Aaron and I have been feeling the love and excitement over our exciting announcement. We kept this secret to ourselves for about eight weeks, with the exception of two of our very best friends. And, around eight weeks, we started slowly telling our family. Once we had our 12-week appointment, we started telling our friends. It’s been so nice to finally have the cat out of the bag officially. The first trimester is such a roller coaster – and it can be isolating at times if you aren’t telling people. Because I’m technically “advanced maternal age” (any other moms just getting started at 35? I feel way better equipped, by the way – and I’ll share more on that in another post because it completely deserves one), we really wanted to wait until we were in the clear before telling a ton of people.
Finding out
We weren’t officially trying, but we also weren’t officially preventing. I am not the personality type to do a ton of tracking – or counting – so we weren’t. We were taking a very laidback approach to the whole thing – and we were going to take it month by month. I went on the bachelorette party in August, and when I got back, I realized that things were off. I’m pretty regular – until I wasn’t. And, it was at that point that I realized something was up. A pregnancy test quickly confirmed, and I surprised Aaron that night by telling him I brought him something back from Mexico. He was equally as shocked.
File this under the things no one tells you, but I called my doctor’s office right away, and they actually don’t even want to see you until 8-weeks. I was probably about 5ish weeks when I found out. I remember thinking how hard it was going to be to “just chill” until I could get in to see my doctor for my 8-week appointment. That’s when Aaron and I made the executive decision to tell our besties so we would have someone to help calm my nerves and act as a sounding board until we could see our doctor.
First Trimester
I’m officially 16 weeks today (and I promise this little corner of the internet isn’t going to be all baby all the time – but it’s a major life event), and the most common question I get asked is how I’m feeling. The answer is GOOD. I have considered myself to be incredibly lucky – especially during the first trimester.
Weeks 6 through 10 were the toughest. I was tired, I had lots of food aversions and I was dealing with nausea on and off throughout the day. But, I quickly realized that if I stayed hydrated – and ate something throughout the day (whatever I could stomach), I could maintain a decent level of functioning. I also made it a point to move my body every day, because 9 times out of 10, it would make me feel better. Sometimes it was a walk around the block at lunch time. We continued to walk the dogs every night. And, it really helped to keep me in a positive state of mind. Overall, I was able to maintain my activity levels because it made me feel most like myself during a time in my life where I felt pretty out of my wheelhouse.
First trimester nutrition
No one ever really talks about the food aversions. My biggest aversion for awhile was coffee. I would still stomach a bit in the morning to avoid a headache, but it wasn’t something my body was craving. Meat was completely out of the picture until just a couple of weeks ago (so it was hard for me to get some good protein in). And carbs were really the MVP of the first trimester. Also: apples and almond butter. Can we have a round of applause for apples for keeping me going on those days when nothing sounded good to eat?
I also couldn’t cook because the smells really affected me – so Aaron was surviving off of my freezer meals (thank goodness for leftovers) and some meals from H-E-B that he could pop into the oven and cook. When something sounded good, I would jump at the chance and eat it. Smoothies were great.
And for awhile there, Panera’s tomato soup was on my mind.
Luckily, my aversions are mostly gone, and I’m able to cook again. It’s been nice to be back in the kitchen. My aversions mainly went away around week 10/11. I ordered the book “Real Food for Pregnancy,” and it’s been a great resource. The main thing has just been to give myself a bit of grace. During those weeks I didn’t feel well, I ate what I could – knowing I was doing the best I could. Now that I’m feeling better, I am enjoying cooking nutritious meals and doing the best I can to feed my baby some good nutrients (with a few extra little treats here and there).
I’m still not really showing – and I’m still fitting in my regular clothes for now. My body is experiencing some changes. My lower abs feel like they have gone through a workout every day.
Working
I’m so lucky to be working remotely. During weeks 6 through 10, I was able to take my laptop with me to the couch – and work from there. I was able to take meetings off camera – and just feel “not great” in the comfort of my own home.
The most surprising thing about the first trimester
If you’ve been reading here for any amount of time, you know that I have a hard time sitting still. I thrive off a full schedule and a packed agenda – even though I’ve tried to tone it down a bit. In short, it can be really hard for me to relax. But, I have had to really listen to my body – and slow things down a bit. The most surprising thing has been the need to really slow down.
The times I’ve overdone it during the first trimester – I really feel it – and can end up pretty exhausted. So, I’ve just toned everything down. If my body tells me it needs to relax – I relax. If I need to sleep longer – I sleep longer. I’ve also been going to bed a bit earlier (shocker, I know). And, my dogs have been right by my side every step of the way ( they for sure know something is up).
So, overall, I’m just trying to find my stride in this new season of my life, and I’m excited for what’s in store!
