The First Trimester Recap and Q & A
Now that I’m thankfully (!!) out of the first trimester, I wanted recap how it went and answer some first trimester based questions I found online. I LOVE reading pregnancy progress blog posts and I thought it would be fun to do my own for this pregnancy. I kept a journal when I was pregnant with Luca (it’s been so fun to compare!) but now that I have this creative outlet I might as well use it! Hopefully my thoughts or products I used or things I did will help an expectant mama.
I’m almost 16 weeks now and feeling really, really good. The first trimester was harder than I remember with Luca. With both pregnancies, I had all day nausea that wouldn’t quit (not even when I was sleeping) but I never vomitted. Some days I wanted to throw up just so I would feel better for five minutes! The pregnancy exhaustion hit me hard and fast at 6 weeks and I couldn’t make it through most days without a short nap. I had a lot of food aversions and cravings and they were almost exactly the same as when I was pregnant with Luca. The nausea stopped around 12 weeks and I finally started getting my energy back last week!
WHEN / HOW DID YOU FIND OUT & HOW DID YOU TELL YOUR HUSBAND?
I had a mammogram scheduled for Friday May 22nd. I have them yearly due to my mom’s young breast cancer diagnosis and microcalcifications that were found during my first mammogram that led to surgery. I talk a little bit more about that in my Nursing Journey & Essentials post. On Wednesday the 20th while Luca and I were playing with his little animals, I had this overwhelming feeling that I might be pregnant. It came out of nowhere and really surprised me because I’d been tracking my fertile window and didn’t think it could be possible. I had the same exact feeling before I found out I was pregnant with Luca and if there is one thing I learned in my 30 years on this planet it’s if my intuition is loud, I need to listen to it. And my intuition was screaming at me that I was pregnant. So I called my radiology place and told them I might be pregnant and they advised me to cancel the appointment.
So I quickly ordered a couple of different kinds of pregnancy tests from Amazon and forgot all about it. The pregnancy tests arrived on Thursday night and on Friday morning I remembered I ordered them (I was serious about forgetting LOL) and brought them in from outside. Luca was up but Ryan was still sleeping and even though everything in me was telling me the test was going to be positive, I still thought “no way” so I gathered Luca and Loki into our small powder room and took the test. I had barely taken the test out of the cup before the plus sign appeared. I was SHOCKED. I know it sounds silly to be shocked when the feeling was so strong but I was. Immediately my mind thought “our boy name” which was so weird because with Luca I thought very early on that he was a boy (I’m not kidding about my intuition — that B is loud). I looked at Luca and started crying and told him he was going to be a big brother. Him and Loki have no idea how much that moment meant to me nor do they have any idea what I was saying but the three of us cramped in the bathroom is exactly how I needed to find out.
Ry was there when I took the pregnant test with Luca and he was the one who read it because I was too nervous. This time I decided I was going to have Luca hand Ry the pregnancy test so that I could see his reaction and soak in all the details. I let him sleep a bit longer (it was early when I took the test) then I handed Luca the test, opened the door and said “give this to Daddy.” Ry was getting out of bed and said something like “what do you have for me?” to Luca. The light wasn’t on when he took the test from Luca so he said “what is this” and when I turned the light on it registered and he was so surprised. That moment with all of us in our bedroom staring at a test that confirmed a new addition to our little family will forever be etched in my memory. It was beautiful!
DID YOU HAVE ANY EARLY PREGNANCY SYMPTOMS?
I LOVE this question because with my first pregnancy I was on the internet every.single.day during the two week wait looking at blogs and articles and boards for symptoms of early pregnancy. My internet search history for those two weeks is probably hilarious (and a little scary LOL). But when you’re trying for a baby and you’ve never been pregnant before, you want to know right away and will read into every insignificant change in your body. It turned out that the only indication of early pregnancy I had was some cramping way before my period was due and a heavy gut feeling. I didn’t have any early symptoms with this pregnancy (probably because I didn’t think I’d be pregnant), only the same heavy gut feeling. I know this doesn’t help any mamas patiently waiting for their baby but I want you to understand (because I wish I would have with Luca) every woman is different and every pregnancy is different and reading other women’s early pregnancy experiences could cause more heartache that good.
