Surviving the First Trimester

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I'm halfway through the second trimester at this point and the memory of my rough first trimester is already fading. 

Funny how that works! When I was going through it I couldn't understand how anyone could voluntarily have a second pregnancy after experiencing that once. But queasy memories fade and excitement takes over (see below, me at 21 weeks pregnant now!).

During my first trimester reading other expectant moms' experiences was one of my favorite ways to make it through the day. So here's a little recap of my first trimester experience, along with what made it a little more tolerable for me!

I only found out that I was pregnant at 7 weeks + 2 days, a week after the really rough morning sickness kicked in, but looking back I can spot quite a few symptoms that I wrote off as nothing at the time.

Being very hungry. Sleeping more and more soundly than usual. Thirst. Sore breasts. Reduced heat tolerance. Occasional queasiness. All of that went on for a solid month before the horrid morning sickness kicked in. Here are a few things that helped me make it through the two weeks of peak morning sickness and the touch-and-go two weeks after that.

Sea bands.

My big sister actually used these on a cruise a few years back to ward off motion sickness. Funnily enough, they also work for morning sickness! In those early weeks I wore them almost 24/7, taking them off only to shower and to switch out bands, and while they helped prevent the morning sickness from getting too bad. 

That said, they're definitely more preventative than remediative. They're good for preventing the nausea from getting too bad, but when it's already really bad they aren't going to do much to make it go away (in my experience, at least).

Even now into the second trimester I'm more sensitive to driving in a car than usual and like to keep a pair of sea bands in my handbag, in case I have to take an Uber anywhere. Better safe than sorry!

Ginger candies, ginger tea, ginger ale. 

Ginger people ginger chews and hard candies taste pretty good and can be really helpful for taking the edge off of nausea. I kept bags on various surfaces all around the apartment, so they were never too far out of reach when I needed them. That was really important, because the first trimester combination of incomparable fatigue and debilitating nausea was enough to keep me couch-bound for days on an end at a time! Sometimes it felt like I really couldn't get up, even if I wanted to.

Ginger ale helped a little for a day or two, but then the carbonation was too much for me and the liquid sweetness turned my stomach. I'm keeping it on this list because I've heard from others that it worked for them! Ginger tea, boiled and then cooled down to room temperature, was much better for me and I was able to use it to stay hydrated when even water made me feel ill.

Lots of rest.

Fatigue unlikely any I'd ever felt before in my life made this one a no-brainer for me, but even if you're not completely wiped out I recommend it. Take it easy while your body does the hard working of turning a mass of cells into a tiny human complete with all of its tiny little organs! I can be pretty type A, so it was hard for me to just lie on the couch for weeks, inactive and not getting any work done, but it's what my body needed and our little one is doing great now. 

In our constantly on, go-go-go lives it can be tough to take time to relax and rest. While I'm not sure I'd call being horribly morning sick relaxing, I sure got in some unproductive downtime and that's a little silver lining.

Hope and a focus on the future.

The tough thing about pregnancy is that everyone's pregnancy is different. Even for the same person who's experienced multiple pregnancies, pregnancy experiences can differ from one to the next! Because of this, there's no definite date on which everything gets better. 

For some people, things look up at 12 weeks. For others at 13. For others yet, midway through the second trimester. And some unlucky women suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum and feel wretched for the whole 9 months. You just can't know which bucket you'll fall into.

Even though I knew it wasn't promised that the second trimester would bring improvement, having hope that it would kept me going through the worst days. I reminded myself that this was all temporary and normal, and that I would be okay. I think that attitude did as much for me as all the ginger, sea bands, and rest could.

But, again, everyone's pregnancy is different. If you take B6, Unisom, Zofran, or whatever else your obstetrician prescribes for you, there's no shame in that. At the end of the day, a healthy mom and a healthy baby are all that matters!

Moms, which trimester was your favorite? Which trimester was your least favorite?