My 1st Trimester Review

Now that I'm well into my 3rd trimester, and people seem somewhat interested, I thought it was time for me to post answers to ALL the questions people have been asking and wondering about my pregnancy.
Like I said I've had a pretty awesome pregnancy but I think it's worth while for people to be able to see that everyones experiences are different and they change from person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy.

I have to say, I've always thought I've known a decent amount about pregancy growing up in a medical family - with a family practice physician father and a mom that was a doula, we talked very openly about sex and birth in my youth. This could be why I'm almost 30 and just now starting on baby 1, but the truth is it's totally different when it is you that is pregnant.  I have to say I have a new found love for having a female OB/GYN or Midwife, that has had children, men just can't understand. I didn't even understand it and I'm a female. Pregnancy is just something you have to experience for yourself to every fully understand.

1st trimester (Weeks 1 - 13.3)


I remember my last period vividly because it was heavier than usual. Like you wanted to know that... but I've always been super regularly and anal about keeping my dates in order. Seriously, I'd be was down to hours of regularity. So why am I telling you about my last period? Well, that's because they count this as the beginning of your 1st trimester, even though you obviously aren't pregnant yet... because it's the first day of your period. So, if someone says, I'm 6 weeks pregnant, that really means that they're about 2 weeks late for their period and the embryo is around 4 weeks. That's why it's so confusing that we say there are 40 weeks but often say 9 months... it's really 40 weeks and 10 months of pregnancy. But I digress.

Did you know you were pregnant?
The short answer is no, but this might be because we were traveling. I keep VERY close watch on my periods and I was late and had lots of the PMS signs. I was bloating, cramping, having occasional nausea, fatigue and what I like to refer to as general uckiness. I really thought I was just feeling yucky from eating out for weeks on end. Anyway, I'm so obsessive I actually know when implantation happened because I thought for sure it was my period starting. I even remember where I was... We were actually in Glasgow getting ready to leave.

How soon can you test?!
Most tests say you can test before your missed period but I tested on 6/28. My period was officially 5 days late when I tested. I had been talking about it for 2-3 days before that because I was late, and again just didn't feel that great. Jason thought I was just over reacting but we bought the test on the 4th day and I waited until the morning of the 5th and it showed a positive. The whole story is a few blogs back. I tested 2 more times to be sure... and then when I got home I tested 2 more times. I just wanted to be sure.

When did you really start to feel bad?
I would say it took until around week 8 for me to start feeling really crappy. I never did throw up but I was sick to my stomach at work a lot. I even got to dry heave once in the hall. Being an OT in a nursing home can be really hard when you are pregnant... lets just say you don't really want to deal with your own body functions the addition of others bodily functions was really no fun. The fatigue had already started by the time I tested, and again this could be because we were traveling, or because of the pregnancy, but I had some serious "jet lag" when we returned that lasted until the 2nd trimester. LOL I like to say the first trimester for me was like a non-productive stomach bug with mono. I would literally go to work, eat dinner and go to bed. And looking back, I feel very lucky that was an option for me. This experience was very eye opening for me when thinking of my friends/family with more than one child. That's some serious work and dedication. So bravo to you all that manage to work full time, have a child and be in your 1st trimester.

Why did you keep it a secret?
Honestly, I was scared shitless, on both sides... that we were pregnant and that we could loose the baby. I wasn't ready to deal with all the questions either way. I think the fact that we weren't exactly planning this to happen (at least not now) kind of added to this decision. That and I didn't want to have to tell everyone if something did happen and we did lose our fetus. That's what I refered to him as up until week 20 when I found out it was a he.... I think I was doing that to protect myself incase something did happen.   We told our close family and a couple of close friends around 13 weeks. I think we told my parents around 9-10... FB was somewhere around 14 or 15.

Did you have any cravings in the first trimester?
I was all over some hummus for a bit... and then I was disgusted by it. From there I turned to lots and lots of cereal and Sour Patch Kids. :) In hind site I had an issue with mayonnaise while we were traveling and just thinking about it make me queazy... I think that very well could have been a symptom.

Dr. Appointments
I decided on using the midwives because I wanted a natural approach to childbirth. I have to admit thought I was reluctant because many Doctors will see you as soon as you know, I had to wait until I was 13 weeks for my 1st appointment. My first and only 1st trimester appointment consisted of a quick interntal exam (because I was new to the practice), lots of questions about our medical hx, blood work and listening to the baby with the doppler. It was sooo exciting I literally felt like I was going to exploid with emotions... I'm happy to report it was laughter that came out. :)

What about sex?
I didn't want sex at all in the first trimester. I think this can go either way, but as far as I'm concerned if I'm queazy and tired as hell, it's gonna be pretty hard to get me in the mood.

Symptoms I had:

• Frequent urination
• Indigestion (this isn't that common early on)
• Fatigue (this was the worst!)
• Nausea
• Itchy nipples (Yep, you read right, itchy nipples, only thing that resolved it as lanolin)
• Hummus cravings
• Horrible acne (The cystic type that are painful and ugly)
• Cramps (Felt like period cramps)

Favorite websites:
Babycenter
The Bump

Books I was reading:
Birthing from Within
Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy