I'm 14 weeks along with
this pregnancy, hooray! That means I'm through the first trimester, which is weird when you think about it--why is each trimester only 12 weeks, but pregnancy is 40 weeks long, not 36? 40 divided by 3 is 13-1/3. But whatever.
This time around this first trimester was different than it was
when I was pregnant with Otto... still hard, but different!
"Morning" Sickness
With both pregnancies I've found out right away (about 3.5 weeks pregnant, I think) and the morning sickness has set in around week 5 or 6. Extreme fatigue and basically feeling carsick all the time have been my main symptoms. Using my phone makes it worse so sometimes I had to just lay on the couch doing nothing. This time around I started reading in my spare time, which became a nice evening tradition after putting Otto down and before Jason has been getting home. (Bedtime is hard. I stopped nursing Otto when I was 4 or 5 weeks pregnant since I figured the fatigue would set in soon! We were just doing it for a couple minutes at bedtime anyway and I don't think he was getting much. It was time.)
Morning sickness is very poorly named because it lasts all day, and for me is worst in the evenings. It's definitely been less severe this time around. I didn't throw up with either pregnancy, thank goodness (I have two friends who've had it really bad with both of theirs, sounds so awful), but I was worried about feeling as bad as I did
before while taking care of a busy toddler. Thankfully I've been able to keep it pretty much under control by eating constantly. Evidently morning sickness is very related to blood sugar which is why eating small meals often (a high-maintenance way to keep stable blood sugar when you can't eat big meals) can help.
As with last time, I feel low blood sugar/sort of hunger allll the time, but nothing sounds or tastes good. I don't feel good when I eat too big of a meal, so I have to eat small meals/snacks like every 1-2 hours. But again, nothing tastes as good as it should and I have food aversions, so I'm not able to eat a very balanced, nutrient-dense diet like I prefer. I'm like a fussy toddler. It's very annoying. (But things could be so much worse.)
I've been compromising on food choices again this time around and eating dairy (Siggi's greek yogurts, sometimes ice cream) and more grains than I would like. Still no gluten but definitely more rice products than I need. (I have a long history with different diets and know that I personally feel best when I choose meat/vegetables/nuts/eggs over grains and dairy.) I'm also eating more sugar than I would like. I've learned that if I drink some Naked or Odwalla juice (the thick, 100% juice kind) first thing in the morning it takes away that icky feeling until I can make and eat my eggs. I've always had to eat right away first thing in the morning, but that low blood sugar level first thing in the morning is so hard for me right now. So I'm resorting to spiking my blood sugar with fruit sugar! Ha. (So opposite what I used to do when I ate mostly-Paleo and counted macros and was working on building muscle.)
Movement
Thankfully, I haven't had the ickiness and fatigue so bad that I can't go for walks or do yoga. I'm still not down for CrossFit just yet, but I've done some workouts when I can squeeze it in before I get too tired in the evenings. I know from the low back pain issues I had postpartum before that I need to keep up strength in my back and glutes this time... I don't want to lose muscle mass again. (I haven't been fully back to my pre-baby workout routine but did share how I've been getting strength back
here.)
How I feel emotionally
I am definitely excited for this baby. But I'm splitting my focus on a lot of other things and our lives are pretty crazy right now, pregnancy aside. Otto is a (wonderful) handful, Jason is gone 6am-7:30pm right now for his current clinical rotation, he graduates in May and is studying for the (super intense) physical therapy board exam, we're doing some really big/expensive projects on the house this spring, we have some family stuff going on...
I was on a roller coaster with my first pregnancy because I was so desperate to get pregnant and so scared it wouldn't work out somehow. Then I got pregnant and felt so awful at first! This time both of those feelings have been present but less intense.
Another huge thing and difference between baby 1 and 2: my (formerly fragile) body image has improved so much. Getting pregnant, feeling sick and eating (almost) whatever I could handle, carrying a healthy baby to term,
losing the weight quickly with no extra effort, and all the while really not worrying about how my body looked that much has been transformative. I've had so much more confidence post-baby than I did before, and it's not because my body is more toned and lean now! (Okay, I didn't like feeling like I emerged from pregnancy with chicken arms and no butt--but I know how to improve those things when I next decide they are important again.)
I worried about gaining weight on the standard curve at every appointment when I was pregnant with Otto. This time around I could care less. I'm feeling confident, I guess, that I'll gain a bunch of weight, have the baby, be only focused on getting as much sleep as possible and eating enough to maintain my milk supply, and then blink and feel pretty normal again. (I could be eating my words in 8-10 months or so. But it's really great to not be worrying about that time now.)
The weird hormone stuff
There are so many little weird things that happen with pregnancy, even in the beginning!
I've stopped losing hair when I shower or brush. Just a few pieces, whereas I used to shed a ton. I have super thick hair to begin with so it's going to be real thick till about 5 months postpartum when it all falls out, if the same thing happens this time around! (I look back at my photos of me
later in pregnancy and even I am like WOW, look at that hair...!)
Breakouts. Just random zits here and there, weird! And annoying. I don't remember having that with Otto.
Poor sleep. So unfair cause I am so tired most of the time, ha! I did get some Unisom to try in the evenings (that plus B6 is supposed to help with nausea, and it is a sleep aid) since my morning sickness is worst then. I think it does help me get to sleep. I'm hoping this morning sickness ends around week 16 like I think it did last time, and then I might not have to take it anymore, but by then I'll probably be waking up to pee in the middle of the night more, so... (BUT I'm not forgetting how much better I'm sleeping now than I will be when I'm up breastfeeding a newborn 3-4x/night for 0.5-3 hours each time!)
The bump
I'm in that awkward phase where I don't look pregnant but none of my pants fit. I'm doing the ol' hair elastic buttonhole extender loop on all of them but it's harder this time around since high-waisted jeans are in! :P I feel pretty frumpy not being able to tuck my shirts in anymore.
I don't look pregnant, just bloated. Pic on the left is 8 weeks, first photo I took this time around (oops), pic on the right is the other day, almost 14 weeks. I think I'll be showing earlier this time around...!
