Week 7: Bring On The Kegels

MIND:
When you can manage to stay awake, a lot of your time is probably spent reading baby books nonstop, especially if this is your first pregnancy. Considering how eager we are to fill our heads with baby-related information, it’s surprising how unwelcome all the unsolicited advice from family and strangers can be! Okay, that’s a lie — it’s not that surprising at all. Nine months of weird advice is more than any one woman should have to endure, which will become more and more obvious as you spread the news and your pregnancy starts to show. Just smile and nod and, if you’re having an especially hormonal day and it makes you feel better, flip these well-meaning people the bird as they walk away.


BODY:
You may not look any different yet, but your body’s definitely changing. Not only are you making more frequent trips to the bathroom, but you might also be experiencing the “sninckle” — the tendency for pregnant women to tinkle when they sneeze (or cough, or laugh, or just sit quietly and exist).

Some women make it through pregnancy and childbirth with their urinary system completely intact, but many get to deal with the kind of urine leakage they thought they’d avoid until well past retirement age. We can’t stress this enough: DO YOUR FREAKING KEGELS. We all know what Kegel exercises are … right? They’re designed to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles and keep those pelvic organs in place. They are also quite handy for keeping you from peeing your pants. Suffice it to say, you’re not going to like what happens down there if you skip ’em. Trust us.


BABY:
The little one is now approximately the size of a pencil eraser, much like the one she’ll no doubt someday get lodged up her nostrils, which, incidentally, are starting to form this week. In addition to nostrils, your baby is working on further developing his or her heart, lungs, brain, spinal cord and a mouth they’ll eventually use to do things like tell you they love you and beg for a treat from the ice cream truck. Your baby’s limb buds are also forming which will grow into arms, hand, legs and feet. You still have quite a while before you can count those tiny toes.

NEST: Your boobs are continuing to swell and could even big a cup size bigger so buy yourself a comfy bra.