My Pregnancy Journey – Part 1: The First Trimester

As I sit here typing away telling you all about my first trimester I am blown away by the fact that I am already 32weeks pregnant- wow! I had been warned by many friends and family members that the journey would go very fast, but I really could not have been prepared for the lightning speed that this pregnancy has progressed.

I have been wanting to do a pregnancy blog post for quite some time, however uni, work and general life took over. Now I can hardly believe that I am already in my third trimester, with only 9 weeks to go until we meet our gorgeous bub and I am finally putting pen to paper (or more truthfully fingers to keyboard).

As I sit here bub is gently kicking away in my belly reminding me how truly blessed my husband and I are to be on this journey.

As many of you know we had a scare earlier this year when I had a partial molar pregnancy. (You can read more about this in a previous post here). As part of the treatment for the molar pregnancy we were not cleared to try for another pregnancy until July of this year due to the risk of reoccurrence.  To ensure that this was not happening I was monitored weekly through blood tests to make sure my HCG levels were not rising which assured the doctors that the cells from the molar had been adequately removed during my operation and not able to regrow.

I remember it was late on a Friday afternoon in early May and I received a panicked phone call from the receptionist at my local doctor’s surgery. They had become quite used to me calling up on a Friday afternoon to get my results and on this occasion she had informed me that there had been a small rise in my HCG levels but she wasn’t sure what to do as all the doctors had gone home. Starting to panic a little myself I tried to call the specialist at the hospital who had also gone home for the afternoon.

That weekend was an interesting one, filled with fear, anxiety and the unknown. Had the molar pregnancy returned? Would I have to get further treatment including chemo?  My husband and I discussed the possibility of being pregnant, but we both agreed that there was no way that I could have been!

On Monday morning I was instructed by my specialist to get another blood test and by that afternoon we received the surprising news that I was in fact pregnant!

We were overjoyed and very surprised – what a little miracle!

My specialist was very concerned that we had fallen pregnant within the appropriate timeframe due to the risks involved, however deep down I think the both my husband and I had a really good feeling about this little baby- our determined little baby!

During the first trimester we were closely monitored and everything was progressing well.

I must say though due to our first loss I found it hard to get too excited as I did not want to get my hopes up too much as the pain of the first loss was still very raw and I feared going through that pain again, but slowly as the weeks passed I became more and more excited. My favourite part of my first trimester was our 12 week scan where we got to see our little bub bouncing around, what a delight and a relief that experience was. I was so nervous walking into our appointment and as soon as our little baby came up on the ultrasound screen I just remember balling my eyes out and feeling so happy. We are going to be a mum and dad.

During the first 12 weeks all the normal signs of pregnancy began and I must say the changes that happened to me at the beginning of my pregnancy have taught me some very big lessons, including being kind to myself and to not put to much pressure on myself. I am growing a human and I needed to remember what a big job that is!

The worst was the morning  all-day sickness, which I have to say I tried so many natural remedies to alleviate what felt like being severely hungover all day every day (even though of course I had not had anything to drink the night before, how unfair ha!)

With that came the strangest cravings for someone who is usually very sensitive to gluten and dairy, I was surprised to find that my biggest cravings were for heavy, heavy carbs and cheese especially in the first few weeks. At first I found myself feeling very disappointed in myself as I knew that I was craving things that I would not normally eat.

If I can give you one piece of advice if you are planning on having a family or are newly pregnant, do not be too hard on yourself and do your best to go with the flow. So many changes are happening in your body and a lot of the emotions and urges are completely out of your control. Do the best that you possibly can and remember that you will not be pregnant forever and soon everything will return to normal. For someone like me who has always been very disciplined with my food I found the changes very hard to take at first. However I am now so grateful that I allowed myself to let go of the reins and just went with the flow. I believe that sometimes being too hard on yourself can cause more damage than the original issue. Just try your best that is all you can do.

 

What I craved the most in the first trimester:

 

-Anything with potato… including potato pies ha

-Peanut butter became my staple and for about 8 weeks I ate peanut butter and jam on spelt toast Every. Single. Morning!

-Ice-cream

-Cheese and crackers

-Salt and vinegar chips

-Oranges by the bucket load

-I am happy to say I still loved my green smoothies

-raw vegies

-At midnight I often craved a really large iced lemon water

One night I found myself rushing to the shops to buy ingredients to make creamy carbonara a dish that I had not eaten in years and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed every bite ha!

 

 

What I had severe aversions to:

 

-Capsicum

-Steamed Vegies

-Red meat (except potato pies :P)

-Eggs

-Anything with a gluggy texture

-Bone broth

 

Extra things I didn’t expect:

 

-bleeding gums

-nasal congestion

-insomnia in the first 3 weeks

-extreme fatigue

-my boobs jumped up 2 sizes (ha I thought that was a win!)

 

What I made sure I did do:

 

-Although I had many food aversions I did my best to eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegies

-I started using a good quality naturopathic prenatal vitamin and also fish oil tablets daily

-Once my bump started to grow I rubbed coconut oil on every night to help with stretch marks

-Rested when I felt tired (this was very difficult thing to do with my A type personality but I eventually gave in and started listening to what my body needed)

 

I hope you have enjoyed my very long post about my first trimester, I am looking forward to sharing my experiences during my second and third trimesters in the coming weeks. If you are also currently pregnant I just wanted to say congratulations and enjoy the journey!

If you have had similar experiences, I would love to hear all about them. Comment below.

Amy xx

Comments

  • Beautiful post Amy. I am 21 weeks pregnant and have experienced may of the symptoms you did in the first trimester. Taking a 5 hour nap on weekends is now a common thing ha! Oh and the love of hot chips in the first trimester. Looking forward to reading your next pregnancy posts. Much love and light xxx

    November 25, 2015

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