WHEN ARE YOU DUE?
I’m due at the end of January! It’ll be fun to be pregnant through the fall and holidays and to have a new baby to look forward too once the high of the holidays is over.
WILL YOU FIND OUT THE GENDER?
No! 🙂 I love the surprise! We did not find out with Luca — Ry kind of wanted to so he watched during the anatomy scan when they were checking on the gentialia (I closed my eyes). He couldn’t decipher what he was seeing, he said it just looked like a mouse LOL. But when Luca was born and Ry got to announce “it’s a boy!” his mind was changed! He said he loved that moment and was on board with the labor surprise for the rest of our babies.
HOW DID YOU TELL YOUR FAMILY?
I told my sister first — she loves astrology (she’ll probably hate me for putting that so plainly) so I called her and after talking for awhile I asked her what would someone’s sign be if they were born at the end of January. I’m not usually that creative — with Luca I just blurted out “I’m pregnant” to just about everyone LOL. I told my mom shortly after that over FaceTime by telling her that Luca had something to tell her and he showed her the test. Again, I don’t know where these semi-creative ideas came from.
We told the rest of our immediate family shortly after that over FaceTime. I purchased a “big brother” tshirt for Luca (you can see it in my pregnancy annoucement post) pretty quickly after I found out and had him wear that while FaceTiming with my in-laws, brother, etc.
Ry likes to tell people we “had to pass the time [in quaratine] somehow” and he thinks it’s just hilarious #dadjokes. He’s not wrong though 🙂
HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE “READY” FOR BABY TWO
Are you ever really ready for a baby?! We knew for sure that we wanted to wait at least until Luca was a year old to start trying. I wanted to give my body enough time to heal from his pregnancy and birth and we ideally wanted them to be 2-3 years apart.
We started “trying” for a second pregnancy in January of this year. It didn’t happen in January or February and after some negative pregnancy tests, really low feelings and the start of a pandemic, we decided to just hold off. I wanted so badly to add to our family but the decision to wait brought me so much peace! I just knew that waiting was best — I needed to stop trying to create my own timeline and start relying on God’s. I actually wanted to wait until after the summer but this baby had other ideas.
We’re never going to know the perfect time to start or grow our families. Families begin and flourish on their own timelines and I think that’s the beauty of it.
WHAT DID YOU DO TO FOR THE MORNING SICKNESS / NAUSEA?
My nausea was a constant, all-day and all-night companion. I would even wake up in the middle of the night feeling nauseous. It was always there! The nausea came on strong at 7 weeks and stuck around until 12 weeks. I only vomitted once — on a trail by our house and I think it was heat related — so I’m super thankful for that! There was nothing that made it completely go away but a few things did help.
Vitamin B6 — my midwife recommended this with my first pregnancy. She actually recommended taking unisom + B6 but I didn’t take the unisom with this pregnancy (I did with Luca). I would take one with breakfast around 8:30 and then again with an afternoon snack around 3:00. It helped keep the strong nausea at bay and if I didn’t take it (especially if I missed it in the afternoon) or if I didn’t take it with food, the nausea was super strong for the rest of the day and into the night. I definitely recommend purchasing it for your nausea arsenal if this is something you struggle with!
Lemon water — I actually still can’t drink plain water. I buy like 3 bags of lemons a week and add a half a lemon into my 30oz water bottle and continuously fill that up all day. I’ll add the other half before dinner so I’m using one lemon a day. Something about the tartness helps ease my stomach.
Small meals all day — I found that almost constant small snacking helped with the strong nauseous feelings. I felt the worst when my stomach was empty or almost empty so I tried to make sure to eat something if I felt even the slightest bit hungry. Also, keeping meals small helped because if I my stomach was too full it made me nauseous as well.
