The First Trimester Recap

I am now into my second trimester of pregnancy, which is pretty darn exciting! The first trimester wasn’t hard, per se, but it was more a period of adjustment and many mixed emotions.

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{Not the slightest bit sad to be saying goodbye to the first trimester!}

My pregnancy was intentional {top question asked!}, happened very fast, and I knew I was pregnant before I had a confirmed pregnancy test. I had two negative pregnancy tests at home, but I just knew that they weren’t accurate. A trip to the doctor’s office confirmed my suspicions, but it was a really anticlimactic and honestly a disappointing way to find out I was pregnant.

Of course Alex and I were both really, really excited about the news that we are going to be parents. It was a lot to take in, though, given how we found out and how quickly it all happened. The fact that basically know one knew we were expecting and I sure didn’t look pregnant, plus in those first couple weeks I wasn’t feeling any pregnancy symptoms other than exhaustion didn’t help the cause. It was just strange and at that point wasn’t as exciting as I had expected it to be.

{Here I am... fresh after finding out I was pregnant.}
{Here I am… fresh after finding out I was pregnant.}

As the first weeks slowly went by, the news started to sink in a little more and things got more exciting – we saw the baby {more like the blob} on the ultrasound and got to see the heartbeat and had an encouraging doctor’s visit, we started sharing the news with more family and friends, and then one day, right around the start of my eleventh week, my belly started to grow. For me it was really that first day of seeing my belly starting to grow that made it seem more real.

{First ultrasound at 8 weeks!}
{First ultrasound at 8 weeks! For those who know how to read the ultrasound, I am tracking my weeks based on my cycle, which is a few days ahead of what the ultrasound is measuring.}

Relatively speaking, I think I’ve had a pretty normal first trimester. I’ve experienced sheer exhaustion, crazy nausea, unbelievable food aversions and a little bit of morning sickness. Thank heavens the morning sickness was very short-lived. The food aversions, on the other hand, were not. I have been eating so differently than I normally eat. Some of my usual favorite foods couldn’t be more unappealing to me right now {don’t even mention bacon or chicken… barf!!}. It’s pretty sad! Initially I had been craving sugary junk food, which is SO unlike me! My staple foods now consist of cheese {cottage cheese is the BEST!}, potatoes and yogurt. I am really loving bland, basic foods quite a bit.

{Second ultrasound at 13 weeks. So amazing to see the changes!}
{Second ultrasound at 13 weeks. So amazing to see the changes!}

Some of my favorite parts of the first trimester have been:

  • Finding out that several of my very good friends are also expecting babies this spring and summer. It has been so fun to go through the first stages of pregnancy with friends!
  • Sharing the news with family and friends. We’ve had some pretty enthusiastic reactions, funny questions and lots and lots of excitement. That’s been super fun.
  • Seeing Alex step up and take charge when I’ve been too tired or sick to do much of anything. He’s been an enormous help and I am most looking forward to seeing him as a dad.
  • Watching the progression and growth of the baby from my 8 week ultrasound to 13 weeks. It’s amazing that the baby’s organs and body is already fully formed!
{Eight weeks and starting to feel the symptoms of pregnancy... yuck!}
{Eight weeks hit and like clockwork, so did the morning sickness… yuck!}

Some of the worst parts of the first trimester have been:

  • Realizing that for the rest of my life I will perpetually worry about this little thing that is growing inside of me. There will never be a point in time where we’ll be “in the clear” about anything. That sobering reality hit me pretty quickly.
  • Spotting at week 6. I quickly called the on-call doctor who told me I was having a miscarriage. Just like that, no questions asked. Thankfully he was wrong, but we were on pins and needles for a week waiting for blood work to come back to confirm the pregnancy was still viable. That also made it hard to adjust to the thought of being pregnant.
  • Being in a constant state of nauseousness. The food aversions have been really strange and it’s sad to be so grossed out by food that I usually love.
  • This isn’t bad compared to the rest, but I’ve been having really unexpected insomnia. I get up for the second or third time in the night to go to the bathroom {the frequent trips to the bathroom hasn’t been fun either!} and then can’t get back to sleep at all.
{10 weeks and just starting to show! This was a really exciting day for me when things started to feel real. Throughout the whole first trimester I kept having this nagging question of "am I making this up!?" in the back of my head.}
{10 weeks and just starting to show! This was a really exciting day for me when things started to feel real. Throughout the whole first trimester I kept having this nagging question of “am I making this up!?” in the back of my head.}

Now that I’m into my second trimester, I am really looking forward to:

  • Continuing to dream about our future family with Alex and talk about the life we want for our little ones.
  • Starting prenatal Pilates {late January} and meeting some new preggos in that class and through my neighborhood mom’s group.
  • My bump growing!
  • Beginning the process of picking out baby stuff and furniture for the nursery.
  • Obviously meeting the babe, but I’m focusing on the now 😉

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