First Trimester Pregnancy Update

Now that we’re through it, I’m shocked that I am already through the first trimester, but to say these first weeks have flown by would be a complete lie. It was the best of times and the worst of times!

I feel like I should warn you that in the first several paragraphs, before we get to the bumpdate photos and gender guessing, I talk about my first trimester sickness and how it impacted me. I tried to write it as honestly as I could. If you’ve never had nausea for weeks, it might sound dramatic. If you’ve been in my shoes it will make perfect sense. Either way, cheers to this post and a brand new trimester!

Nausea hit hard this pregnancy

With Hayes I was nauseous for a few weeks and ate a lot of bagels, but I stayed pretty happy and relatively normal outside of feeling tired. But woah, baby #2 kicked my butt first trimester.

I only threw up a couple of dozen times over the course of 10 weeks or so — and I say only because I know a lot of women that throw up all day long. My problem was less about constantly throwing up and more about getting myself to eat or drink in the first place. The thought of food had my mouth watering in a way that only happens right before you run to the toilet and get sick. I couldn’t think about food or drink. I had ice chips and Sprite for dinner many nights, or nothing at all, and I lost 12 pounds in a few short weeks.

At the end of the first trimester, I still wasn’t feeling good and in all honesty, I was extremely tired of myself. The number of times I had to say “I don’t feel good”, “I’m going to stay home”, “can you go without me?”, was exhausting and defeating. I didn’t grocery shop, cook meals, or clean a thing. I just worked and slept. I felt like blob.

I also had a lot of guilt. I hated that I couldn’t push through the sickness. And I also hated that I had to admit that while I was incredibly grateful to be pregnant, I was miserable. It took me a long time to give myself some grace and realize that I could be both grateful and miserable at the same time. That admitting I feel terrible doesn’t mean that I’m taking our pregnancy for granted, it just means that I don’t feel good.

Between 14 – 16 weeks, just a bit outside of the first trimester, I slowly turned the corner and started to feel better. Thank goodness!

What did you do to help with the nausea?

I did try some products and strategies along the way that brought me temporary relief, but nothing that truly swiped the nausea away. I’ll be sharing a post about them in case there are others looking for some relief and want to give them a try!

How was working while you were sick?

Incredibly challenging.

Stay-at-home-moms that take care of little kiddos when they are dealing with all-day sickness and moms that work on their feet all day — I have so much respect for you. I am really blessed to have a job and a work culture that allows me to work from home whenever I need to and a husband that took over most all of the child care duties (love you, Jeff) so that I could work and mom the best I could through the sickness.

Most mornings I rolled over around 8am, grabbed my computer from beside my bed and worked laying down the rest of the day. And there were a few days in the thick of the sick where I took a long nap in the middle of the day and picked my computer back up at night when I was feeling better. My hours were extremely strange and I worked from home more in my first trimester than I have my entire seven years at my job.

Maestro (my work) and my coworkers (Abbie + Jen, specifically), I love you. Thank you for your support.

Any cravings?

With Hayes I was all about everything bagels toasted and topped with plain cream cheese. And I also wanted tomato-based things like tomato soup, marinara sauce, and pizza — I even added ketchup to my mac n’ cheese.

But this time around since food wasn’t my friend I had a lot of Jello and Sprite. Whenever something did sound good I would run out and grab it right away or ask Jeff to bring it home after work. And all of these cravings were super random, I’m not sure what to think of them. One was a tuna sub with all the veggies and oil + vinegar dressing from Subway, and the other, hot + sour soup from a local Chinese restaurant. (Someone help me understand this? haha)

I guess cravings have been more salty than sweet overall, which is fairly similar to how I was with Hayes.

Bumpdate?

I am shocked by how quickly this baby started to show. With Hayes it wasn’t until about week 18 or 20 that I really started to notice a bump, but this time I started to feel my body change around 8 weeks and see a bump at 10 or 12 weeks. Here’s some photo evidence (on a mirror that needs cleaning) for you.

10 week bumpdate

12 week bumpdate

14 week bumpdate

Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?

Because I have been so sick and I wasn’t the first time, I’ve had so many people say “oh, it’s definitely a boy!”, which of course has crossed my mind, but I am going to assume it’s a girl until proven otherwise when the baby is born.

I have a close group of friends in Kalamazoo and out of the ten kids we have between us all only one is a boy. We always joke that your chances of having a boy if you’re friends with that group of humans are very low. Also, I thought Hayes was a boy the entire time so I’m not sure my motherly instincts are wired correctly enough to guess.

I’d love to eventually have a boy, but we’ll be happy no matter what the gender. Do you have a guess?

What are you most looking forward to in the second trimester?

Since finding out I was pregnant to around 15 weeks when I started to feel a bit more like myself, I worked out twice. And. it. killed. me. I love to sweat it out, it’s my time for mental clarity and feels like a fresh start. I am really looking forward to the things that I can incorporate back into my day now that I’m not carrying a bucket around with me and spending the day in bed.

I’m excited to have the energy to work out again, get back into my routine of waking up at 5am, and contributing more to my marriage and to Hayes. Oh and food. I’m pretty excited to eat again.