I’ve tried all the things — the preggie pops, Sea Bands, every single ginger item that’s sold, baths and nothing works. But these three things helped the most.
ANY CRAVINGS OR AVERSIONS?
Cravings : lemon flavored or tart things, pickles, vinegar, anything salty or spicy, honeycrisp apples, honey nut cheerios, caprese and kale salads (please roll your eyes at this one because I do everyday I cannot get over it).
Aversions : coffee, most sweet things, chocolate, ranch dressing (I make a buttermik herby ranch with greek yourt that I’m usually obsessed with and I couldn’t even look at it), the smell of any meat cooking, salmon (but I still ate gagged through it once week.. you’re welcome baby’s brain!) and plain water.
HOW HAS THIS PREGNANCY DIFFERED FROM WITH LUCA?
This pregnancy has been almost identical to Luca’s. The nausea was the same, most of the cravings and aversions — almost every facet has been the same as my pregnancy with Luca. It’s differed in that I have a toddler so I can’t sleep whenever I want and rarely get to sit or lay down when he’s awake.
And Covid — I obviously didn’t expect my second pregnany to be during a global pandemic and it’s been weird and interesting and a little lonely but I’m still so incredibly thankful to be growing this baby. Ry wasn’t able to go with me to the confirmation ultrasound because Luca couldn’t come and we don’t want to have a babysitter so that felt a little weird. I thought going to the doctor would be weirder this time around (given the virus) but my OB office does a fantastic job of scheduling and making sure you feel safe.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO MOST/LEAST WITH BABY TWO?
I’m most looking forward to seeing Luca become a big brother! He is such a sweet boy and is always loving on, hugging and giving kisses to us, Loki and all of his stuffed foxes. I can’t wait to see that love translated to a sibling (hopefully lol)! My heart could burst thinking about it. And to see Ryan with a newborn again. He says he’s much better with older babies/toddlers/kids but he was so sweet with a tiny newborn/infant. I’m also looking forward to Ry and Luca’s bond strengthening when mama is nursing, etc.
And birth!!! I LOVED my birth experience with Luca and almost immediately after he was born I told Ry I couldn’t wait to do it again. There is something so magical and truly powerful about labor and delivery and I feel so blessed to be able to experience that wonder!
There isn’t anything that I’m not looking forward to but one thing I’m nervous about is Luca having to share me and having to split my time between two babies. How do I ensure they both feel loved? How can I make Luca understand that he’s still and will always be my baby? I’ve been reassured over and over again by mamas of 2 or more than your heart grows and it isn’t half and half but one big heart with all the love for all your children. But it’s still something that I think about daily and will continue to until I experience it for myself. I also know how much I treasure the relationships I have with both of my siblings and that knowledge eases some of the “what if Luca resents me and the baby?” anxiety I’m experiencing.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH CHANGES WITH YOUR BODY?
I love being pregnant (probably annoyingly so). Even through the roughness of the first trimester, the uncomfortability of the third trimester and the pain that comes with housing a new life, I love it. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely hard to watch your body change so rapidly and it some really weird ways, especially with your first pregnancy. I was in super great shape before I found out I was pregnant this time around. I loved the way my body looked and I felt really good and healthy. So when I was 7 weeks and bloated like crazy and wearing a swimsuit, it was hard on my self-confidence.But knowing those changes are healthy and necessary and bringing you closer to meeting your baby helps with the “wow I sure miss having a waist and seeing my toes and wow I didn’t know that could change” feelings.
I’m currently in the is she pregnant or did she eat a huge pizza stage of pregnancy and I’ll be happy when I’m firmly in the she’s pregnant camp.
Well that was fun! I loved thinking about the first trimester — it already feels so far away LOL — and answering those questions. I’m going to be sharing some “pregnancy must-have” products that I used with both Luca’s pregnancy and this and some that I recently bought and love next week. I hope you enjoy following along on this journey! Mamas, what was your favorite/least favorite part of the first trimester? And how did you combat morning sickness and fatigue?!
