According to my nifty pregnancy apps, I am 4 weeks pregnant. This confuses me now as much as it did with my first amazing child. How can I be 1 month along if my ovulation date was about two weeks ago?
Well, according to a TLC article,
"Once your pregnancy has been confirmed, what you most want to know is your due date. The average length of a pregnancy is 40 weeks, or 280 days, from the first day of the last normal menstrual period."
So, the due date isn't necessarily based on the date of conception, which makes sense (in a way.) It has more to do with the day the egg matured than the day the sperm scored. (Which proves once again how marginal a man's role is in baby development, and how all-powerful the female body is.)
My projected due date is Wednesday, September 5, 2012. That means I'll have a Virgo child. I don't know what that means, but my dad's a Virgo, so I'm pleased.
At this point, I'm told that my babe is the size of an orange seed:
(For you visual learners, you!)
This week (Week 4), two heart tubes are already in operation and will fuse to make the heart soon! The neural tube (which will develop into the spinal cord is also developing this week! I'm having to take lots of Folic Acid and DHA to aid in these developments. Things to stay away from: too much Vitamin A and mercury-rich fish.
Symptoms so far: (Note, each pregnancy and person is different. My symptoms may not resemble yours!)
Bloating
Some light cramping (or, stretching, as I see it!)
Moments of uncontrollable, crazy, "I'm-going-to-eat-your-arm" hunger
Increased desire to nap... all day long
Increased desire to start looking at cribs, strollers and children's fabrics (Look out, Pinterest!)
