Giving Birth with Confidence

Your Pregnancy Week by Week: 7 Weeks

Your Pregnancy Week by Week: 7 Weeks

Lamaze International

The following information -- and much more -- can also be found in the free weekly email Lamaze Pregnancy Week by Week. Sign up now to receive helpful information for your stage of pregnancy. Subscribers will be given the opportunity to complete a Lamaze Parent Satisfaction Survey after their pregnancy and receive a Lamaze Toys coupon. We want to hear about your birth experience and the impact that childbirth education may have had so that we can continue to make sure parents have the information they need for the safest, healthiest birth possible.

You're in Week 7 of Your Pregnancy!

Are you having a hard time keeping food down lately? Many pregnant people experience nausea in the first trimester—luckily, the feeling usually passes by the start of the second trimester. If you’re not able to eat much right now, it’s important to make every bite count. This week, we’re providing tips for nourishing your body.

What's New with Baby

Your baby is changing quickly, as the major organs of their little body are now forming. The brain is developing into five areas, and some cranial nerves are already visible. Blood is pumping through the main vessels to all parts of their body. Yet even as all of this is going on, your baby is still not much longer than a cucumber seed!

 

What's New with You

Nausea is so common in early pregnancy, it’s often the first sign you are pregnant. It may help to think of that queasy feeling as nature’s way of keeping you and your baby safe from harmful substances during your baby’s most sensitive developmental stage.

The tips below can help you cope—but above everything remember to keep your eyes on the road ahead: nausea will end eventually. For most, it goes away somewhere between the third and fourth month.

 

  • A change in diet can help. Eat and drink whatever you think you can handle—try small, frequent snacks that sound comforting and are easy to digest, and look for foods that contain the top nutrients you need each trimester.
  • A high-protein snack before bed, as well as to snack on before getting out of bed, is a traditional remedy for morning sickness. Munch on yogurt, cheese, peanut butter, nuts, seeds, eggs, canned light tuna, and oatmeal.
  • Motion sickness bands, which stimulate an acupressure point near the wrist, can ease symptoms.

Ginger and vitamin B6 (75 mg daily) provide relief for nausea and vomiting. Take ginger capsules (1 g daily), add it to cooking or brew it into a tea.

 

Words of Wisdom from Another Mom

“I am 10 weeks pregnant. I haven’t experienced any nausea, which had me worrying—but my doctor says it's fine. I get ravenous and feel awful if I wait too long to eat. I am only craving meat! I hate red meat and normally avoid it, but now I dream of hamburgers and steak...in the middle of the night!”

 

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Tags: Pregnancy , Early pregnancy , First trimester , Lamaze Pregnancy Week by Week