Week 5

How you are feeling: Tender nips, especially if the baby you are still breastfeeding is teething. Lil punkin’ is just asking to be weaned. You also increasingly notice your heightened sense of smell. Like, to the point where you can tell your husband everything he ate that day because you can smell it seeping from his pores. It’s as if you are a Super Hero. With a really crappy super power. This week you are definitely tired, because it takes a lot of work to create love handles, er…I mean, a baby.

An amazing thing about this week is your baby’s circulatory system is already pumping blood and if you were to have an ultrasound this week you may be able to see the heart beating. That beautiful flutter on the screen will make you forget the fact that the technician is not waving the ultrasound wand over your belly this early in pregnancy. Huh uh. You are seeing that miracle whilst wearing a paper gown during a very awkward encounter happening south of the border. Just focus on the pretty heartbeat…

Perhaps you are wondering why in the world a person would have an ultrasound so early. There are many reasons a doctor might choose to closely monitor your pregnancy early on, oooooor maybe it’s because you literally have no idea how far along your are. If you are breastfeeding, you may not have had a return of Aunt Flo. Understand this: the absence of the crimson wave does not mean an absence of pregnability. You hear that, young people? You can always get pregnant!

This week you discover how big of a lush you are in the eyes of your friends and family.  Seems like everywhere you turn, someone is offering you a glass of wine. Actually, the more you think about it, maybe THEY have a drinking problem! You could think that, except when you turn down wine, you notice your in-laws all exchanging a knowing look.  Or when you quietly decline a glass at a girl’s craft night and your friend hollers, “UM, COULD I TALK TO YOU FOR JUST A MINUTE?” while half a dozen of your closest friends nonchalantly follow you both down the hall for what promises to be as enthusiastic and giggly of a convo as when you and your 15 year old friends discussed french kissing and Leonardo DiCaprio. Now, you could blame the excessive number of these imbibing encounters on the holidays, but let’s be super honest; you have 4 kids, of course you drink! Just kidding.

Not really.

Just kidding.

No, but seriously.