First Trimester Recap
Sitting here at the end of my second trimester realizing I never posted my first trimester recap! Can you tell it’s been a bit crazy over here! Between pregnancy, travel, work, and all other life things, time is flying by!
In case you missed it, I ended my last pregnancy post on how I had a bit of a scare after my first appointment with the doctor. During our appointment I had shared with the doctor that the day prior I had had a bit of pink on the toilet paper when I wiped after going to the bathroom first thing in the morning. Based on my history which I talk about here, I became even more anxious leading up to the first appointment.
During the ultrasound, the doctor pointed out a blood clot that was sitting near the fetus. The comment she made was “you should expect more of that.” Which to me, meant maybe some light spotting. It could have been that my emotions were high after we actually heard the baby’s heartbeat because Bryan has a different record of what the doctor said.
So the next night, we were sitting around the table playing a game with my Dad when I felt a sudden rush of something warm down there, ya know. I excused myself to the bathroom and was terrified when I peed and had a lot of blood both in the toilet and when I wiped. I started freaking out internally, but was trying to stay calm externally. It was getting late, so I said I was getting tired so that we could wrap up the game. I was needing my Dad to leave so I could have a full on freakout and tell Bryan what was going on. I didn’t feel like I could do that in front of my Dad because we had already had to share good and bad news with him once on the same occasion when I found out we were having a miscarriage the first time so I didn’t want to have a similar situation again.
My Dad left and I told Bryan what happened. I went to the bathroom again and this time actually felt something come out. There was a lot of blood and what looked to be a clot in the toilet, but my mind instantly went to worse case scenario thinking I just miscarried. Bryan was there to reassure me that the doctor said this could happen and as long as I wasn’t having any cramps we should try to remain calm and go to sleep.
You could say my sleep was not restful that night. I woke up multiple times and went to the bathroom and was still having some bloody discharge. When I finally woke up the next day I was still feeling a little anxious and messaged the doctor. It was Saturday so I knew I probably wouldn’t get a response. Bryan kept reassuring me that everything was fine and if there wasn’t cramping we should try to remain calm. I had some residual bleeding throughout the day, but it was getting lighter. Although it was still all I could think about, I started to feel better by the end of the day. By Sunday the bleeding had basically stopped and I was feeling much better mentally. I started to really believe that everything was fine and I had just passed the clot.
Monday comes around and I get a call from the doctors office saying that not only does my doctor want to see me, but that she wants to see me that day. Luckily I live close to the office and she said to come down in 15 minutes and the doctor would squeeze me in. I started to feel a bit of panic. I got to the office and got checked in. The doctor came in and I explained what happened. She asked if she could do a quick check on the ultrasound. A few moments later we were listening to the heartbeat and all was well!
Overall I would say my first trimester was fairly mild. While I did experience a few of the classic pregnancy symptoms, I never got sick, which I am grateful for. I know everyone has a different experience, but this is just me sharing my own experience.
The pregnancy fatigue is REAL! The fatigue was like no other fatigue. I could barely function past 2 pm and it was almost impossible to get through the day without a nap. As someone who has never been a big napper in my life, I took so many naps during the first trimester. Even with a nap, I was still lights out by 9 pm. It’s incredible how much your body is working during those first few weeks, so it makes total sense why you are so tired!
I also experienced major food aversions. It started when we were coming back from Hawaii in May. I woke up in the middle of the night the day we were leaving feeling so sick to my stomach. It was the type of stomach sickness I’ve felt only one other time when I was in high school. The time in high school I woke up feeling sick to my stomach, but had to go to work at the smoothie shop. Halfway through my shift, I ran to the bathroom but didn’t quite make it and expelled all over the bathroom! My Mom worked down the street and had to come pick me up. It was awful! Thankfully, this time I didn’t actually throw up, but it was all I could think in the middle of the night was getting on a plane and getting sick. The few days after we got home I was still feeling a little off. I became more aware that some foods that I normally eat weren’t sounding good. I basically needed very bland foods. For the next few weeks throughout the rest of the first trimester, basically all protein foods sounded awful. I couldn’t eat eggs or any other animal proteins like chicken or beef. I did my best, but it was a struggle. I basically ate toasted sourdough with peanut butter and jelly, cold fruit, Greek yogurt, my cottage cheese high protein pancakes, and smoothies. The only way I was able to eat animal protein was in the form of a turkey sandwich. I know they say to avoid deli meat, but I’ve done some research and read a great book that helped me feel informed in my decision to eat organic turkey slices.
Some other things I experienced that were more random. Every night around 8 pm I would get this craving for ice cold water. It had to be ice cold. A few days I had a weird bitter taste in my mouth. The second time it happened I mentioned it to Bryan and he said that he had read about that in the expecting Dad’s book I had bought him. The remedy for that was mint, which we luckily have growing in our yard. Bryan muddled me mint in a glass with sparkling water and it helped to get rid of the bitter taste. Other symptoms I experienced were a few headaches and a lot of peeing, especially at night during those first few weeks. I also had a few vivid dreams, mostly about the gender of the baby.
The first trimester taught me to trust my instincts. It taught me to listen to my body and just focus on the present so that I don’t get overwhelmed and stress myself out by thinking of the “what ifs.” With my history of experiencing a miscarriage, I definitely have experienced my share of doubts and fear. Anytime I felt those feelings, I would tell myself a little manta that my baby was healthy and had everything it needed to grow and develop. It helped me refocus and trust that my body and baby knew what to do and were healthy and safe. Feeling really grateful to be on this journey! We’ve made it through the first trimester!
