First Trimester Recap — Take Off Your Party Dress

I feel extremely grateful to have had a relatively easy pregnancy so far. I’ve enjoyed reading about other women’s experiences and appreciate that no single journey looks exactly the same. In case it’s helpful to any others or if you’re just curious to know how things have been going, I wanted to share more details of my first trimester here.

Timing: Early November to Early February (weeks 0-13)

How I felt physically: After the initial excitement wore off from finding out I was pregnant, I spent the next 48 hours feeling sick to my stomach. I thought so much about the term ‘morning sickness’ and wondered why they didn’t call it ‘all day sickness’ instead. I’ve had food poisoning and 24-hr stomach bugs in the past, but this was far worse than anything I’d ever experienced. I basically felt miserable for two days and could not stop throwing up. The standard saltines and 7up trick didn’t help at all and I couldn’t even keep water down for much more than 30 minutes at a time. Luckily, I took some Tums on night two of feeling awful, and that seemed to help turn my body around. I quickly regained my appetite after that and felt like all nausea pretty much disappeared.

Fatigued. I never gave much thought to the fact that our bodies are busy making new organs and increasing total blood volume once you get pregnant but it all made sense as to why I was feeling so tired during the first two months in particular. Whether I was taking midday naps or getting easily winded on our neighborhood hikes, it was apparent that lots of change was happening internally though not much seemed to be showing externally.

The other common first trimester symptoms I read about were also true - my boobs started getting bigger (and so sensitive!), I was constantly going to the bathroom (and waking up multiple times at night to pee), and I found myself being particularly moody on occasion (you can ask Chris how bad/or not bad it really was lol).

How I felt emotionally: If I had to choose one word to sum up the experience so far, it would be surreal. It’s exciting and exhilarating while at the same time nerve wrecking just wanting to make sure that the baby is healthy and everything is going well in between appointments. It finally started feeling so much more “real” once I had the first ultrasound and got to see the lil peanut actually moving around.

How I’m preparing:

Flo App - I quit taking my birth control back in July to give my body some time to “get normal” after being on the pill for 10+ years. I started using the Flo App as a period and fertility tracker and recommend it for everyone (whether you are trying to conceive, actively not trying, or not not trying as I like to say Chris and I were doing). I’ve never been good about tracking my periods so it was helpful to have the exact dates of my last one once it came time for my OB appointments and determining baby’s due date.
What to Expect App - I basically downloaded this app the moment I found out I was pregnant (and after telling Chris of course). I love that it constantly gives you new articles and information to read relevant to how far along you are in your pregnancy. It also tracks baby’s “fruit size” and keeps you up to date on weekly developments (both for yourself and for the baby’s growth).
Prenatal vitamins - I was planning to start these Ritual prenatal vitamins even before I found out I was pregnant but just never pulled the trigger on ordering. The moment I got our positive test results, I placed my order and they came within just a few days. I love that they are citrus essenced and transparent about where all of the vitamins are sourced from. They’re super easy to take and if you’re looking to order vitamins of your own (prenatal or not) you can get $15 off here.
OB appointments - I hadn’t established an OB or even a primary care provider since we’ve moved back down to Southern California, so the first thing I did was start researching OB’s in our area. I recommend doing this sooner rather than later because their offices may not have immediate availability. When I went in for my first OB appointment, I got some pretty standard tests done and determined my expected due date (August 6th) but I knew I wasn’t happy/impressed with the practice so I decided to keep looking and quickly made the change from one office to another. I’m so glad I did because I’m much more comfortable with the second provider I started seeing and look forward to continuing my journey with her.

Cravings: In the first month, I was randomly craving Pirate’s Booty (those white cheddar cheese puffs) and aside from that have mostly been wanting fresh fruits and veggies, especially tangerines and then dried mangos. In the third month, my sweet tooth definitely started to kick in a bit more and I found myself constantly wanting fresh cinnamon rolls or a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (our pantry is full of boxes now).

My pregnancy must-haves so far: