Sharing my symptoms, cravings and overall thoughts during my first trimester!
Man, it feels like it’s already been ages since my first trimester. Granted, I’m writing this while on the cusp of my third trimester, but hey – better late than never!
Excitement first, then exhaustion
While I was hoping that it wouldn’t take too long to get pregnant, I was also somewhat expecting that it wouldn’t happen as quickly as it did! We started trying in late July/early August. By September, I was knocked up! I felt both equally blessed and bewildered!
But really, we were over the moon and couldn’t wait to share the news with our family and friends. Coincidentally, the same day that we took a pregnancy test, we had plans to fly out to Arizona to spend time with our siblings for the week. We kept the big news quiet for the most part, but told James’ brother and his wife since we were staying with them for the week. Before becoming pregnant, our favorite pastime was drinking (a lot) together, so it would’ve been impossible to avoid without telling them!
By the time we got back to New York, I was technically four weeks pregnant and all of sudden, it felt like I was hit with a wall of bricks. I can remember it as probably the crappiest day I’ve felt in this pregnancy, but I’m thankful that it wasn’t anything that spending a whole day in bed couldn’t fix.
Learning to take things slow and steady
The lower-than-normal energy levels carried with me through the rest of my first trimester. It was probably the toughest adjustment I’ve had to make to my life so far (harder than saying goodbye to alcohol and sushi – both of which I love dearly!). Pre-pregnancy and especially pre-pandemic, I moved 100 mph, had 50 windows open on my desktop at all times and didn’t like to waste a single minute of my time.
I spent the first couple of months of pregnancy having to rewire how I approached life – to take things slower and to not beat myself up if I didn’t check everything off of my to do list. And on the days that my day was a complete wash, I reminded myself that of all the things I didn’t do, I still kept busy building a baby!
Food just didn’t egg-cite me anymore
When I found out that I was with child, my search history quickly became flooded with questions like: “Can I eat ________ while pregnant?” Turns out, about a month into my pregnancy, my stomach and my appetite would turn upside down.
I feel lucky that I never had any intense cases of morning sickness. Maybe some light nausea here and there, but for the most part, my first trimester symptoms manifested itself in exhaustion and food aversions. Nothing sounded good anymore. Pre-pregnancy, I would eat eggs nearly every day but the thought of a gooey yolk made me want to hurl. Same with salmon. It made meal planning really difficult, because I would never know what I’d be in the mood for until it was time to eat, and even then I would only want carbs (bagels, cinnamon raisin toast and cheese puffs to be specific).
At one point, I had trouble even taking my prenatal vitamins every day because they made me queasy. I ended up switching to gummy prenatals, which I know are not as effective as a capsule, but hey – whatever works. I tried ginger chews to help curb some of my stomach issues, but really didn’t love the taste.
So by the time I had my first OBGYN appointment at eight weeks, I had already gained a bit of weight from unhealthy eating. My doctor suggested that I try eating pears when I felt nauseous or not in the mood to eat and it actually helped! It was crunchy, light, refreshing and not too sweet – just the right balance to settle my stomach and get my appetite going again. It still crave and enjoy a crisp pear now, and always keep a few on hand.
All in all, I’d say I had a fairly mild first trimester. It was a learning curve for sure – learning the do’s and don’ts of keeping my baby healthy and safe (I found Expecting Better to be a really insightful book!), sharing the big news with our family and friends and finally starting to see my bump go from food baby to real baby! Have any pregnancy questions that you’d like me to cover? Feel free to email me at jen@skirttherulesblog.com or DM me on Instagram!
My first trimester was similar. I didn’t get sick, but I felt nauseous a lot, and the food aversions were intense. Having less energy is definitely an adjustment, as is learning to ask for help, but probably a good life lesson! And yes, even when you feel like you’re not doing “enough,” you’re growing a human. So important to remember.