I know my last post was a little bit somber, but my first trimester was a HUGE change in life for me, mentally and physically. I’m so thankful and I count my blessings for the wonderful life growing inside of me. Today, I wanted to share some fun, and not so fun things about my first trimester. ALL the details I’m sure you REALLY want to know, especially if you are in your first trimester as well. YOU CAN DO THIS BABE!!!
My First Trimester Symptoms:
Something clicked in my head that there might be a possibility of being pregnant when my breasts started to become sore. I was also feeling nauseous and lightheaded from the start, although, I thought it was because of my anxiety. I would say I was mostly in bed due to the nausea and fatigued 80% (or more) of my day . The other 20% was frequent bathroom breaks, maintaining a work schedule, trying to eat and stay hydrated. Anything outside of the 20%, you know where to find me…bed or couch.
Other symptoms, beside all day nausea and fatigue, included food aversions-I didn’t have any food cravings, other than food that just sounded better that wouldn’t make me feel sick, but the food aversions were REAL. Eating was very hard for me, especially in the beginning. Not that I couldn’t keep anything down because I didn’t ever vomit, but nothing ever sounded good, and I was just so nauseous. When I did eat, I was forcing it down and then I still felt terrible. When I realized it wasn’t just my anxiety, but that I was pregnant, I searched for items that sounded good-my food diary can be found below. It helped to find select food items that sounded good, rather than forcing down just any food.
I did have hormonal breakouts on my chin, swollen and tender breasts, and minor cramping. SO basically, all of the things were happening to me in the first trimester. The toughest part was the nausea and fatigue. It was hard for me to mentally and physically deal with that. I’ve always been a very healthy person, and rarely did I ever feel sick, so this was tough to handle-being sick the majority of my day for close to 10 weeks. Work, my creativity, and social life had really been put on pause. It was difficult at first, but I knew I needed to listen to my body and I needed to do what was best for me and the baby, and that was rest.
At a little over week 10, I noticed some of these more intense symptoms toned down. Breast tenderness, breakouts, nausea, and even my food aversions really started to just ease up. Around week 10 and up until week 12 (which is where I’m writing to you now), I’ve been able to eat normally, and I’ve had a much bigger appetite. My nausea is no longer all day , but just comes in waves along with the fatigue. I believe I can contribute that to being able to eat and drink more…keeps the stomach settled. I tend to have a really productive morning, and by the afternoon I can feel a bit of that worn out feeling. Typically, I’ll take a nap or rest to recharge for the afternoon.
Food Diary:
From week 5-8, I kept a ziploc baggie of cereal on my nightstand. Before I rolled out of bed each morning, I snacked on a little bit of dry cereal. This really helped to fill my belly first thing to lessen the nausea because, an empty stomach always makes it worse. lunch was tough, but I tried to eat small portions or as much as I could. Then after week 8-around week 9 was when I could start eating a little more mainly in the AM, I started having a mini breakfast before I could make myself an actual breakfast, this typically was just a mini muffin and water. I would get up first thing in the morning, go to the bathroom, get a mini muffin, have some water, and get back into bed for a bit longer. Lunch was a little easier and so was dinner- I just made and kept super simple options in the fridge or had Jacob pick up whatever sounded good that day. Here at week 12 I still pretty much keep that same morning schedule. Seems to help my morning energy along with keeping any nausea at bay. Just before week 12 I realized that snacks REALLY helped me out. Kept me full, kept the sickness down, and the lightheadedness I would feel sometimes.
For breakfast I often had something plain like a plain waffle, bagel thin, oatmeal or english muffin. I would try to have a little bit of fruit as well-most of the time it was a little bit of a banana. With my breakfast in my earlier weeks, I made a warm ginger tea with fresh lemon. I would also smell the fresh cut lemon-that seemed to really help with my nausea. Any drink I had it more than likely had lemon in it.
I snacked very lightly throughout the day all throughout my first trimester. I usually felt the worse in the morning till about 2. I knew I needed to keep food in me to help keep my stomach full. I often had yogurt with plain granola, organic chips, fruit, carrots, or dry cereal. After week 10 when I started to gain more energy, I kept cheese sticks, granola bars or veggie straws, in addition to the above snacks, in the pantry and it helped to bring them along if I needed to go out for errands. I ate more snacks more often after week 10 so I’m literally STOCKED up on snacks at all times.
Lunch was typically very difficult for me as I rarely ever wanted to eat at this time of day during my earlier weeks. It helped to snack a little before lunch and then wait till a little bit later to have a “larger” portion of food. I hated forcing any food down, it always seemed to make it worse for me. It’s better to listen to your body and what it needs. I would typically have a later lunch that consisted of whatever sounded good. This often included cheese and crackers, a smoothie, mac and cheese, soup, or a salad with no dressing. It was hard to know what I would want for lunch when it came around, but I could always count on cheese and crackers. After week 10 when I started to gain an appetite back, I started to add in things like a PBJ, veggie sub sandwich, veggie sushi rolls, and I could start eating leftovers from dinner the night before as long as it still sounded good-mainly if it was a rice dish and veggies.
