The First Trimester: Update and Tips

The first trimester is over, and we are very excited to share that we are expecting our first baby! He or she will arrive in December 2020. We are so blessed and excited to have this baby and blessed that we have such supportive friends and family who love our baby as much as we do. As you might have read in our previous post about 10 things we are doing to prepare for baby #1, we actively started trying to conceive in March and unexpectedly, we got pregnant right away. I was expecting it to take a couple of months and we were so surprised.

How We Found Out

I took a pregnancy test at 10 dpo and it was negative, so I waited until the day of my expected period to take another one. The night before, I felt so nauseous, like I had a case of food poisoning, and I had a dream that I took two pregnancy tests and they were positive. The next morning I took a First Response and a Clearblue Digital and they were both positive. I told my husband that morning and we shared the news with our family right away. We just couldn’t keep our mouths shut. We don’t live near our family so we shared the news with everyone via phone call. I am so looking forward to the day when we live within driving distance of our family so we can tell them in person the next time we are expecting.

How I’ve Been Feeling

I didn’t really have morning sickness, but my mom said that she didn’t either when she had me. I did feel queasy and it was hard for me to eat regular meals, but I never vomited. Aside from being hot all of the time and needing the A/C on every second of the day, I was just really tired. I slept at least 8 hours a night, and I still needed to take a nap in the middle of the day. I was so fatigued I felt like I couldn’t get anything done, and I didn’t have the energy to exercise but once or twice in the whole first trimester. It also didn’t help that we were under lockdown for the coronavirus. I really think getting out of the house and doing things would have been extremely helpful for my fatigue.

I had strange cravings, specifically for Italian meat sandwiches. My husband went to the store and bought all of the ingredients, and toasted my sandwich for me before I ate it. Heartburn was occasional, but not bad. The bloating was pretty bad right after we found out I was pregnant. My stomach got so large that the skin on my abdomen was tight from the stretching. I looked like I was 20 weeks along some days, especially at night. The bloating went away as I neared the end of the first trimester. Other than these minor issues, I have had a pretty easy first trimester, and I feel very fortunate. I am also grateful to have been able to work from home while dealing with all of the fatigue.

Survival Tips

My first tip is to stay away from google and those pregnancy forums. Even if you’re feeling great about your pregnancy, reading those forums can scare you to pieces when you already feel like you are not in control over what’s going on in your body. If you’re having concerning symptoms or any questions, just talk to your doctor. Surround yourself with positive people and positive thoughts because the first trimester can be overwhelming.

The second tip is to listen to your body! Drink water when you are thirsty and rest when you are tired. Your body is going through a whole lot of changes. It’s okay to cut yourself some slack and rest. I reduced my daily to-do list to the bare minimum, and reduced my non-essential commitments so that I could focus on staying well and taking care of my body.

First Trimester Essentials

Pink Stork Morning Sickness Tea 

This tea is a tasty and caffeine-free replacement for that morning cup of coffee. I didn’t have severe nausea or vomiting, so I can’t speak to how well it helps with that. I did feel like it settled my stomach.

Pregnancy Pillow 

My hips started to crack and pop early on in the first trimester, and this pillow gave me great support while I slept at night. This one has a pretty pattern on it, but really any kind of body pillow would be helpful.

Pregnancy Journal 

I document in this journal every week, even when I don’t feel like it. Pregnancy goes by so fast, you don’t want to forget a single moment of it. This particular journal doubles as a beautiful keepsake for your little one to have when they get older. I bought some fine-tip felt pens in different colors to write the notes with.

Ritual Prenatal Vitamins 

If you need help choosing a prenatal vitamin, ask your doctor. I like this one from Ritual because it has DHA, choline and the essential nutrients you need in pregnancy. I also like the convenience of the auto-ship feature. Remembering to buy more vitamins every time you run out is just one more thing that you have to think about during this overwhelming time. 

Pregnancy Announcement Photoshoot 

We did all of our beautiful pregnancy announcement pictures through Shoott. This company is so cool. You just book a free 30 minute photo session, then the photographer sends you a gallery of prints. Then, you pay for the photos that you want and you get a zip file to download your prints! You can spend as little as $15 or as much as you want, or nothing if you don’t like any of your pictures. We narrowed our gallery to about 12 favorites, which was so hard! All of the pictures were good. Use my link to get 10% off of your photo purchase!

Thank you so much for all of the outpouring of love and support. Stay tuned for the second trimester update, as well as some more mommy content coming your way!!