Michael and I are expecting our first child! And now that the secret is out, I’ll be sharing the occasional “bumpdate” here on CWS to document my pregnancy. If you haven’t already, click here to check out my announcement post! 🙂 *affiliate link
I have been waiting for this time in my life for a very, very long time. I have always felt called to be a mother, so whatever I experience throughout this time, I will be thankful for.
FIRST SYMPTOMS:
As I shared in my announcement post, I found out I was pregnant at 8 DPO which was 6 days before my missed period. I found out very early! I only had one symptom before my BFP (big fat positive) and that was being extremely winded/dizzy. I have always been really in tune with my body so I definitely took notice of the more extreme windedness. I took a test that same day and it was positive. I was 3 weeks and a few days then.
I did also have really bad hormonal acne before testing but adult acne is something I struggle with regularly, so I didn’t think of it much as a symptom then.
SYMPTOMS BY WEEKS:
WEEK 4:
- Sore boobs – Oh my gosh. A couple of days after my first positive test, my boobs started to be so sore. This carried on consistently through week 10.
- Fatigue – Just plain exhausted like never before.
- Acne – I had the worst acne all around my chin area. It was not fun!
WEEKS 5 – 6:
- Getting tired quickly
- Bloating – I was pretty much bloated throughout my entire first trimester.
- Frequent peeing – And to think the baby isn’t kicking my bladder yet… oh gosh! lol
- Nausea (occasional to severe) – Week 5 was when nausea started to creep in. It actually started on my trip to NYC for work (photo below) and I was really hoping it wouldn’t. I took a bus into the city and the trip was 2+ hours longer than it should’ve been and I felt so bleh. I couldn’t even make it through the entire conference that Saturday because I was nauseous. It was not an enjoyable trip at all but I survived!
- That following week (week 6), the nausea was absolutely awful. I could barely leave my bed that entire week.
WEEKS 7 – 8:
- Consistent nausea – Nausea continued. I’d have a day where it wouldn’t be so bad but the next, it was right back to awful.
- Dizziness – Just plain dizzy if I got up too fast.
- Lower back pain – Everything starting to stretch inside!
- Morning sickness – After weeks of dealing with nausea, I started to get sick here and there in the mornings. At this point, I could count on 1 hand the number of times I vomited.
WEEKS 9 – 10:
- Occasional bad headache – I had one terrible headache week 9 and it made me sick to my stomach.
- Morning sickness more consistent
- Nausea on and off – My mother-in-law got me Sea-Bands* to try and they worked for me! I had put off trying them for weeks but they actually help a lot.
- Excessive saliva
- Lower back pain
- Mood swings – (poor Michael lol)
- Tailbone discomfort
WEEKS 11 – 13:
- A couple of headaches each week – This was when I caved and started taking Tylenol when a headache would happen. Tylenol is safe to take when pregnant but I am typically someone who avoids taking anything.
- Hot flashes – I’m naturally a warmer person so I’m always warm but these weeks I started to have more times where I felt flushed and hot!
- Morning sickness – Ironically, I didn’t vomit much the first half or so of my first trimester. It wasn’t until the closing weeks that I started to get sick once every morning when I’d wake up. I tried the saltines before getting out of bed thing but it didn’t work for me. After the morning, 98% of the time I wouldn’t get sick the rest of the day (aside from occasional nausea).
- Back & lower back pain
CRAVINGS:
I haven’t had ONE huge craving yet but I definitely have gone through a couple of different phases of cravings. The first half of my first trimester, I didn’t have any cravings at all. Instead, it was more about figuring out what my body would allow me to eat. I ate a lot of breakfast food, fruit, and yogurt. Egg & cheese on a croissant from Dunkin or McDonald’s egg & cheese on a biscuit were my saviors in the mornings.
The last few weeks of my first trimester, I started to get more of a taste for things back which was so great! I am still drinking coffee but I have cut back on my intake a ton. I don’t even drink coffee every day anymore. When I do drink coffee, it has to be iced!
AVERSIONS:
I am not someone who has a weak stomach at all, so experiencing aversions was really new to me. Sadly, I had huge aversions to pasta and cheese. Like… my favorite foods. It was so sad! I didn’t eat mac n cheese for almost 2 months, haha.
The smells of meat when being booked would gag me sometimes, so I really only ate chicken my first trimester.
WEIGHT GAIN:
I didn’t gain anything during the first trimester. My weight ranges between 2-3lbs, depending on the time of day.
WORKING OUT:
The first trimester was really rough so working out was not an option for me. I did do some deep stretches when I was feeling up to it. For the most part, I was either too nauseous or exhausted to work out. I’m hoping this changes because I really want to do my best to stay healthy and stay in shape.
BODY CHANGES:
As I mentioned before, my boobs have definitely gotten bigger. I’m not complaining. I have always been quite small-chested so I’m enjoying being a bit fuller, haha. As far as a baby bump, there aren’t any signs of one yet. I have noticed my stomach becoming softer and more relaxed but I think I’m mostly still just experiencing bloating.
FAVORITE APPS:
Pregnancy apps have been my BFFs throughout my pregnancy so far. I love The Bump, BabyCenter, and Pregnancy+ to read about my baby’s growth and about how my body is changing. My favorite app by far is Glow Nurture! I used the Glow app to track my cycle before and during when we were trying to conceive and I had the best experience with it. I was so glad to see they had Glow Nurture for your pregnancy journey. There are discussion groups which can be helpful but I really love the daily logs to track everything day by day. 🙂
I think I remembered all of the big stuff! If you have any questions that weren’t answered, let me know in the comments. 🙂 So excited to share this journey with you!
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