8

We made it to 8 weeks! Praise the Lord again! I learned that at 8 weeks our risk of miscarriage goes from about 15% down to 3%. Knowing this has given me a huge feeling of relief. Of course, this baby is still God’s and he could take it at any time. AND we’re also only ONE week away from our first prenatal appointment where we will get to see the little bean via ultrasound and hopefully hear the heartbeat!! We will also find out if we’re having multiples or not. This totally freaks Arthur out and he cringes a little every time I bring it up. We know the Lord would provide in full, but we’re both hoping for just one baby to start off with.

This week has also been one of the most heartbreaking weeks I have ever had to face. This past Thursday I lost my best friend. I knew this was coming, but I still wasn't ready. My heart has been broken into a million little pieces. I can't imagine my tears ever stopping right now or my heart feeling joyful. I am so, so sad. She was the best friend a 10—or 24—year old girl could ever ask for and I miss her so much already. This is about all I can say without bursting into tears. It was an incredibly tough day and my stomach was a wreck. Lots of gagging in between sobs.

Taken earlier this week when we got one blessed last weekend with her

Ok, no more crying...As if all of these highs and lows aren’t enough, we’re also moving this week. We are fortunate enough to only be moving a few blocks and to have a leisurely week and a half to get it all done. We took quite a few loads over the weekend, and with my mom’s help I almost have the entire kitchen put together. We even cooked our first meal there Sunday night.

We are hoping that the official “moving day” this weekend will just be for the big furniture, and it’s looking like we’re on track. They were able to rent our current unit out quicker than expected, so we will be able to get half our March rent back. This is totally a blessing, but also means that I need to get the place clean once everything is moved out this weekend. I was expecting to have the rest of the month to finish that up. They told us there will be cleaners coming in to do a deep clean, so it looks like I will just need to wipe everything down and run the vacuum. Arthur said it feels like we’ve been living in a tiny dorm room for the past year and the new place feels like an actual home. He’s totally right! We can't wait.

What's Up With the Baby

Baby K is about 5/8" long, the size of a kidney bean (or a raspberry), and growing about 1 millimeter per day. We have officially started calling him/her Little Bean, which seems to be sticking. LB's arms and legs have grown longer, with elbows forming and ossification (the hardening of the bones) beginning. Baby also has five ridges on each hand and foot, separated by narrow grooves, making them appear webbed. Also, great news: the tail is almost gone! Phew!

How I’m Feeling

I'm feeling overall exhausted. It's really difficult not being able to lay down at all during the work day. Even when I get home, just laying down for 10 minutes totally refreshes me enough to get back up and start packing. My car is sadly parked so far away from my building, otherwise I would rest there for a few minutes during the day. I am usually ready for sleep around 8, but we generally crawl into bed between 9 and 9:30 since there's so much to get done before the move this weekend. I have been able to sleep later this week, most days until about 7:30 when I absolutely have to get out of bed.

I am also still feeling nauseous, but no vomiting. I find myself gagging while brushing my teeth or coughing in the morning. Sometimes during the day and/or in the evening I will start to feel super achy like I have the flu. My body feels heavy and sluggish, and almost slightly sore all over. On the positive side, I have noticed my cramping being less intense and less frequent. I am starting to feel more pinching sensations rather than cramping. Sometimes this makes me worry since that was the one thing that constantly reminded me my uterus was growing.

I am also extra slobbery these days (cute, right?). My mouth is usually the most drooly when I'm severely thirsty—which is at least a couple times a day. Which brings me to my last and newest pregnancy gift: frequent peeing! I definitely pee a lot more than I did even last week, maybe two extra times on average. I have heard that this only gets worse. So far I'm getting up one time in the night to go...

What I'm eating

I think this week had more highs and less lows than the last. I haven't felt any less nauseous, but luckily more foods were tolerable. Sunday night I cooked us our first meal in our new home. It was homemade mashed potatoes with breaded tofu and tomatoey green beans. I also had a Trader Joe's lentil wrap (my usual TJ's pick) and a couple TJ's black bean burritos (pretty much just spiced black beans and cheese). On the flip side, there were also lots of saltine crackers and sunflower butter. I have, however, been craving fresh fruit like crazy—a rough craving in the middle of winter. Smoothies, mini watermelons, and oranges are sufficing for now.

Pizza, string cheese, anything that resembles pizza, Odwalla juices, greek yogurt, bread, whole-grain bagels and cream cheese, and anything with too much flavor are on the bottom of my list right now. Veggies aren't turning me off these days, but I wouldn't exactly say they turn me on either considering they are almost non-existent in my diet.  

Exercise

Nada. Between packing, moving, crying, and dodging vomiting I have had very little motivation to get moving in the gym. I'm hoping this week will be better after the big move. Heck, I can't even consider moving a workout since I can't lift anything. It's all for a good cause!

Bump Watch

Nothing yet. I think my "large apple" sized uterus is still positioned down in my pelvic cavity. Each morning I gently push my fingers around my lower abdomen, but haven't felt anything yet. I am starting to feel pressure from the inside pushing out. Hopefully this means my uterus will start to grow up into my belly soon! I don't feel any more bloated than I felt at week 5, and continue to wear a belly band with most pants. 

Need to catch up?

Pregnancy Posts:
We're Having a Baby!
How We Found Out
Anxiety and Early Pregnancy
Finding a New Home
Hitting a Wall at 6 Weeks

Weekly Updates:
Pregnancy: Week 5
Pregnancy: Week 6
Pregnancy: Week 7