13 weeks! Goodbye first trimester, hello second! Now that I am in the second trimester, it's time to start TRUELY enjoying this pregnancy :). Things can now slow down and take as long as they want. While I sit back and enjoy my decreased risk of miscarriage and my increase in energy (ummm... energy... are you there? This is your official invitation to come back!), I thought that I would reflect on my first trimester experience.
- FATIGUE: This has been my most consistent symptom. Naps have become my friend! Come mid day I’ll look at a nice, soft spot of carpet on the floor and think it look as good as a goose down comforter to snuggle in...So what if I’ve napped on the floor a couple of times, don’t judge! My energy has not yet fully returned but I am looking forward to when it does!
- "Morning" Sickness: I think I have been lucky overall nausea wise. I've had five bouts of dry heaves - two induced by hunger and three by rotten plants (more on that in a second...) and have totally tossed my cookies only once but it may not count since it was triggered by a sensitive gag reflex (guess I won't be brushing my tongue for the next 6 months) rather than nausea.
- Aversions: I've only had one. As mentioned above, ROTTEN PLANTS and most green vegetables. Especially the highly nutritious leafy green ones that I used to eat all. the. time. This started happening around 7 or 8 weeks. I usually just tried to stay away from them but sometimes it's difficult. One gagging episode was triggered when I dumped an old vase from a bouquet of flowers (the stems had gotten moldy and the water STUNK), the second was cleaning out the produce drawer in the fridge which I had been avoiding. Avoiding it just made the problem worse but luckily I have a supportive hubby that cleaned out the rest after I had to take a gag break (he may or may not have found it a little humerus). The third episode was triggered when David dumped our compost bucket and I couldn't get the smell out of my nose. Nasty stuff!!
- Cravings: Pimento cheese, salt & vinegar chips, wheat pasta with butter and parmesan cheese, blueberry bagels, blueberry waffles, also all other berries. I haven't indulged all of these but for the ones that I have, once I eat it once or twice it's out of my system. I think I'm yet to experience the TRUE power of a pregnancy craving...
- Worry: I think most women are plagued by worry in their first trimester but it is especially when you aren't having the symptoms you are "supposed" to. All of the people I talk to and books that I read talk about how sick you should be Instead of being thankful that I felt normal most of the time, it just made me worry that something wasn't right.
- Body Changes: Things are definitely changing. I had a breakout around my mouth and on my chin around 9 weeks or so but once it cleared up I've had nothing since. My chest is sore most of the time but some days more than others. David sure isn't complaining about the changes going on there... We started seeing belly rounding at around 9 weeks or so. I'm in the stage now where people who don't know me still can't tell and people who know me but don't KNOW probably think I'm eating too many blueberry waffles and salt & vinegar chips. I also noticed less than normal hair shedding in the past couple of weeks so maybe I'll finally have a thick head of a hair (for a little while at least)! I have gained about 3lbs. and they say that 3-5 is normal for the first trimester so I can't complain.
- Headaches: "Funny" how you are more susceptible to headacheswhen you can't take much for them... I had a few doozies early on that I thought sleep would cure but they just woke me up throughout the night with their throbbing. They did eventually go away without medicine but they were pretty bad in the mean time.
- Mood: Not too different. Maybe cry a little easier but nothing too crazy. (yet...)
- Exercise: Jogging and yoga on most days. My doctor encourages patients to continue their previous workout regimen so I have. I'd like to keep lifting light weights but I need to find a pregnancy-friendly program to follow so I don't get bored (oh, and some energy!).
- I also have just felt "weird" most evenings, especially if I can't get a nap in. I think it's been a combination of fatigue and low blood sugar after a long day.
That's the first trimester in a nutshell. The best parts by far were, of course, the ultrasound and going to my second doctor's appointment on June 29th at 11 weeks where we heard the heartbeat again, loud and clear:
Tata for now! :)