The First Trimester

One thing I have found extremely useful since finding out I was pregnant is reading and watching videos all about pregnancy and mummy-hood. There are so many amazing things that happen when you're carrying your baby, but there are also lots of worrying and pretty crappy things too. I could not even begin to tell you how often I have googled a symptom I've been experiencing and then scared myself senseless over all the possible explanations. So for all you mummy's-to-be who would like to know what can happen in the first trimester, I hope this post might help.

The first symptom I experienced was a strange one; aching hands. I've only read of this being a problem later in pregnancy, but for me, my hands ached before I even got a positive pregnancy test.

I then started to get fatigue, nausea, headaches, dizziness and acne from about 5-6 weeks of pregnancy. I think the nausea really peaked from around 7-8 weeks and stopped at 12 weeks. But during this time, smells really affected me and were so much stronger than they would usually smell. I could barely sit in the same room as my puppy without feeling sick, which as silly as it may sound, was quite upsetting. Sometimes a smell would hit me so quick I would have to run to the bathroom. To ease the nausea I found sparkling water and starchy (but not too fatty) carbohydrates were my best friends. I also had little snacks in my bedside table for when I got peckish in the middle of the night, because as soon as I got hungry I would feel sick.

In terms of emotions, I had quite a few crying episodes over absolutely ridiculous things. I'm not that unused to my hormones controlling me, but I remember one time I cried because I wanted to eat junk food!! I also had weeks of awful anxiety after my first scan because the baby was measuring 3 weeks smaller than my dates. It turned out that because I had been on the pill so long it had messed up my cycle and after my proper 12 week scan, everything was on track.

At almost dead on 12 weeks I found that most of my early symptoms completely disappeared, which for a while was a bit nerve wrecking because I barely felt pregnant and had no idea what was going on in my little bump.

Now I am well and truly into the second trimester at 22 weeks. I've been able to feel my little one moving about since 16 weeks, but it wasn't till 18 weeks that I really felt a big kick!! 

If you've been pregnant, how did you find the first trimester?

Katey
xxx