Good afternooooon! I never thought I would be so happy to say this: I made it out of the first trimester. Who knew those first three months could be so trying on your body?! I sure didn’t.
I know I am beyond blessed to be pregnant and I definitely am not downplaying that. However, I felt so down on myself for part of the first trimester because I felt like complete trash and allll I wanted to do was sleep and watch TV. I hated myself for that until I had my first appointment with my OB who said, “that’s exactly what you’re supposed to be doing during your first trimester!” She said that is completely normal, and I felt sooo much better having someone validate my laziness/sickness lol.
I had to wait until week 8 to hear that it was normal from a professional, though, so I thought I’d write a post about my first trimester recap so other women won’t feel so alone / lazy, and you’ll know what to expect.
Here were my main struggles during the first trimester
- Tiredness / extreme exhaustion – This was hands down the worst one. I was sooo lazy and unmotivated, which is not really my character at all. There were days that I would just move from the bed to the couch and back to the bed call it a day. I always tried to walk twice a day because I know it’s important to move a little and get fresh air, but sometimes it was tough. Ryan was a huge help during this time!! I felt terrible for being so lazy, but rest was what my body needed!!
- Nausea/dry heaving – most mornings I was actually fine nausea-wise. But around 10AM and ESPECIALLY at night, I felt terrible. Just dry heaving all the time for no apparent reason. It was not fun. I was glad I had a mask on when I was showing homes to clients, because sometimes I’d be dry heaving behind my mask… TMI, I know! Brushing my teeth was also a struggle every day, because it made me gag so bad. Weird, right?!
- Food aversions – I didn’t think this would happen to me, but I literally didn’t want coffee, which is sooo weird! My OB told me I could have 2 cups a day, but by week 7 I wasn’t even making coffee in the morning. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I just didn’t want coffee. By week 6 I also didn’t crave any alcohol. I am shocked to say this because I normally looooove my wine in the evenings. Food wise, I didn’t experience any aversions like that.
- No “extreme activities” – I was advised to not water ski or snow ski during pregnancy, even the early months. We went to Mexico and our resort offered free water skiing, but I couldn’t do it! And when the powder days hit in Colorado, I was advised to not snow ski. I think I would have been fine because I’ve been skiing my whole life, but you never want to put your baby in a place of risk when you could avoid that completely. So it was just kind of a bummer.
- Unmotivated – I normally get excited for work meetings/creating content, but I really had to pump myself up and promise myself chick-fil-a as a reward after a meeting. It was weird!!
- Constant hunger – I was always hungry. (still am!) One day I went to chick-fil-a for lunch, and I ended up ordering myself a 12 count nuggets AND a chicken sandwich… and I ate almost all of it. (no shame!! haha!) I didn’t want fries, and it was like my body was screaming at me to eat protein immediately. So crazy! I ate a lot more food than I normally do!
- Emotional – There were times I would literally tear up for no reason. Ryan would look at me and say, “Do you need to cry?” and I would just start crying. I think it was because I was so tired and hormonal. Fun stuff! 😉
How I’m feeling now at 13.5 weeks
I will say that I started to feel sooo much better by week 10 or 11, and now at 13.5 weeks I feel REALLY GOOD!! The extreme exhaustion has gone away, so I don’t feel like napping every single afternoon. I have also started to crave lattes again (I still can’t drink straight coffee, it grosses me out and makes me feel queasy.) I was so happy to finally be able to order a latte with 2 shots of espresso haha!
All that to say, even though the first trimester was hard, it went by SO fast for me. And now I feel amazing!! I didn’t realize how bad I felt until I began to feel better. Now I have ENERGY which is such a blessing!!!
What did you experience during your first trimester? I was glad to learn that all these symptoms were normal.. because like I said before I felt bad and lazy for being so tired. It’s amazing that our bodies can grow a baby and it blows my mind every time I think about it. No wonder it takes a toll on our bodies the first trimester!
PS – if you missed it, I shared how we found out we were pregnant HERE!
