Chorevia

Day 49 of 280 · 7 weeks

A grape, and a lemon

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 7 sources · Plain-text version

Seven weeks. Your baby is the size of a grape, your womb the size of a lemon, and your blood volume is climbing. Today is about fluid.

Size this week
about the size of a grape
Length this week
around 10 mm from head to bottom
A South Asian woman at a kitchen sink filling a clear water bottle, a marker pen in her other hand, bright mid-morning light across the counter.

Seven weeks. Two new fruit for the week, and a number the NHS gives for how much to drink. Today you make that number visible.

Your baby

A single green grape on a plain pale wooden table, close up, soft window light.

Around 10mm long from head to bottom, about the size of a grape (NHS). The brain, face and eyelids are developing (NHS). The NHS adds that folic acid is recommended to support this development, 400mcg daily until at least week 12 (NHS).

Your body

Your womb is now about the size of a lemon (NHS). Less visible but bigger: your blood volume rises during pregnancy, by up to 50%, which can make you thirsty, and the NHS suggests about eight medium glasses of fluid a day (NHS). The Office on Women's Health quotes the Institute of Medicine at about 10 cups daily (OWH). The extra blood is also why iron goes up to 27 mg a day in pregnancy (MedlinePlus).

The symptoms this week, from the NHS: tiredness, nausea, mood changes, sore breasts, headaches and cramping (NHS). Nausea can occur at any time of day, not only the morning (NICHD).

Try today

  1. The eight-glass bottle

    Time: 5 minutes

    1. Pick one bottle. Pour a medium glass of water into it and mark where it reaches with a strip of tape or a marker.

    2. Work out how many fills of that bottle make eight glasses (NHS), and write the number on the tape: "x4", or whatever yours is.

    3. Each time you empty it, make a tally mark on the tape. Eight glasses is one visible day's worth.

    4. At bedtime, write the day's total in your notes beside the date.

    Make it work:

    If water won't stay down, the bottle can hold seltzer or ginger ale, sipped between meals rather than with them (MedlinePlus).

Watch for

  • Normal

    thirst, as the blood volume rises (NHS).

    Call your provider

    for dizziness or fainting; both are urgent maternal warning signs on the CDC's list (CDC).

  • Normal

    cramping, which the NHS lists among this week's symptoms (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for bleeding with pain or cramping, or dizziness with bleeding; if you can't reach them, go to the emergency room (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    being more out of breath on the stairs than you'd like to admit.

    Call 911

    for trouble breathing, or chest pain or a fast-beating heart; the CDC lists both as signs that need care immediately (CDC).

For you

You may not look pregnant yet, and the NHS says this can differ if you've been pregnant before (NHS). So the lemon is yours to know about and nobody else's to see. If that's a relief, enjoy it. If you'd like the world to notice, the world will catch up.

It can be an odd week for the two of you: one person is thirsty, tired and sick, and the other sees nothing. If you're the partner, believe the symptoms before you can see the reason for them. Up to 50% more blood is a lot of work that doesn't show (NHS).

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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