It may seem a bit backwards to write about the first trimester of my pregnancy after our baby girl has been born but for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to write the bumpates until now. Not sure if I was just lazy or uncomfortable sharing too much, but in a way it is better because I can look back with the perspective of all 3 trimesters now.
How did we find out we were expecting?
We moved from Germany to Louisiana the 2nd week of July and unknowingly had a little stow-away with us. We were busy moving and visiting friends in those first couple weeks so if I was tired, I certainly didn’t think anything of it. The reality though, is that the first real “symptom” I think I had was incredibly sore boobs, something I have never experienced in my life. One day the last week of July, after we had finished unpacking all the wine and most of the kitchen, I really wanted a glass of a good red wine from Europe. My wicked sore boobs gave me pause and I decided to pee on a stick just in case, and sure enough 2 lines appeared! I immediately called my husband from the garage and showed him the stick and said “I think this means we’re having a baby.”
Unlike most stories, the thought to pee on another one never occurred to me. Instead we just ate dinner and watched tv a bit jittery but still calm and the next morning I went to the clinic where they confirmed it. That’s when it was real…weird, but real.
Was it planned?
This is a question no one should ever ask someone in my opinion yet people are always curious about. If you know my husband and I, there are very few things that we don’t try to plan. I went off birth control in November with the idea that we would get pregnant around or after February. I have been on birth control for half of my life and we weren’t sure how long it would take but knew we wanted to at least get through the new year (aka I wanted to drink). I used LH sticks and weekly pregnancy sticks (from this kit) to track things in the Ovia app because I am so irregular. The timing could not have been more perfect for us, I would have been miserable moving in the late first trimester exhaustion and I was able to enjoy all of the drinks and festivals in Germany before moving!
What Symptoms did I have?
I already mentioned the most sensitive boobs of my life, after those the worst was the exhaustion. I have never taken so many naps in my life as I did in those first 15 weeks. I would come home every day and go straight to nap for an hour or two. I worked out 3-5 days a week to try and help with the exhaustion but most days I just rode the stationary bike for 30 minutes because that was all I had energy for. While I never threw up (thank goodness), I did essentially feel like I had a moderate hangover for about 2 months. Considering I wasn’t drinking anything tasty to give me that feeling, it was quite the bummer.
What thoughts did we have?
We were excited of course, since it is what we had planned for, but honestly pregnancy was the most annoying and inconvenient experience I have had, and I said that almost from day 1! Th first trimester is really a doozy. You feel like crap but you aren’t telling anyone because you also have extreme anxiety of something going wrong. I think every night I would put my hand on my stomach and just say “please stay in there.”
I think this is the least fun trimester for husbands because they can’t see the reason for all of the changes (no bump), so it is harder for it to seem real for them. Shai was a trooper letting me sleep all the time and taking care of things but I know for sure this was his least favorite trimester too.
Finding out the Gender
Like I’ve mentioned before, no one plans quite like us, so finding out the gender as soon as possible was at the top of our to-do list. We ordered the Sneak Peek At-Home test so we could find out at 9 weeks. The test is 99% accurate, and the 1% that is wrong is when it shows you’re having a boy and you are actually having a girl. They mail you the test and you prick your finger and drain some blood into the vials they provide you. It is super important for your husband to stay away and for you to keep everything clean so that there is no boy DNA getting mixed up in there. We both wanted a girl so badly we couldn’t stand another 10 weeks of suspense.
We videoed us opening up the email with the gender in it so we could send it to our family to reveal it to them as well. We didn’t do any other sort of “gender reveal” although in our announcement photos I wore a pink skirt and photoshopped in some pink smoke as a subtle announcement.
Products I lived by to get me through
These babies are great for that nauseous feeling, and they were also nice to snack on when I felt like eating but didn’t really need to.
While there wasn’t a baby belly in the first trimester, there was bloat and what I called a burger belly. By 11 weeks I couldn’t stand the feeling of my jeans closed so I tried to wear dresses and leggings as much as possible.
I am always drinking water but pregnancy had me drinking 120+ oz of water a day. If that isn’t easy for you, there are tons of bottles that help track it for you or keep you motivated.
I absolutely loved the Ovia Baby app throughout my entire pregnancy. They had great articles and information that kept me educated without being overwhelmed.
Thanks for following, stay tuned for the rest of the pregnancy recaps!
Xx
Kali
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