By now you have probably gathered the newest update in my life – IM PREGNANT! So here is my pregnancy first trimester journey… because it really has been a rollercoaster journey!
Firstly my husband and I are beyond excited and so incredably grateful to be able to share this news. It still feels so surreal. It has been a really tough last few months and now at 15 wks pregnant I feel I can finally take a deep breathe and start truely enjoying pregnancy life.
For me being a mum one day had always been a high priority in my life. From a young age I knew that was my purpose in life. I have always loved my career but my passion towards one day bringing up children with the love of my life and creating a warm, loving family has always been far beyond any other desire or dream.
Lets just say pregnant life so far has been a rollercoaster beyond what I could have imagined. 8 weeks ago I was adamant I NEVER wanted to fall pregnant again to give you an idea! There has been a lot of doctor visits, tears and struggle of juggling normal life.
Below is a little summary of my first trimester experiences! Its raw, honest and contains a lot of detail so opt out now if thats not for you. I personally found reading and hearing about others experiences, particularly during my first trimester comforting and reassuring.
Finding Out We Were Pregnant:
We had decided from this particular month we would just start trying and see what happened. It was the first month we could have fallen pregnant without it affecting our big trip this year….. because priorities you know!! 😉 I had been taking prenatal supplements for a couple months prior as advised by our doctor.
Within BV I have worked with A LOT of women over the years who have struggled with fertility and I have been exposed to the pain and struggle that comes with this. Due to our particular client focus, more of our prenatal clients coming to us were considered high risk than those low risk! As a result I was cautious of the whole process and believed it probably would take us a few months at least. My husband on the other hand was highly optimistic and rather confident in the fact we would just fall pregnant straight away.
Well not long later that month I sensed just subtle changes in my body and had to admit to him “I actually think we might be pregnant”! We waited the recommended time to test. First pregnancy test was a “negative”. At this point he was doubting and I was still sure we were. We waited another 24 hours and sure enough it was a clear “positive”. It was the morning before I was just about to go away for a girls weekend and to be picked up in 20 minutes! There was a lot of excitement in the rush with also a sense of uncertainty knowing it was very early days.
The First 6 Weeks:
These were easy! I was slightly more tired at night but honestly had so much more energy in the day than I have had in 10 years (prior autoimmune). I was so productive in the day, sleeping so well at night and able to maintain much of my usual fitness efforts (with pregnancy first trimester modifications). It was a “I love pregnancy” time!
The Rest Of First Trimester:
The 6 week mark brought with it all day and night sickness with an instant BANG! I suddenly had no energy, was unbearably nauseous and food aversions become a really big thing. A couple days after this the throwing up started and continued to increase with intensity each day. I had to completely give up my previous healthy lifestyle and adapt to really anything that helped. At this point my diet consisted of hot chips, hot cross buns and chicken schnitzel and making sure these foods were in my stomach continuously. Even still now an empty stomach is danger zone (aka triggers me to throw up).
Any liquids were impossible to get down and absolutely no vegetables or fruits even if I tried to disguise them in my meals. Exercise became non existent other than a very little walks in fresh air each day. I slept continuously and had to reduce my work load as much as I could, taking naps in-between the necessities whenever I could.
After 2 weeks of being very sick and dehydrated I was prescribed quite strong anti nausea medication that they usually give you in the hospital (of course pregnancy approved) which was life changing. Up until a week ago I was on this 24 hours a day, however now just in the day and hoping to reduce this over the next week or 2. This meant I was still nauseas 24/7 however it was manageable. I had more control over being sick and was able to figure out routines to manage the sickness.
These included; Eat toast before sitting up in bed in the am (bless my husband for becoming my personal chef), no liquids until 10am and hydralytes only, eat every 1.5- 2 hours, keep only with the foods I knew worked (mostly high GI carbs), avoid travel, avoid smells particularly cooking smells, avoid thinking about food and avoid putting my head or torso on an angle that wasn’t upright or directly flat (bye bye yoga).
Im embarrassed to say I have consumed more McDonalds in the last few months than I have my ENTIRE adult life! For some reason at the moment their meals settle my stomach better than most over foods.
Slowly as the weeks went past I was able to introduce new foods such as some fruits and some healthier grains such as rice and oats. Towards the end of the first trimester allowed the return of eggs, meats, nuts and some vegetables as long as they were blended or disguised.
Up to this point on top of all the sickness I have experienced I bad UTI infection and had to go on antibiotics, chronic constipation with 9 days becoming the new norm of regular (currently now a little more under control with doctors help), a skin flare up + lots of other fun little things..
I have also had the pleasure of witnessing how amazing the human body is! The changes and its ability to adapt in such a short period of time astounds me. I have loved watching my little bump grow with its first appearance quite early at 8 weeks. Keeping track of bubs development from week to week on my pregnancy app with my husband has been so great. We also have had so much fun fantasising together about life when he or she arrives in what feels like no time at all.
Anyway fast forward to 15 weeks. I now can eat most the things that were part of my pre pregnancy diet. Some veg are still out, including all green vegetables unless in a smoothie or juice. Unfortunately no salads yet and the veg I’m eating usually has to be roasted and covered in a flavour. Still can’t keep down water unless its flavoured and carbs need to be the base of every snack and meal to keep my stomach settled…… but this is all great in comparison to the before! I have started to slowly include a little strength work into my week to gain back some of which I lost and trying to make movement a little more regular with the goal to stay as mobile as possible for as long as possible.
Pregnancy so far has been a process of letting go and celebrating the little wins!
All medical professions have confirmed along the way our little baby is very healthy, chilled out and has a very full tummy which is all we could ask for 🙂
Heading forward my aim is to try and get my gut health back on track, include more nutrition in my diet and work on hip stability, deep core, pelvic floor and back strength for ongoing pregnancy health.
You can follow my regular pregnancy updates here: FB & IG
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