Surviving the First Trimester

The first trimester (conception - end of 12 weeks) is one of the most exciting and worst feeling times of your pregnancy. You are petrified something is not working, I was phobic of getting sick, and you are trying to keep this huge news a secret! It is a crazy time for sure! One of my biggest fears about pregnancy in general was the sickness. If anyone knows me, you know that I have a pretty extreme phobia of vomit in any and all capacities. I just had this sinking feeling because I wanted so badly to become a mom that I would pay the price with the morning sickness. Both my mom and mother in law were pretty sick and to me that meant I was going to be the exact same. They say that everyone handles pregnancy completely differently and they are pretty accurate! Here are some things I experienced (or did not) and ways I coped. *This is very honest so FYI in advance :)

On another note, the amount of information out there is SO overwhelming! My first doc (I go to a large practice) said DO NOT GOOGLE ANYTHING, and I half listened. Sometimes, I spend way too much time looking at the apps and boards (Nurture & What To Expect) and talk myself into a tizzy. Trust your body and ask people around you. I have found they are a lot more helpful than good ole' google. And like I said above - everyone is so different so try not to compare yourself to others!

1. Morning Sickness: Should really be called all day sickness or pregnancy sickness. Total myth that it occurs only in the morning. Instead of morning sickness, I had 5 weeks of constant nausea. Which was fine with me because I wasn't actually getting sick. However I felt like I could at any time. I considered that a win because like I said earlier I HATE puke. To help, I wore a Psi Band (Target), ate Preggie Pops when I felt a big rush coming on (Target), took Unisom before bed & Vitamin B6 when I woke up (doctors recommendations), chewed lots of mint gum, and ate saltines as soon as I woke up (which lead to 5 weeks of cracker crumbs in our bed so thanks Dustin for your patience with that!) Not really sure if one thing in particular really helped or if they were all mental. But it seemed to make a difference to me!

2. Exhaustion: This is a REAL thing. I was so so tired for no reason. I took a nap basically every single day. If I attempted to go all day without one, I would fall asleep while working, sitting, you name it. I didn't need long (usually 20-30 minutes), but dang you are so. tired. all. the. time.

3. Skin Issues: Some people claim your skin glows during pregnancy. I am sure this is true for some people. However, I think my skin glowed for the first 3 weeks then took a sharp turn. I have worse acne than I did during my worst years of middle school. So far no solution seems to be working. So if you have any suggestions I am totally open! You are not supposed to use Salicylic Acid, so I switched to a Benzoyl Peroxide face wash and spot treatment, but they bleached my good sheets. So I have swapped to all things white for the time being. Also didn't know skin issues were just for your face. I have pimples on my neck!?#@ Like what is that about. Apparently it is a sign that you are having a girl because they are stealing your beauty, but I am not sure I buy that logic haha 

Dustin is going to kill me, but I absolutely LOVE this one haha

4. Frequent Bathroom Trips: Not sure when it is supposed to actually begin, but I pretty much pee 2-4 times a night and way more frequently during the day. I thought this happened when the baby takes up more space in your belly, but it probably started around 5-6 weeks for me and so far no end in sight haha

5. Heartburn/Food Issues: During my first trimester, I didn't really have any cravings. However I had some huge food aversions. Nothing specific but some days I couldn't even stand the smell of some things. The only things I crave are the things I am not supposed to have (mostly lunch meat - which I never really cared about before!) Also being completely honest, I have had lunch meat a few times when there was no other food available - so sorry baby if this caused any issues! Instead of cravings, I was picky with what sounded good: I had a terrible time drinking water so pretty much drank Diet Mt. Dew for 12 weeks (The recommendation is 100-200 mg of caffeine a day, pop shockingly has less caffeine then you would think!), I ate a lot of pretzels, toast, and other things with not much flavor, and could not eat a single thing past about 7pm or fear of severe indigestion. I thought I knew what indigestion/heartburn was before pregnancy, boy was I wrong! Your chest literally burns with heartburn! I had to sleep many nights propped up because it was so bad. Tums were and still are my BFF and I probably eat too many. Oh well, they are on the "allowed" medicine list.

6. Forgetfulness/Mom-Brain: As I am writing this, I am sure I have already forgotten quite a few things. I thought this happened after baby. Um no. Unless I am just losing brain cells with no excuse. I sometimes forget how to read, have to ask myself why did I enter this room a million times, and write EVERYTHING down. I am really hoping that my brain cells are going to the baby's brain, otherwise not quite sure where they have disappeared to. 

7. Emotional Wreck: I pretty much cried every day. Sometimes for absolutely no reason. Sometimes a stupid commercial or posting would have me sobbing for awhile. I was extra tuned in to others and spent a lot of time crying for people I love, people I miss, and a handful of people I have never even met. I cried because I was laughing too much, or just because I was tired. There were a lot of reasons why, but the honest truth is I just cried a lot.

So instead of the hours of work I should be doing today, I am blogging. Sometimes I guess we all need a little break! I am hoping to be a little better in the future - but I will probably forget and choose to take a nap instead. Does anyone have similar or totally different experiences? I love hearing all about it!