The Beloved First Trimester – The Things No One Talks About

By Anonymous

What an amazingly exciting but scary time… you’ve found out you’re pregnant and you want to celebrate but you may be keeping it a secret and you’re in that period of the first trimester that all you want is a healthy pregnancy and baby.  I have recently moved into the second trimester of my second pregnancy.  Given that both pregnancies have been complete opposites, I’m sure that every mom out there has experienced a different experience of the first trimester.

During my first pregnancy, I was extremely nauseous and could not keep my head up.  I even wanted to lay my head on my desk at work during lunch.  This most recent one I have not been sleepy but very low energy and the hormones were raging.  I have never had such little motivation and such big mood swings in my life.  I was trying to keep it all together but at times had my doubts.  And then, just like pregnancy number one, we made it to 13 weeks and wow, I was myself again.

The reason why I write about this is more because of my second pregnancy and the hormones.  I felt slight tendencies of depression, that I was all alone and that I could not convince myself that life was really good.  If you are out there with these same feelings, even if you think you’ll be okay in a couple weeks, take care of yourself and find a close friend, sister, mom, or professional to talk through things.

When I finally broke down to my mom, I learned that her pregnancy with me had been very similar.  She offered to come over and cry with me at any time of day even in the middle of the night.  Even though my husband was being supportive, it helped to have her understanding because she had been through it before.  Know that you are not all alone and that there are others that have experienced this crazy hormone thing before you and others will experience it in the future.  It is normal and you are not losing your mind!

I found this similar to breast feeding issues… not many people talk about it but so many women have been through it and are willing to talk about it once you bring it up.

A few things to help you get through those first 12 weeks:
1.   Keep your ultrasound pictures close-by so you can look at your peapod and remember the exciting reason for these body changes
2.   Try to let go of trying to control your body and celebrate the things such as larger boobs that you also can’t control but are a little more exciting
3.   If nauseous, try ginger supplement and always keep some food on your stomach
4.   Write your future child letters or journal about the experience- the good and the scary
5.   Organize… make lists of what you can control throughout your pregnancy
6.   Talk to someone… tell
7.   Cry… sometimes a good strong cry will make you feel a lot better
8.   If it’s your second (or more) pregnancy, love on your first child and those cuddles will make you smile
9.   Think about how you will share the news with everyone… something to anticipate!
10.   If you exercised pre-pregnancy, find a way to keep this up… it will release endorphins and also keep you in shape to help the entire pregnancy
11.   Remember this won’t last forever
12.   Lean on others… although as women we want to always be strong, sometimes we do need support of family and friends

Have you had any of these issues in your pregnancies?  What helped?  What didn’t help?  Please share your questions and comments below.