AND WE HAVE MOTION! WEEK 7!

Hi Everyone! Your favorite Niecephew is in week 7 already! We are the size of a blueberry now with arms and legs that can move. Don't believe me? Lookee right there! That's a hand, my friends, and that thing moves around! Before any of you ask, no, I cannot feel it moving yet! Do the math...if a blueberry had arms, how big do you think those arms would be? I'm more likely to feel gas moving...which I do...

No morning sickness yet. I did feel some nausea twice, but mostly I am having dizzy spell issues. I have also become a champion sleeper and eater of dairy products. There are other symptoms I won't bore you or disgust you with, but suffice to say, I'm still knocked up for really reals.

We're making another trip to Nebraska this weekend that is being met with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it gives us a chance to see the people I didn't see two weeks ago, but on the other - I just get so tired. At least Zach will be driving this time. Joke is on him - we'll be stopping at every rest area between here and Omaha.

Zach is getting pretty excited, too. He has a dry erase board on the fridge for me to mark our week so he can keep track, and he's really focused on that Ultrasound on the 8th. I guess I'll be finding out soon if my husband is queasy.

9 DAYS FROM SEEING OUR LITTLE ONE FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!

No Big Deal, It's Just WEEK 6 ALREADY!!!

Oh, hi there, friends and family. We have made it to week six already. As you can see to the right, the baby is still very tiny, so I'm still drawing on the location reminders. (That's below the belly button, for those of you worried I don't know where the baby is currently located. And don't ask why my hands are like that. We only had one take as I was falling asleep during my 1 picture photo shoot.)

I guess I should probably quit marking up my lower abdomen as this is the last time it will look this way.

If any of you were curious, NO, a road trip is NOT a relaxing way to kick off the first trimester. Don't get me wrong, it was great to see everyone, and I had a great time, but since I'm in a constant state of sleepiness, driving like a mad woman from one town to the next only to take a nap isn't necessarily the best visit for the people I saw and it was more than a little exhausting for me, too.

Other than being ridiculously tired and eating a lot of cottage cheese, I'm feeling pretty great. No morning sickness yet, and as I type that, I'm knocking on wood.

Well, here's what you all came for...what niecephew is up to this week...

The first heartbeats have begun! The greatest baby on earth is now a super great baby and is about 1/17 of an inch long. Growth is very rapid this week. The umbilical cord develops. The eyes and ears begin to form as well as an opening for the mouth. The heart has begun to pump blood and most of the other organs are well under construction. Buds form on the body that will become the arms and legs.

"BABY" and the Ultrasound date.

I've written 'BABY' in permanent marker on my lower abdomen so Zach doesn't keep mistaking my actual stomach for the womb. He wasn't pre-med, either.

Our first ultra sound is July 8!

I'm grounded from running until Aug 3. I'm still supposed to do cardio like recumbant bike or elliptical or fast walking, but no high impact.

WEEK 5??? WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW 24HRS AGO, AND ALREADY WEEK 5?

Until week 12, let's keep this a family-only/very close friends site, okay?

Well, we've done it. We've joined the legions of nearing-middle-age people that start a blog about their family so other's can keep up because...WE ARE FINALLY STARTING A FAMILY. Whatever - look at it this way - this will spare you from ever getting a lame Christmas card from us with a boring letter.

So, here's the story one last time so I'll quit boring you all with it's retelling...

I was on the phone with mom yesterday after stopping off to yet again purchase a box of pregnancy tests. (At this point, I think I own stock in EPT) Since I'm rude and disgusting, I decided to go ahead and take it while I was on the phone with her. I mean, they're negative every darn time anyway, and mom is used to hearing me pee on the phone.

No sooner had I set it down that it began to show. PLUS. A PLUS. A POSITIVE RESULT!!!???!!!??? (Yes, I ended up taking 2 more tests just to make sure!)

In the midst of choking and trying not to laugh and cry, I asked mom if I could call her back, and of course she wouldn't just say 'sure' and hang up. She had to ask what was wrong and keep asking if I was okay so I had to resort to, "MOM. I'M CALLING YOU BACK. GOOD BYE."

You all know how emotional I can get. I broke down in the bathroom crying and laughing and laughing and crying. Then I ran around the house doing this same routine. When I realized no one was home yet except a very perplexed Sophie Queen the Wonder Dog, I called Zach.

"We can't tell anyone! It's so soon! Get home as soon as you can." Naturally by the time he was home we'd both already broken that rule!

Turns out according to doctors, I'm in week 5 already. Normal people would say week 3, but I'm going to count the weeks the way the doctor does it so I don't get confused by #19. (Thus making pregnancy 40 weeks now instead of 38 - it's all the same amount of time, if you ask me - but I was a Theatre major, not pre-med.)

I'm feeling pretty great so far - still able to jog/run and no nausea. I am going to the bathroom more frequently, but that's also because I'm drinking water like a fiend. And, as Katie observed, I'm more clumsy now. Thanks, Katie!

I'll keep everyone posted on doctor appointment developments.

Anyway, here's how we're doing:

The developing greatest baby ever has three layers. In the top layer (ectoderm), the neural tube will form which will further develop into the nervous system (brain, spinal cord, skin and hair). In the middle layer (mesoderm), the heart and circulatory system, bones, muscles, kidneys and reproductive organs will develop - eventually. At this stage, however, the heart and primitive circulatory system will rapidly form. In fact, the circulatory system is the first organ system to function. In the inner layer (endoderm), a simple tube will develop into the intestines, liver, pancreas and bladder.