Pregnancy Diary: The First Trimester

As I write this, I’m just about 16 weeks pregnant. I’ve actually written a couple of other diary/update posts that are in draft but I figured it made sense to take a look back at the first trimester before I moved on to more recent updates/musings. I actually wrote my own little ‘private’ diary entries for various weeks through the first trimester – including the first one where I tried to capture the feeling of finding out I was pregnant. But rather than totally bombard you with these, I thought doing one stand alone post makes sense to sort of summarise the first trimester in one go.

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Looking back on it, it already feels like I’ve been pregnant forever. I clearly haven’t as that would be bizarre and some sort of miracle marvel. But we found out on the 15th July… It was a really bizarre thing. I had been out for an appointment and almost mindlessly went into Boots and picked up a test on my way home. Ollie was around, but I didn’t tell him I was taking the test. I don’t know if I thought it was just a sort of ‘checking’ and expecting it to come back negative process, or if I had a gut feeling. But in that moment that the solid line that indicated pregnant came up (and it came up solid, quickly – no doubting it or squinting to see) it was a crazy surreal moment. Of course I immediately went down and told Ollie – he had a big smile on his face and gave me a massive hug whilst I was shaking/crying in a cross between happiness and shock. It was exciting and terrifying all in one go.

The rest of the weekend was spent with me googling ‘what do I do now?’ and trying to work out the next steps…

The biggest decisions I guess we made at that stage were to wait on telling people – originally we said we would wait until all being well at 12 weeks (we didn’t make it *quite* that long before excitement got the better of us… The biggest thing we had ahead was our two week holiday in California. Which was absolutely fantastic, despite me definitely not feeling like myself for it. We were travelling with Ollie’s brother and his girlfriend, so we did tell them early on as we figured trying to explain why I wasn’t drinking etc for two weeks (especially when wine tasting featured on the itinerary… ) was going to be tricky.

Symptoms wise, the main things I had was feeling sick all day. Only mildly usually, but it was a constant feeling a little like the worst sort of hangover where you’re hungry but also the idea of some foods  making you feel rubbish. The biggest thing I had from around 5/6 weeks to around 11 weeks was food aversions. Mainly meat and seafood – especially red meat. The idea of any sort of meat really turned my stomach, even if it was things I’d normally devour happily. Which did suck a bit for me on holiday as I had been looking forward to seafood and tacos and generally lovely food but ended up mostly eating pasta and cheese based meals. Which, don’t get me wrong – was amazing as I love some mac and cheese! But I also missed out on the chance to try some amazing dishes based on my stomach just not being up for it. That side of things is improving though, although red meat is still off for me for the time being.

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Tiredness was pretty extreme too – given the chance I’d have slept in until about 10 every day, had a nap around 3 and been back in bed around 9. Very different from my usual routine – although I have always been a big advocate of a nap – it’s not usually my style to do this on a week day at all! I also had headaches and a pretty much unquenchable thirst every day. Plus I had a strange soapy taste in my mouth that came and went, so having gum or mints on me at all times to ward that off became pretty vital.

Lucky for me though *touches wood* the symptoms of the first trimester tended to ease up around 11 weeks. My appetite isn’t quite the same, but the nausea has pretty much gone (as long as i don’t leave it too long between eating) and generally so far for the second trimester I just feel like a gradually chubbier version of myself. Which is nice as in those first few weeks there’s something quite bizarre and frustrating about not feeling like yourself for a while. Especially when you’re not at the stage where it’s obvious that you’re pregnant.

I’m SO happy that I’ve been able to share the news – I think my absolute favourite part of being pregnant so far has been the telling people. From the looks on your parents and in-laws faces when you tell them to sharing the news on Instagram. Honestly, it’s the best feeling when you get so much excitement and happiness. Not to sound all soppy, but it’s just lovely.

Excited to keep sharing updates – let me know if I should do weekly updates or perhaps more round up things. As I mentioned, I have a few posts drafted and ready to share as soon a I sort some photos! But any questions very welcome!

 

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2 responses to “Pregnancy Diary: The First Trimester”

  1. Eeeeek congratulations girl! I’m so happy for you! I’m glad that your first trimester symptoms weren’t too bad. I think I would find it hard to keep things a secret for twelve weeks too

    Steph – http://www.nourishmeblog.co.uk

  2. Steph says:

    This is all so exciting Jen!!! Can’t wait to hear all of your updates! Steph xxx
    http://www.stephstyle.com

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