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Week Five
Published 02.22.2008 | Permanent Link | Comments (10)
Your baby:
- Is about the size of a sesame seed.
- Looks more like a tadpole than a human-variety baby.
- Making developmental leaps and bounds by the hour like a damned GENIUS CHILD.
You:
- Are totally for-real pregnant, with a positive home pregnancy test to prove it and everything.
- Are definitely popping a prenatal vitamin everyday -- you can pick them up at any grocery store or vitamin shop. Your doctor can also write you a prescription, but if your insurance doesn't cover them it's perfectly fine to buy them off the shelf.
- If you don't FEEL very pregnant yet, don't panic. It's early. Breast tenderness and fatigue may be all you've got at this point.
- Oh, and yes, it is time to stop smoking, drinking, doing drugs and licking inner-city mailboxes, if you're into that sort of thing.
Operation Chill Out hit its first major obstacle this week in the form of cramping. Lots and lots of cramping. Now, I do remember some cramping last time -- right before I found out I was pregnant, actually, because I distinctly remember deciding to NOT take a pregnancy test after I missed my period, since the cramping told me it must be imminent. But this week was different, since I could clearly tie the cramping to activities, like running errands or picking up my toddler or just WALKING TO THE BATHROOM. The pain shot through my abdomen and around my back and I swear I could feel it around my pubic bone at times. I took to the couch with a ginormous bottle of water (dehydration can cause uterine cramping) and tried to stay put for as long as possible.
My husband finally handed me the phone and ordered me to call the doctor -- my first prenatal appointment isn't for another few weeks and he was not happy about that. My doctor told me everything I already knew: drink plenty of water, rest, and relax. If there's no bleeding, cramping is usually completely normal. But...come in for a quick ultrasound anyway.
At five weeks and change, your baby is about a millimeter long. That's incredibly tiny and hard to see with even the best ultrasound equipment. This is not to say that there isn't stuff there -- the early shapes of a head and torso and the teensiest little limb-buds are starting to form, along with internal organs and the chambers of the heart. By next week, that little heart will be a visible flickering pixel on a sonogram, but right now it's all just too small to see.
My ultrasound this week confirmed that I was carrying a single appropriately-sized embryo -- appropriate for a five-week-old pregnancy, meaning the baby itself was about three weeks old. And it ruled out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. (Where the embryo implants anywhere other than the uterine wall, like in a fallopian tube or down on the cervix or even IN an ovary.) Cramping and abdominal pain can be a symptom of an ectopic pregnancy, but like all other Bad Things, it is usually accompanied by bleeding.
Then again, some spotting is completely normal and harmless. It can be a stray clot, a urinary tract infection, or just one of those weird things that happens. You just don't always know. Welcome to pregnancy! And...parenthood, actually. Now that I think about it.
(Now that we're in the realm of actual can-be-documented stuff about
pregnancy, I'll be including a couple things each week comparing my
first and second pregnancy. "Oh Yeah, THIS" will be the stuff I went
through the first time but repressed forgot about,
and "New This Time Around" will cover all the stuff that makes my
current pregnancy a unique and special little snowflake.)
Oh Yeah, THIS: Bloating! Dude. Duuuuude. The first time around I (wrongly) assumed that I started showing ridiculously early, and no lie, I LOOK like I'm showing already. My pants don't fit and I have a round poochy belly that I cannot suck in. But of course, my uterus is still tiny. I am bloated. Am balloon. Am walking around with my pants undone, affectionately rubbing my little gas-baby and there's just nothing to be done about it. Thank heavens for the Bella Band.
New This Time Around: Well, the frequent and painful cramping, obviously. I've since read all about the round ligament pain that plagues a lot of second pregnancies, and also how uterine scarring -- be it from endometriosis or previous D&Cs or c-sections -- can also exacerbate the cramping. I also went to the price club and purchased a giant pallet of bottled water and keep one with me CONSTANTLY. Staying hydrated has definitely helped, even if I am also dashing to the bathroom CONSTANTLY. A full, pressing bladder is infinitely more preferable to the sensation that my uterus is about to expel its precious cargo.
