My First Trimester

Getting pregnant was a little bit of shock…when I say shock…we were planning to start trying around December/January but instead it happened a couple of months early. When I took a pregnancy test and found out that I was pregnant I was over a week late and not really expecting it to be positive. I only took the test because I got on my period app and it said it was like 7/8 days late and I was like that is not right…and so it goes from there.

We chose to keep the pregnancy completely to ourselves until Christmas. I thought this would be a good surprise and by that time we would be past the first trimester and know the gender. So, we got to announce that we were pregnant and having a BOY all at the same time.

When I took the pregnancy test I was still feeling completely normal. Like I said, I only took it because my app said I was late and not because I was having any symptoms of pregnancy.

However, within a week that changed. About a week or so after I took the test the terrible nausea started. I only threw up once but I was nauseated unless I was sleeping. It was hard for me to eat because of the nausea.

My one major food aversion was and still is baked or grilled chicken. Fried chicken strips, chicken in soups/pastas, chicken any other way but grilled or baked is fine…but the thought of the other still makes me gag.

It is so weird too because that is basically what we had for dinner most nights – grilled or baked chicken and veggies. I’ve had to get creative on our food and trying to stay healthy. Needless to say…we are eating lots of beef. I can put chicken on a salad so I still do that. Also, I love turkey so that is still an option as well.

One day, I woke up and the nausea was just better. It is so strange that in pregnancy that things seem to change overnight. When the nausea left I felt really good. For over a month I went without a headache – which is so unusual for me because I have lots of headaches and migraines. I even thought that I was going to be one of the lucky ones where the headaches go away during pregnancy.

Boy was I wrong. I had about a one week grace period from when the nausea stopped and the headaches started. When they came…they came with a vengeance. I started having headaches pretty much daily and 2-3 days a week were migraines that would put me in the bed. It was completely miserable. My doctor started me on Fioricet which is like taking a sugar pill – especially for someone like me who is use to being able to take migraine medicine.

Unfortunately, during pregnancy…there just aren’t many options. I did not like taking medicine unless necessary before pregnancy and especially didn’t want to during pregnancy either. So, I would take what I could and try to sleep the headaches away….which took days.

Staying Healthy

Staying healthy during pregnancy can be quite challenging. I never realized how challenging until well… I got pregnant. It is so hard to eat right or eat at all for that matter when you are sick. For me, I could have lived on everything unhealthy including French fries, pizza, Mac n cheese…all those things….by things I mean CARBS.

However, I’m pretty good when it comes to self control so I tried to make healthy choices most of the time. I’m not perfect but I tried to create a good balance. After all – nutrition is all about that perfect balance of about 80/20. No one is perfect when it comes to nutrition and especially not during pregnancy.

The first thing I would do and still do each day is start my morning with my smoothie that is equal to six salads. Just the smoothie without anything added is super healthy. However, I always add 2-3 big handfuls of spinach (so I would get my veggies), a handful of blueberries or other fruit, and plain non fat greek yogurt. This ensures that I start my mornings with a super healthy breakfast.

Depending on how I was feeling, I might add in a slice of whole wheat toast and/or eggs to that.

By lunch, I felt really crappy most days and would try to get what I could down. Some days that would be a grilled cheese or cheese toast with fruit….some days it may have been a salad…and some days it would be chicken strips. Like I said, I tried to always create a healthy balance.

For those weeks that I was nauseated Christopher would pretty much cook supper each night. There would be some nights that I would sit down and look at my plate and feel like I would vomit if I tried it. So, there were many nights I didn’t eat what he cooked and would eat a piece of fruit or make another grilled cheese or cheese toast. There were also times that I could do chips and salsa and feel satisfied. At that point it was whatever I thought I could handle…while trying to stay as healthy as possible.

Snacks are easy because I could eat my weight in cheese and crackers, nuts, and fruits. I have always loved Kiwi but have especially loved it during pregnancy. So, my go to snacks have been cheese with organic wheat crackers, pecans/almonds/peanuts, fruit, and apple sauce.

As I said, nutrition is about balance and it is so hard during pregnancy. Like many people, I have also craved sweet stuff during pregnancy. So, most days (even now) I will allow myself one cookie or one bite sized chocolate each day. This helps with my sweet tooth.

Then, if we go out on the weekends or have something going on – I will eat a dessert if I wish. I figure if I do well during the day with my meals and workout that I owe myself a little something for my sweet tooth…after all I’m pregnant!

Working Out

I will admit that most days during my first trimester I did NOT want to workout. Between the nausea and then the headaches working out was not easy. However, I made it a priority. There were many days that I felt like my head might explode but I kept going.

Yes, I modified my workouts most days but the important part is that I did something for 30 minutes 4-5 days every week. I took out any intensity and focused on workouts that just made me move and helped me stay strong. Oh, and legs and booty have been one of my main focuses as well.

The important thing in pregnancy is to listen to your body when working out and just MOVE. Find a workout and do it. It doesn’t matter if you do it slower than normal or have to modify the entire thing…do it anyway.

Heading Into 2nd Trimester

When first trimester ended I hoped that the headaches and my aversion to chicken would end with it. However, neither of those happened. I am now 21 weeks and cannot wait to share what my 2nd trimester has been like.

Stay tuned….

Oh, and check out my First Trimester Must haves!

Oh, and see below for the shopping spree that happened after Christmas…he is already one blessed little boy.