Dinner was a little bit easier, but still confusing for me. In the very beginning of my first trimester, I would cook things that didn’t sound good, and the smell alone would hinder me from wanting to cook or eat. It got a little easier as time progressed because it seemed like I felt less of the nausea at night. If I had any “food cravings” it wasn’t ever the same and it would change from day to day, but I could count on feeling hungry for something specific in the evening. So, advanced grocery shopping never worked out for me. I would often try to eat a healthy dinner, but sometimes all I wanted was a cheeseburger from McDonald’s- and that only happened twice. Sometimes, it was just plain pasta, or beans and rice. I mainly just craved foods that weren’t going to make me feel sick. So, I listened to my body and what it wanted. It was better for me to eat something, than nothing at all, or to force food down that would only make me feel worse (I’m looking at you pizza). I often tried to incorporate salads and protein into my dinner. I also loved to make acai bowls topped with fruit and granola. As time progressed in my first trimester it was a bit easier to go back to making my normal dinners. I was able to add in a little more of a variety, but sometimes still all I want is just plain pasta or beans and rice.
Because Jacob and I eat dinner kind of early, I started having a snack later at night to help keep my stomach full throughout the night or I would wake up feeling terrible. I would have a bowl of cereal, or make a little treat like Sweet Loren’s vegan cookies (those are my jam), I would often also pop in a plain waffle, or have an applesauce or pudding. Not going to lie, I def have the occasional ice cream, but really tried to make healthy decisions for myself. Sometimes all I had was fruit. Fruit was a MAJOR part of this first trimester, it was like the only constant thing I could handle oddly enough.
Eating smaller meals more often throughout the day is what helped me because letting myself go hungry was the worse feeling, and it made any nauseousness feel worse. My biggest takeaway-listen to your body and try to nourish it with healthy options as best as you can. Find food items that sound good to you, even if it’s just a select few. Don’t feel like you can’t treat yourself too. It can be tough in the first trimester when it comes to food, so just eat wants sounds good, and try to make healthier options.
Exercise:
I exercised pretty intensely leading up to my pregnancy. Ya’ll I HAD ABS AND IT WAS AMAZING. Well, those abs are gone. I’m not mad though, I love what my body is currently doing…growing a baby. You can count me out for any exercise in my first trimester. The only think I managed and still manage are walks. Earlier on, walks were super hard. I thought I was going to vomit the entire time. I’m starting to get back into some type of exercise. I still take walks, and I love to do a nightly stretch, I also do some squats here and there. Still, going into this next phase and as I start to feel better, I would love to incorporate other light exercises. I’ll keep you posted on that. I’m starting to research pregnancy exercise and things that would be good for my body!
How I Told Jacob:
This is probably the biggest question I get besides food and symptom related things-how I told Jacob. So, I’m going to stick it in this post because it is short, sweet, and probably my fave part to tell.
Earlier in the year when I got off my birth control, and both Jacob and I decided to start growing our family, I asked him if he would like to be surprised or wanted to be in on it all. He said that he wanted to be surprised. So, I always took that into account when I thought I might be pregnant-I always waited to secretly take pregnancy tests.
When I finally saw the positive, I was shocked and I just needed to tell someone. That’s why I called my OB right away, I didn’t want to long wait to confirm, but I still wanted to go in before I told him just just to be sure. I waited about three days before I told Jacob. It was after my very first appointment where I walked away with not so confirming news, but I knew I wanted this to be special and I didn’t want to have regrets if all I did was tell Jacob that “I might be pregnant but …”and then list all the negative stuff…So I decided to tell him in a simple and sweet way.
After my appointment I went and got pink and blue balloons to line up our entryway when he walked in the house. I had been holding onto a little gift for him since the beginning of the year when I first thought I was pregnant. It was a sweet little box with a card and onsie which you can find HERE if you are interested. He walked in, and I was just shaking, I said ” I have a surprise for you”, and Jacob was just like, what is happening. We stood in the middle of pink and blue balloons as he opened up with gift and shockingly say “really?” to me. I said, “I’m pregnant” and we hugged and cried. Maylene had no interest in what was happening, so she popped some of our balloons, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. That was the moment it all became real for me. I WAS PREGNANT!!!! I hope to get this video out soon.
The End Of 12 Weeks Recap:
12 weeks came and went faster than I expected. Although, there were times when I had no idea if I was going to make it through. I learned a lot about my body and what it can handle, what I can handle. I learned that rest and mental health is important, above any boss moves I was trying to make in my business. I put aside a lot of things in my life and while it was difficult at first, I’m glad I did for my health and the baby’s health. It was tough, it has been an emotional rollercoaster, but I couldn’t be more thankful. I feel blessed to be able to carry this miracle of life. God chose me to carry this baby, to bring life into the world how could I not just be brought to my knees in humbleness and thankfulness. Three months of a life changing adventure, and I’m so excited for the journey! Goodbye first trimester, hello second…I’m ready for you!
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