Pregnancy Diary – Week 6

We made it to week 6! So, my pregnancy diary continues! Here is the second week of me being aware of my pregnancy. If you missed it, you can read about my 5th week of pregnancy here.

We decided to keep it a secret for now, until at least our first ultrasound, to make sure everything is going well. Part of me wants to tell everyone, but it also feels good to keep that little secret just for us. I only shared the news with my therapist and my dentist. I also made an appointment with a midwife for when I will be 8 weeks and 4 days.

Our baby is the size of a chocolate chip this week, so we have been calling him a “chocolate chip”. I call the baby “him” for some reason! We decided not to find out our baby’s gender, we want it to be a surprise! So, we will find out if my subconscious was right calling our little treasure a “he”.

I made an appointment with my acupuncturist this week and asked him to do his magic to make sure this baby stays put! He listened to my pulse and said it was very strong and that everything felt pretty good.

He said that after the first trimester it is possible to find out the baby’s gender by listening to a mom’s pulse. If it is a boy, your body has a higher concentration of testosterone and it makes the heartbeat stronger, and thus the pulse on the left wrist will feel stronger than on the right one. And if it is a girl, the pulse will be the same on both wrists. I asked about the twins, as I am secretly hoping for twins, and he said that in case of a twin pregnancy, there will be a faint second pulse. Guess what I will be doing a lot after the first trimester! I will share my pulse predictions with you!

He put a couple of needles to improve my digestion as I had been feeling a bit constipated a few days. And he also put a couple of needles to increase the blood flow to my uterus, but just a little bit. Some dietary recommendations included:

• more lamb;
• no shrimp as it may cause allergies on the baby’s skin. I always thought that shrimp was safe to eat during pregnancy as it contains low levels of mercury. But I will still follow this advice, I can surely survive without shrimp for a few months!
• no tropical fruit like watermelon, pineapple or mango due to high sugar content and “cold energy” – the same recommendation that I received before I got pregnant;
• no iced water or ice-cream, or anything that is too cold. As for ice-cream, he said I can either wait till it melts a bit, or melt small amounts in my mouth before I swallow. Seriously, how did he know that this is how I normally eat my ice-cream?! Yup, I like it as an ice-cream soup!
• more seasonal fruit and vegetables.

I have been feeling pretty good, my symptoms did not change much from the previous week:

• my heart rate jumps up to 110 – 120 bpm every time I get up and move around, so I get tired very quickly;
• I fall asleep quicker and sleep much better during the night;
• A few times during the day I feel like I need to lie down and have a nap. I actually napped one day after work this week, for about 2 hours! It felt so good!
• I feel slightly more nauseous this week, but no morning sickness yet;
• I have been craving some salty foods.

My HCG level at 5w4d was 15,634 IU/L. Our chocolate chip has been very busy growing in there! It gives me hope that everything is going well. I am so excited to see and feel what the next week will bring, And we are having our first ultrasound next week!