What my first trimester was REALLY like

t’s a little surreal for me to be writing this blog post, in the best way. Even though I’m 16, going on 17 weeks, this pregnancy still doesn’t feel quite real to me! 

As some of you maybe know, this is actually our second pregnancy. With our first pregnancy, we tried for 9 months to get pregnant. Ovulation sticks, obsessively tracking my cycle, lots of negative pregnancy tests and month after month of getting a little more disappointed. Finally, I was surprised to see those two pink lines! I was overjoyed, shaking with excitement and adrenaline. I told Josh right away and we both spent the whole morning smiling and hugging in gratitude and disbelief. We were pregnant! We told my sister right away and my parents a week later. It was all so exciting! We had our first ultrasound appointment and right away I knew something was wrong. We got to see our little bean’s heart flickering, but the heart rate was slow and the measurements were much too small. We came back a week later to no heartbeat. We were devastated. It was a really, really tough season. If you know, you know. Miscarriage is such a unique form of grief. And it really affected our next pregnancy. 

It took my body a few months to recover and get back on track. My first cycle came back on Mother’s Day, and all summer my cycles were very regular (which was really reassuring! Since I had spent months and months trying to regulate my cycle and hormones.) We had a busy summer moving into our home, and were still recovering from our loss, and I just didn’t feel like jumping back into the stress of ovulation tracking. So it came as kind of a surprise when, come the end of August, I got a positive pregnancy test. It was a completely different feeling compared to that first positive test. Both Josh and I were honestly numb. 

At that point I didn’t feel pregnant, so I wasn’t optimistic about this being any more successful than my first. But by week 7, I was feeling a lot more pregnant. My boobs huuuuurrrttt and were suddenly…ahem…a lot bigger. I was uncharacteristically tired and started feeling nauseous. Workouts were a lot more challenging as I was out of breath a lot quicker. Weeks 8-10 brought on a ton of food aversions. Non pregnant Cami greatly limits gluten and dairy in my diet, but pregnant morning sick Cami, that’s basically all I could eat! One of the first things I remember craving was chips and queso (I don’t even like queso!) I was nauseous pretty much all day long. Ginger candy and lemon water helped with the nausea, but it was really tough not feeling like myself. By week 11 or 12, thankfully, I started feeling a lot less sick and was able to eat fruits and veggies again (yay!) and got my energy back. And finally, at week 14, we saw our little bean! We were so relieved and excited to see our baby, with a strong heartbeat and measuring perfectly! We finally started feeling a little more connected and we told our family and friends. 

At this point, it honestly still doesn’t feel quite real. I haven’t really felt super bonded to baby yet, but now that I’m in the second trimester I’m starting to feel really motivated to start reading all the books on my list, begin to make a plan for the nursery, and keep track of all the things I’ll need for baby and myself. 

If you’ve gone through a miscarriage, or if you’re in the midst of trying to conceive and waiting for those two pink lines, I see you. I can’t stress enough that you are not alone. Reaching out to someone who understands was one of the best things I did and really helped me navigate those difficult seasons. 

For those mamas out there who are pregnant or hoping to be pregnant, here’s my top tips and tricks for surviving the first trimester! 

Grace

The most important thing that got me through my first trimester and beyond! It was really tough feeling sick in the first trimester and not being able to do a lot of the things that make me feel like me, especially when it came to nutrition. Allowing myself to eat what my body could tolerate, even if it wasn’t “healthy,” and not feeling guilty was really important. When I went on a run and ran *way* slower and shorter than I typically do, I would praise my body for moving instead of being down on myself.

Lemon water

In the worst of my morning sickness, even water would make me nauseous. Fresh lemon slices in my water would help me be able to stomach it and stay hydrated!

Ginger and peppermint

Ginger and peppermint tea, mints, or candied ginger helped with the nausea.

Listen to your body!

I was really intentional about honoring my body. I mean, I have so much respect for my body. It has been through so much, is capable of so much. It’s growing a human!! Basically I really truly believe that our bodies have so much wisdom and intuition. I tried to slow down and rest when I felt like I needed it. When my body did NOT want kale but wanted chicken nuggets, bagels, and mac and cheese, I listened! I ate what I could stomach and what I was craving, even if it was way more gluten or dairy than I normally would be comfortable with. Of course, I made sure that the food I ate was as natural and organic as possible, but I definitely gave myself more wiggle room (which I NEVER thought I would do before getting pregnant).

Be positive!

I had just spent months and months hoping and wishing for a baby, and now my body was creating one! Even though it was not exactly what I thought was great timing, even though it was really tough being nauseous and not being able to eat what I wanted, and it wasn’t fun not feeling like myself, I chose to rejoice in the positive! I chose to be thankful for this baby, thankful that these symptoms meant my placenta was forming, thankful for my body’s wisdom and for my ability to listen to my body’s signals to slow down.