You are seven weeks pregnant, and while it may not be evident from the outside yet, you’re likely to be feeling some changes. Let’s take a look at what’s going on inside your body and with your baby’s development in week 7 of your pregnancy.
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Updated: July 21, 2021
At 7 weeks pregnant — 5 weeks since conception — your baby is growing fast! At the beginning of the week, baby’s crown-to-rump length is 4 – 5mm, but by the end of the week, baby has doubled in size, and is now around a centimeter long (1). That may not sound like much, and yes, it is still very tiny, but doubling in size in a week is a huge change!
What’s new with your tiny one this week?
If you haven’t read the week 6 pregnancy post, you may want to go back and read about morning sickness and constipation. In addition to those things, you may be feeling:
It may not be visible yet, but your body is working hard! Your metabolism changes during pregnancy and your body needs more energy while growing a baby. (And once again, there are those pesky hormones! Rapidly increasing levels of progesterone are thought to contribute to fatigue.) You may be feeling fatigued or even completely exhausted. Listen to your body, slow down, and rest when you need to. (2,3)
You may feel like your emotions are all over the place right now, and that’s completely normal. A huge life change like pregnancy can bring a wide range of emotions in both you and your partner, and you have the added hormonal changes piled on top of it. It may help to practice good self-care and open communication… and sometimes you just have to hang on and get through the wild ride!
If you find that your moods are particularly intense or that you’re really struggling, talk to your provider. Pregnancy Depression, Anxiety, and Stress are not at all uncommon, and your doctor or midwife will have helped many women through them and know how to help you as well.
You don’t look pregnant from the outside yet, and even those close to you aren’t likely to notice any changes in your body. You may notice, however, that you feel bloated, similar to what you might feel before your period. Even though your baby is tiny and your uterus is still quite small, you might notice that your clothes start to fit tighter. Week 7 of pregnancy means that you may still be keeping baby a secret, and while your body will not give you away, you may be beginning to feel different.
One of the most important things you can do for your baby is to focus on good nutrition during pregnancy. Contrary to the popular saying, you don’t have to eat as if you’re eating for two. In fact, there is no recommended caloric increase during the first trimester, and you only need about 300 extra calories a day during the second and third trimesters. (4) However, your nutrient needs do increase, and it is important to be intentional about what you put into your body.
During pregnancy, you should aim to eat daily:
Many women worry about things like pesticides during pregnancy, and wonder how to balance a desire to eat healthy with a budget that doesn’t allow for exclusively organic purchases. Different types of fruits and vegetables have different levels of pesticides, and the Environmental Working Group has ranked them to help consumers choose which should be purchased organic when possible. The highest levels of pesticides, in order, are found in:
If you can afford to do so, start substituting organic items for those in this list. Another great step is to choose organic milk, which comes from cows who have not been given extra hormones or antibiotics.
Fish are a part of a healthy diet. They’re rich in protein, are a great source of omega-3 fats, have more vitamin B12 and vitamin D than any other food, and contain minerals like iron, zinc, selenium, and iodine. In a perfect world, fish could be a big part of your diet. The problem is that due to human activities, mercury has made its way into our water, and fish that live in those ecosystems end up with mercury in their systems. Mercury is harmful to people, and pregnant women should be cautious because it can affect a baby’s developing nervous system.
Because of the benefits of seafood, the FDA does still recommend it for pregnant women. They just have guidelines on how much you should eat, and which kinds (because different types of fish have different levels of mercury.) A pregnant woman should eat 8 to 12 ounces a week, and should choose from types of seafood that are lower in mercury. Here’s a great chart from the FDA and EPA to help you make good, low-mercury choices.
Visit us again next week to learn about your pregnancy in week 8.
Kopa Birth’s online childbirth classes allow you to prepare for a natural childbirth from the comfort of your own home, 24/7. Enroll today in our free online childbirth class to learn more about preparing for a natural hospital birth.
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You are seven weeks pregnant, and while it may not be evident from the outside yet, you’re likely to be feeling some changes. Let’s take a look at what’s going
