First Trimester Recap
I made it through the first trimester! Throughout those first 12 weeks, I had multiple people tell me just wait until you get to the second trimester, most of your symptoms will disappear. “I promise you’ll feel better,” they told me.
Now, from the other side, I can confirm that they were absolutely right! So how exactly did those first 12 weeks go? I’m about to give you all the details.
For starters, I found out I was pregnant at around four and half weeks. This is pretty normal, as it’s around the same time you realize your period isn’t coming. Those first weeks were a breeze because I didn’t know.
The first couple days after finding out, I wasn’t experiencing any symptoms. I thought maybe I was in the clear and the first trimester wouldn’t be as bad as people say. But around week five to six, the symptoms started.
The biggest symptom I experienced: exhaustion. Pure exhaustion. I wish I could do justice explaining how tired I was because it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I would come home from work, sit on the couch, and hardly be able to move. It took all of my energy to get up and put myself to bed at 8:00 p.m. I was sleeping a minimum of nine hours a night during the week and even more on weekends. For someone who doesn’t sit still or relax, it was rough. It forced me to slow down and really listen to my body. I was starting to grow a human and if that meant I couldn’t work out for a week, that was okay.
The next biggest symptom I experienced that altered my day-to-day: food aversions. Crazy food aversions. I didn’t even realize they were happening at first. The first couple of weeks I was really good about meal prepping and making sure I was eating healthy food for myself and baby. Around week five, I had a salad and the dressing tasted a little off, but I didn’t think anything of it. For week six, I prepared turkey burgers for lunch. As I ate them, I thought that they tasted a little strange, but I knew they were fine and just thought I was having an off day. By the fourth day of eating turkey burgers, I was gagging to get them down. It was also during this week that I made chicken that tasted awful. I thought it must be bad. Nope, just me.
This was the hardest symptom to adjust to because I had to throw my entire diet out the window. The smell and taste of food I typically eat on the regular made me sick. This included all poultry (which was super fun at Thanksgiving), cooked vegetables, and coffee (yes, I basically gave up coffee the entire trimester). I was stuck eating all carbs and red meat. It felt like every day I’d wake up, eat something, and then immediately spit it out because it tasted so bad to me.
My doctor put it best when she said that the first trimester is all about survival. She said eat whatever you can stomach. Your body is smart enough to give the nutrients to the baby. So that’s what I did for the entire twelve weeks. I’m happy to report come the second trimester, these food aversions have subsided and I’m back to my normal diet.
If you’re wondering if I had any strange food cravings during the first trimester, the answer is no. The only “cravings” I had were when I realized I could eat a food without it making me sick.
Speaking of sick, let’s talk about morning sickness. In the big picture of the first 12 weeks, I was pretty lucky. I only experienced nausea the first couple weeks after we found out. I would wake up and feel like my stomach was eating itself. It got to the point where I had to keep crackers next to my bed so I could eat a few first thing in the morning.
Like most women say, I don’t know why they call it morning sickness because it lasts all day. I was slightly nauseous all day for a couple of weeks. So combine that with my food aversions and it was a blast. Luckily, I found that smaller, more frequent meals, and lots of water helped keep my nausea at bay.
Throughout the first trimester, I experienced (a least a little bit) every pregnancy symptoms out there. But for me, these were the other symptoms I encountered that are worth noting:
Bloating. Oh, the bloating. This happened right from the get go. I experience a lot of bloating with my period, so I thought nothing of it at first. But once I realized it wasn’t my period, it hung around for most of those 12 weeks.
Constipation. Hey, no one said pregnancy was pretty. Now on top of bloating, I was backed up, and that’s all you need to know about that.
Maternity pants. Okay, not a symptom, but to make myself feel as comfortable as possible, I leaned into maternity pants early (like around 11 weeks). At the start of the day my jeans would fit, but by the end of the day, I was so uncomfortable. So on Black Friday, I ordered a couple of pairs and never looked back. They’re basically leggings that look like jeans. Trust me, they’re great.
Frequent urination. For anyone that knows me, I pee all the time (I drink A LOT of water). But if you can imagine, it got worse. I was going to the bathroom at least every 30 minutes. I would pee, stand up, and immediately have to pee again. This is actually one of the first symptoms I experienced before I even took a pregnancy test. I just didn’t put two and two together at the time.
Sore boobs. Yep, basically the entire time. I’ve experience soreness with my period, but nothing like this. If I hugged someone too hard, my chest was screaming.
Weird dreams. I always thought this was a strange symptom, but I can confirm it’s real. The first month or so after we found out, my dreams were crazy. They were super vivid and in every one I was pregnant.
Pregnancy brain. This is (and continues to be) a thing. It’s my biggest downfall right now because I’m pretty forgetful anyway, but this is an entirely new level. Doug and I would have a conversation and an hour later, I would completely forget what we talked about. I’d forget full conversations, why I walked into a room, you name it, I forgot it. It’s super frustrating. Since I’m used to combating forgetful, I already knew enough to write everything done and set reminders for myself in my phone. They’re my life savers.
Irritation. Most people say they get super emotional during pregnancy. I can confirm, but not in the sad, I’m crying all the time emotional. I get super irritated and cranky now. It’s not all the time, and I can typically sense it coming on when I get too tired or too hungry. Needless to say, I get pretty miserable pretty quickly. I apologize to anyone who’s had to deal with me, but mostly Doug because he gets the brunt of it.
Pregnancy sounds like fun, doesn't it? While I’m experiencing crazy symptoms, I’m learning to live with them. From talking to other moms and soon-to-be moms, it could be so much worse. They symptoms are temporary and my body is going through A LOT of changes right now. I’m growing a human! I wouldn’t expect it to be a breeze.
This process of creating life is crazy, super weird, and amazing all at the same time. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced or could even fathom. It’s a lot of work and raising a baby is going to be even more work. But in the end, it’s all worth it (or so I hear).
Current and expecting moms, tell me…what were your biggest pregnancy symptoms in the first trimester?