First Trimester

Motherhood

January 12, 2021

Before I begin, if you are a mama that is reading this in her first trimester, please take a deep breath and give yourself grace. The first trimester was not easy for me – and I wish I gave myself more grace because things DO get better. When mama’s would say that to me when I wasn’t feeling well I didn’t fully believe them because I was in the thick of it. But now I am on the other side, currently 20 weeks pregnant, and I am feeling SO much better.

Oh first trimester what a rollercoaster of emotions. I am so happy you are in my rearview mirror.

The moment I found out I was pregnant one of the first few things I thought of was, “What can I eat?” I had to quickly adapt to live my life in a way to protect my little baby. So that weekend I did some research & put together a beautiful first trimester meal plan….that quickly went out the window.

My first pregnancy purchase was The Bella Mama Guide. It’s an online guide that shares the best foods during each trimester that help improve your baby’s development. Along with what to look for in a prenatal, what foods to avoid, what supplements to take, exercises to help you prep for labor and she just added a whole postpartum section, too.

So I put together a delicious meal plan, Angelo went to the grocery store & bought food to make meals for the week. It was a big grocery haul because I was a bit obsessed with making sure I was eating the right foods (mistake #1). I believe I was around 6 weeks at that point, the week my pregnancy symptoms arrived. I did not want to eat a thing he bought. The only thing I was craving throughout my whole trimester was very plain food. Flavor, spices and veggies all made me want to get sick.

My meals during the first trimester went a little something like; sourdough toast, iced cold water, Jigsaw electrolytes, pineapple, apples, Made Good chocolate chip granola bars, Nature’s Way raspberry fig bars, raisin bran cereal, chicken soup, potatoes, beef bolognese, plain pasta, BLT & a tuna sandwich. So not really meals more like snacks throughout the day.

I found that the moment I opened my eyes I needed something to eat. So Angelo would bring up some toast & tea. I found that really helped with my morning nausea. I also had to force myself to eat because if I didn’t I would get sick. It was a vicious cycle of; I’m not hungry because of nausea so I don’t want to eat, but if I don’t eat I’ll get sick.

Eating honestly felt like a chore.

Coming from someone who loves to eat & knows the importance of eating it was really, really hard for me to navigate. Luckily I have amazing people in my life that reminded me that it’s OK! The baby is healthy, just drink fluids & take your prenatal, you’ll eat again soon. My midwife reassured me that it’s okay too and that it’s very common. I also decided to tell a few mama friends, who just had babies, that I was pregnant. I would say tip #1 would be to talk to mama friends early on! They helped me get through the darkest times of my first trimester. They simply made me feel like everything I was going through was completely normal! One friend said that she lived off of Annie’s mac n cheese & chicken nuggets throughout her pregnancy and her baby is absolute perfection. And if you don’t know anyone I would be so happy to talk to you! Send me an email or IG message.

Moving on to migraines. I had the worst migraines in my life during the first trimester. I suffered. But I’m happy to say that it’s been about 4 weeks since my last one – woohoo!!

Here is a short list of things that (sort of) helped with my migraines

Laying down in a cold, dark room with eyes closed. No screen, no reading.
Ice pack on my neck
Neck rubs
Heating pad
Jigsaw Electrolytes
Quick walk outside
Tylenol
Sleep

The hardest part for me was taking Tylenol. Along with not eating nutritious foods I had this irrational fear of feeling like I was poisoning my baby by taking medicine. My midwife reassured me with her words that it’s okay to take Tylenol as long as I was taking the prescribed amount. I only took one pill or 2 pills the days I had my migraines & I found that it relieved the pain just enough. Suffering through a migraine puts more stress on my body than taking 1 pill. I had to relax, give myself grace & remind myself that everything was & will be OKAY!!! Gosh, mom guilt hits quick!

Okay, now let’s talk about food aversions. These were weird. And horrible. I had many food aversion but the few that stood out to me were; coffee, Mexican spices, garlic & melting butter on a cast iron pan. If any of these things were near me I would have to run to the bathroom. I’m over most of these now, but the smell of melting butter on a cast iron pan & Mexican spices are still a no go for me.

One of the most asked questions about my first trimester was, “How did you work through it?” I’m going to dedicate a post just on this topic but wanted to share something quick with you. Somehow, I survived my busiest season through the thick of my first trimester. Biggest tip is communication. I communicated – okay maybe broke down – to my husband my worries & fears of working through my first trimester. He responded with, “I will handle everything, all you need to do is work & rest. I will do everything else. You got this!!!” What an angel! He cooked, did laundry & cleaned. The house was a disaster but I had to let that go quickly. So basically don’t plan to do anything other than work & rest…if you can. Don’t worry about your house chores they will get done eventually. Just survive! First trimester is all about survival. Do what you can.

I’d like to end this post on a positive note with a journal entry I wrote during the first trimester & a mantra. I wrote it the day we went to our first ultrasound & midwife appointment at around 8 weeks.

“I never thought I would become so attached to an ultrasound. You see people post them and just see blobs but you are of course happy for them but now I totally get it. I totally get why you share your ultrasound – you see a miracle. You see the little life that’s growing inside of you. It suddenly feels so real. The morning sickness, the extreme pregnancy fatigue, the food aversions feel so worth it once you see that cute little blob on the screen moving with a heartbeat.”

I whispered this mantra to myself when the days were hard & I found that it helped;