Disclaimer: I know that every woman is different and her body responds uniquely to pregnancy. This is just MY experience during the first trimester! Second, I am going to be completely honest in this post, which may come across as complaining. I just want to state for the record how incredibly excited and blessed beyond belief I feel about the pregnancy… but that doesn’t change the fact that I intend to document the experience in its entirety- the good, the bad, the in between. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!
1. Pregnancy nausea is not always present from the get-go. I took my pregnancy test on a whim. I was 90% I wasn’t pregnant (ha! My instincts are awesome) because at the time, I was feeling fine. In fact, I felt better than fine. I had energy, my spirits were exceptionally high, my health was perfect… I was great! When I found out that I was, pregnant (I was only about 5 weeks along) I remember saying to Rory, “If this is how pregnancy is, let’s have 17 kids!” (I was joking- just for the record) THAT is how great I felt in the beginning. Then week 7 rolled around…
2. What I craved one day made me absolutely nauseous the next… and beyond. Around week 7 I got this serious craving for tomato soup. I ordered some at Jason’s Deli one night and honestly, could not stop thinking about it for the next 12 hours. So, I looked up a homemade tomato soup recipe, went to the store specifically for the soup ingredients, and proceeded to use the next 2.5 hours of my life to make this glorious roasted tomato basil soup recipe. And it was fantastic! I ate two bowls that night and was thrilled at the quantity of leftovers. Soup for a week! How wonderful!… then I woke up the next day. The idea that I EVER wanted tomato soup completely confounded me. I STILL don’t want tomato soup (I don’t even like THINKING about tomato soup while I’m typing this), and the exact same thing happened with beef enchiladas and chicken pesto pasta. Tragic! Which brings me to my 3rd lesson…
3. Pregnancy nausea is no joke. And the term “morning sickness”? Total misnomer! More like all day and night nausea, and the… (oh, how do I say this delicately?) upward expulsion of food would happen suddenly and unpredictably. The thought, the smell, and the sight of food all made me nauseous making going to the grocery store a particularly fun time!
4. Pregnancy brings a whole new level of exhaustion. Before I was pregnant, I remember some of my friends mentioning they were really tired during their first trimester, but even though I had heard that it was a symptom, I seriously underestimated the magnitude! I’m typically not a good sleeper. Never have been. I didn’t sleep through the night until I was about 2 years old (my poor mother!). I can only sleep in my bed, no noise, when it’s nice and dark, and even then I still struggle with bad insomnia. But around week 7, I started sleeping like a champ! Taking naps, early to bed, asleep the second my head hit the pillow, late to wake up… I was ALWAYS tired.
5. The tummy starts expanding already. My baby was about the size of a grape, so why my stomach needed to get bigger already was totally baffling. (I guess it has something to do with your stomach getting ready for the upcoming months… or something). The changes were very acute and probably only perceptible to me.
6. I had to SERIOUSLY cut down on my to-do list. I only took on 1 session my entire first trimester. I simply didn’t have the energy… not to mention, I didn’t think it would make a great impression if I, eh-hem, “lost my lunch” (not that I had the appetite to actually eat lunch… but you get the point). I also gave myself just one task to do around the house (vacuum, dust, etc.) and as long as I did that one task, I gave myself permission to nap as needed.
7. The sheer number of people in the world is baffling. I know every single woman experiences pregnancy differently… but still….
8. Having a cold during your first trimester was like the kiss of death. I couldn’t take anything that actually worked for me, what little appetite my nauseous body had managed to disappear, and even though I just wanted to rest, I couldn’t because my airway was completely clogged. I repeat- kiss of death.
9. It is possible to lose weight in the first trimester. See lessons #3 and #8. (In case you are wondering- I managed to put it back on with a vengeance once my nausea subsided a bit!)
10. Even though it meant feeling nauseous, bloated, exhausted, and possible even irritable, I was already starting to love, fiercely love, the tiny miracle growing inside me.
This is me at about 9 weeks!