I'm here to tell you the honest truth about my first trimester. It was honestly not horrible...AT ALL!
We found out when we were about 4-5 weeks along. I was expecting to feel nauseous, exhausted, and odd cravings but I honestly had NO clue I was pregnant. I don't even know why I decided to take a test but I'm so glad I did.
Symptoms - I'm very lucky when it comes to the symptom department. No real horrible symptoms! My skin began to break out around week 8. However, this might have been due to my having to switch cleansers, face topicals, etc. There was ONE day on my way to work (I was literally about 2 days pregnant so I had no clue I was expecting) where I got really hot all of a sudden and felt nauseous for a minute or two. The minute I took a sip of water I felt better. At about 5 or 6 weeks (before the first ultrasound), I started spotting a little bit after a walk with my mom. I was so nervous but my doctor reassured me that this was normal and unless it's a heavy flow, we're okay. I kept it easy those few days that I was spotting. After about a week, it cleared up and I haven't experienced any spotting since.
Another thing I noticed was my immune system was horrible! I'm usually sick once, maybe twice a year. However, during the first trimester I caught 3 colds! It's the worst because you really can't take any medicine. The first time I got sick, I went to the doctor just to see if I was doing the right thing and the only thing you can really do is nasal spray and Tylenol. So that's exactly what I did! Plus I rested up and drank a TON of water!
Mood - My mood was probably the biggest red flag those first few weeks. I was getting really irritated about silly things. My poor husband probably thought I was a crazy lady for getting on his case about every little thing. It was around Thanksgiving/Christmas so I just figured it was holiday stress. As soon as we saw that positive test result, it all made sense!! I felt pretty anxious and unsure about things during the first trimester - is everything okay? With each doctor's visit and ultrasound, I felt more and more assured that everything was going alright with the pregnancy but I kept thinking, "I'll feel better after the next ultrasound..." or "I'll feel better once I hear the heartbeat again". I was super anxious to get past these 12 weeks.
Cravings - Absolutely NO cravings. What's wrong with me?! I wanted to crave pizza, pasta, popsicles....and all those other crazy things you always hear about! The good news though, I didn't have any real food aversions either. The only thing would have been BBQ Chicken. Before I found out I was pregnant, I kept making BBQ Chicken in the crock-pot. So easy and so tasty! Around 6 weeks or so, the thought of BBQ Chicken kinda grossed me out. I haven't had it since! Other than that, I'm eating pretty normal. Before I found out I was pregnant I was eating very healthy and trying to stay away from sugar and gluten. Once I found out I was pregnant, I started eating normal again because I didn't want the baby to develop any allergies.
Exercise - I was in great shape when I got pregnant. I was just starting to run again (about 4-5 miles a few times a week) and Bar Method (my obsession!). I felt nervous about running and keeping up with my normal activities. I asked my doctor and he cleared me to do any exercises that I was doing pre-pregnancy. I definitely scaled down the running but not at all because I was in pain or felt uncomfortable. I continued to work out 4-5 times per week. Mostly upper body, short HIIT workouts, elliptical, walking on the treadmill with weights, and continued Bar Method. I did not modify anything at this point. I felt funny doing abdominal work but the doctor and Bar Method said I could continue through the first trimester as long as I was listening to my body.
Sleep - Sleeping as usual. I didn't feel any more tired. You hear some horror stories that people are exhausted during the first trimester but I didn't experience this. They say to sleep on your side (especially your left side) during pregnancy. I'm usually a stomach/back sleeper but started sleeping on my side as soon as we got that positive pregnancy test. Not for any reason other than to just get use to it for the next 35+ weeks! I was sleeping through the night but just tossing and turning a little more than usual because I was getting used to sleeping on my side. Around 10-12 weeks, my hips started hurting a bit. I bought a foam pillow to put in between my legs for more support and it really helped during my first trimester.
Looking forward to - Being out of the first trimester! I wanted to start telling people! It's hard keeping a secret from friends and co-workers. You just want to shot it from the rooftop and some people do but we decided to wait. We told our immediate family and one or two close friends but we waited until we were out of the first trimester to announce it to the world. I felt anxious for those weeks to pass because with each week he/she was growing more and more healthy.
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