pregnancy / weeks 7 & 8

**previously scheduled post**

Am I even pregnant?

Seriously, there is nothing big going on right now. We toured a birth center in a nearby city and I'm not sure yet if I will continue my prenatal care there or try somewhere else. North Carolina has very restrictive rules on how and where women can give birth and who can attend them. I would love a homebirth, but it's illegal, and because I was Group B Strep positive during my last pregnancy I hesitate to consider homebirth. 

If you're interested in learning more about GBS, click here. 

symptoms

Everything is business as usual! I've had a touch of nausea here and there but nothing serious or worth complaining about. Still super thirsty and I am SO HUNGRY. I especially want fried food, which is very unusual for me. For example, today I decided to grab a salad on the way home from my son's doctor visit and ended up getting fried Jamaican Jerk boneless wings too... guess which of the two entrees I actually ate for lunch (it was both but I ate the wings first). I'm feeling a bit fatigued but it's hard to tell if that's just normal toddler-mom life or the pregnancy (I'm leaning more towards toddler-mom life). Also, my temperature can't seem to regulate properly. I'm either freezing or sweating and there's really no in-between, which is a pain when it comes to our energy and gas bills.

I have no discernable bump, although I can feel a slight bulge in my pelvic area where my muscles used to be flat. I'm craving everything fried, and have only had minor symptoms.

baby

The ends of baby's arms and legs are flattening into paddle-like structures that will morph into hands and feet, although there are no fingers or toes yet. The trachea is beginning to form and the face is rapidly changing, with eyelids starting to stretch over the early eye structures. Baby is roughly the size of a raspberry and is just over half an inch long.

We've told our families and they were predictably excited. My husband and I aren't the kind of people that make a huge deal out of special announcements. Heck, he didn't even make a big deal out of asking me to marry him! We told my husband's parents after dinner one night. This will be their fourth grandchild so the special sound of the words "new grandbaby" has started to wear off, but they were very happy to hear about new baby!

I wanted to do something fun for my parents and thought about having a special onesie printed, sending a card, or putting my son in a shirt with "BIG BROTHER" plastered on the front. We usually eat lunch with my parents on Sundays after church,  so I decided to break the news at our favorite Chinese restaurant. At the end of the meal our waiter brought five fortune cookies, one for all the adults and my son. I cracked open a cookie for my son and leaned down to read the fortune to him. I forced a puzzled look and in my best mom-joke voice said, "Hmm, that's weird... it says future big brother."

aaaaand crickets. 

Well, at least from my mom. My dad was already smiling and laughing. When it finally dawned on her she chuckled and said "really?!?" The whole reading a fake fortune thing is kind of a running joke for her, so I'm pleased I was able to pull it off so flawlessly.

how did you tell your family about your pregnancy? drop a comment below!