I made it through the 6th week of pregnancy! I have been tracking my pregnancy based on full weeks of completion, so while this post is a recap of week 6, it is titled for where I am today. Anyway, my 7 week pregnancy symptoms have started off with a bang! So far, I am having a very different pregnancy that the last two times. I have to admit, it’s rougher, but I’ll tell you how I’m making due.

7 Week Pregnancy Symptoms & Mom Hacks

Exhaustion

My number 1 symptom right now is exhaustion. No matter how much sleep I get, I’m always tired! Not only am I wanting to sleep, but my body is also just wanting rest. When I get home from work, I basically park myself on the couch until I have to be responsible.

What’s the Mom Hack for Exhaustion?

Resting! Unless absolutely necessary, I decline meetings at work that are before 9am to give myself time to come in a little later in the morning if I need to. If I feel like I can’t make it though the work day, I take myself out to my car for a quick nap during lunch. At home, I let the kids play and I sit on the couch and watch them for the most part.

The things I most struggle with are cooking, my favorite thing to do and laundry, my least favorite thing to do. But we will talk about those in a minute.

Morning Sickness + Food Aversion

I woke up at 6 weeks and 1 day pregnant and immediately rushed to the bathroom before I could get the first yawn of the day out. Almost every day since then I have woken up sick to my stomach. Some days the feeling lingers all day long. When I’m not turning green, my stomach is still putting up a great fight. Remember at 5 weeks pregnant, when I told y’all I was hungry all the time? That’s over. I ordered a Taco Salad from Qdoba today and picked out everything I ordered except rice, beans, and lettuce. Even then I had to put my favorite Taco Bell Taco Sauce all over it to stomach the meal. Afterwards I was still nauseous. So, food and I are in a very confusing relationship right now.

What’s the Mom Hack for Morning Sickness?

Again, I’m taking my time in the morning. I get to work a little later some days because I’ve been in the bathroom or sitting with my head between my knees for 15 minutes before I’m able to get dressed. I’m also giving my body what it wants. I drink a ton of water and snack on salty things during the day. I stopped bringing my lunch to work and go for whatever sounds good in the cafeteria.

The Preggie Drops aren’t working as they did for me before. Soda and/or Ginger Ale have helped wonders and I feel no guilt about having one or the other during the day because I no longer regularly drink coffee.

Pregnancy Guilt

The last major 7 week pregnancy symptom I have is something I like to call Pregnancy Guilt. It’s when you feel bad about all the things you can’t do or help with since getting pregnant or feeling pregnancy symptoms. Let’s talk about a few things I personally have felt that about this week.

• Being too nauseous to cook or want to eat what I’ve cooked – causing the family to spend more eating out and eating poorly
• Being too tired to clean – causing the laundry to pile up and slowing us all down during the week.
• Being too nauseous and tired to fully take care of my children after work – causing my husband, who is in a high stress job as well as a rigorous doctoral program to step in. He never complains, but is up all hours of the night doing work that he normally would have done in the daylight.
• Saying “no”. I have only felt guilty about this a few times, but I started declining all types of requests this week. Coworkers, Friends, church members – all kinds of things have been asked of me by these groups of people I regularly interact with. I know my fatigue and family limits and just can’t commit to anything that further inconveniences us during this time

What’s the Mom Hack for Pregnancy Guilt?

I’ve been clinging to a particular bible verse for this whole early pregnancy it seems. It’s a super common, but it’s true and it works!

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

First, children are a gift from God. My husband and I are so blessed by this pregnancy – but sometimes forget that we are literally growing a human being. My body is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do at this time. We are thanking God every day that we even had the opportunity to conceive, for our other two beautiful children, and for his eternal love and grace towards our family.

I trust God to take care of my family and provide for them in my absence, even better than I could. I trust and am in prayer for their health, peace of mind, and success every day. And for myself, I ask for peace despite the fact that I shouldn’t have it at all in this chaos. I believe God loves me and wants me to have this child – so why wouldn’t He take care of all that is slipping through my fingers?

Other News

Since week 4, when we saw nothing on the ultrasound, we have not had any additional midwife visits. Our next visit will be a little over a week from now – and it will be an ultrasound! Please keep us in prayer and stay tuned for next week’s update!

In the meantime, what are your 7 week pregnancy symptoms?