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About this column
Zero to Forty is a week-by-week guide to the miracle of pregnancy and all the various indignities that come with it. New installments will be published on Wednesdays, with other pregnancy-related content and ramblings to be published whenever the columnist can stay awake long enough to type themzzzzzz.
The column is well-researched but not written by a health care professional. Consider it your internet BFF pregnancy guide. See our legal disclaimer below.
About the author
Amy Corbett Storch, aka Amalah, is a freelance writer and professional blogger from Washington, DC. She is currently knocked up with her second child, due in October. Her first child is still currently wearing diapers. Amy is currently wondering what she has gotten herself into now.
Amy also writes Alpha Mom's Advice Smackdown.
About the illustrations
The Zero to Forty masthead and illustrations were created by the artist Brenda Ponnay aka Secret Agent Josephine. Brenda is very talented and these images are copyright-protected. You should hire her!
Disclaimer
This column is only for entertainment purposes and is not written by a health care professional. Any recommendations or information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for advice by a trained professional. For a full statement of our site policies, please click here.
Comments (10):
jodifur said:
I'm just excited someone else calls Costco Price club.
Carry on, pregnant people.
Posted on February 27, 2008 17:58
Bethiclaus said:
I had more intense ligament pain with baby #2. Am textbook pregnant woman. Also, seven weeks post-partum and still have bloaty gas baby. Sexy.
Posted on February 28, 2008 09:33
selzach said:
I've had much more cramping with this (my second pregnancy). I ended up calling the OB at some point around 4-6 weeks and she said it's very common. The cramping has tapered off, but I still have some very uncomfortable days. The tiredness during my first trimester was awful. I could barely function in the evenings.
Posted on February 28, 2008 12:41
tara said:
hey there. long time somewhat-lurker from amalah who fears the post button and will worry that what i wrote is stupid in about 10 seconds.
just wanted to say that i'm so glad that you are writing this and if all continues to go well, i'll be just a few weeks behind you. i've been stressing all day, worrying that i'm cramping for all the wrong reasons and you've made me feel better. thanks :)
Posted on March 4, 2008 22:53
Lindsay said:
I am newly pregnant and LOVING reading your blog. I, too am experiencing the "gas baby" and thinking that I might be crazy to think that this sesame seed sized baby can make my pants too tight! Thanks for making me feel better! :)
Posted on July 16, 2008 16:23
Tracy said:
Ok, Like...15 or 20 weeks ago or whatever, however long ago it was that you announced you were writing this blog...I was all "hmmm. That's interesting." And I checked it once or twice and went on with life. NOW...five weeks pregnant...I am SOOOOOOOOOO happy you wrote this! I've spent the last 24 hours freaking out about all the cramping I was doing yesterday, and the very SLIGHT bit of spotting I had...and now I know it's normal (despite what Dr. Google told me.) Yay.
Thanks, Amy.
Posted on July 22, 2008 22:05
Brittany said:
whew! Thank goodness! I had zero cramping with baby #1, now I am prego with #2 and I could swear I am getting ready to have a period my cramps are killer!!! I was worried it was not normal and you have squashed my fears hooray! ps I got through advanced college calculus with flying colors.......yet pregnancy math completely stumps me!!!
Posted on August 15, 2008 18:23
Andee said:
I laughed out loud at the gas-baby! Was just saying to a friend tonight that I was wondering if I was further along than I thought because even my maternity pants are uncomfortable!!! This is baby number 3 and just like my last pregnancy, this one confirms that no two experiences are the same. Happy I found this! Thanks!
Posted on September 10, 2008 23:34
Lucy said:
I know this is totally hella late, but I start my fifth week tomorrow and I am SO THERE with you on the cramping! I've had endometriosis for years (4 surgeries for it) so I guess that's why it's so dramatic for me.
Also, I do not have a gas baby, but I do have a water baby. For serial. I'm so damn thirsty all the time that I feel like my eyeballs are floating.
Posted on October 1, 2008 16:26
Jenn said:
Gas Baby: check, frequent peeing: check,
nausea: check , but my boobs have only expanded (Thank God, also my first pregnancy clue this time around)
I love your blog and it's so nice to hear these things from a real pregnant woman not a man(the authors of most prego books)
Posted on October 3, 2008 12:39