{Pregnancy Tidbits} The First Trimester

In case you missed the big announcement last week … I’m pregnant!  I thought it would be fun to catch you up on all the first trimester tidbits.

Random Tidbits

December 23, 2013 – Baby’s Due Date

Sophi (our dog) – The first “person” I told I was pregnant.  Yes she “knew” before the husband that we were expecting.  I stupidly took the test while he was at work.  Then I had to patiently wait for him to get home.  He was SHOCKED I was able to hold in the BIG news long enough for him to change into comfy clothes and tell me about his day (which I barely listened – sorry hubby!).  I had him sit on the couch before showing him the positive pregnancy test!!

Jellybean – The baby’s nickname.  We were tired of referring the baby as “baby” or “it” so the husband quickly came up with Jellybean.  Jellybean has morphed into a variety of nicknames including JB, Jelly Belly and Jelly.  So our little one already has a number of nicknames and we haven’t even met him/her yet.

The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy – My doctor recommended this book at my very first “pregnant” appointment as well as prescribed prenatal vitamins.  This book is hilarious!  It’s written as though you are truly talking to your girlfriend.  I haven’t read it front to back, but I have enjoyed reading/skimming different chapters that apply to me.

What to Expect When you are Expecting – This book is a classic.  It comes in handy when I have questions like “is this <insert pain/ache/feeling> normal?”.  Unlike Goggling it doesn’t give all these horror stories … ladies if you are newly pregnant DO NOT GOOGLE.  It was advice I was given … didn’t take … and well probably should have because it would have saved me a lot of time spent on stressing/worrying.  This book, my friends, and doctors are MUCH better references {I’m still working on remembering this myself!}.

Gender – The husband and I agreed quickly to find out the gender of the baby at the 18 or 20 week ultrasound.  The husband says I am too much of a planner not to find out the gender before the baby arrived — he’s definitely got me pegged!

Sharing the BIG News

For the most part we tried to tell close friends and family in person.  There were of course cases where we had to tell people over the phone/text/email because of geographical limitations.  We convinced the husband’s parents to sign up for Skype so we could “test it for our trip to Mexico”.  I’m not sure if they completely believed our story, but happily accommodated our request.  This was the only way we could tell them about becoming grandparents without getting on a plane 2 months earlier than planned.  Everyone’s reaction to the pregnancy was a little different, however excitement was a consistent theme.  :)

A few of my favorite reactions …

“Nicole, are you sure? I don’t want to get excited if you aren’t sure!” – My Little Sister

“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it” followed by jumping out of her chair and screaming so loud the dog started barking – My Mother

“Is there something you want to tell me?” – Our friend Evan (Holding up the What to Expect When your Expecting Book … apparently I had forgotten to put the silly book away before he came for dinner!)

We slowly started telling all of our immediate family and very few close friends at about 7 weeks.  The rest of our family, friends as well as co-workers we told after 14 weeks.  A lot of people were surprised we waited so long to tell them.  Some of it was us being superstitious and the other part was wanting to get the thumbs up from the doctors for all those first trimester tests.  Let me just say though it was EXTREMELY hard not to share it with all our loved ones right away.  As the husband will attest I hate keeping “good secrets”.

Symptoms

Morning sickness / nausea – and let’s be honest this really needs to be renamed to ALL DAY sickness.  Or … how about pregnancy hangover?  I never actually got sick, but had that feeling I could get sick at any moment for most of the day.  Carbs quickly became my BFF.  I also started eating small snacks in between meals, which helped, but didn’t completely alleviate the issue.

Fatigue – At first I would attempt to relax {read sleep} on the couch after work.  It didn’t take long before I started getting into my sweats, grabbing the dog, pulling down the blackout blinds and climbing into bed.  The hubby was at times surprised to come home from work and find me in bed, asking “why are you in bed?” … my response, “I’m pregnant and tired and if I’m going to sleep I figured I should be comfortable!”  LOL.  At first I was worried I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night after an early evening nap, but 10pm would come and surprisingly I was more than ready to climb back into bed.

Heartburn –  I have never been one to get heartburn.  In fact the first time it happened I didn’t even know what it was.  While explaining the “feeling” to my husband and he just looked at me and said “Nicole, it’s heartburn”.  I was pretty surprised and after confirming with a couple friends and the doctor (twice) I started taking Tums to combat the heartburn.

What I Miss

I’m not going to lie, at first I really missed having a glass of wine when out to dinner.  Though I quickly got over it.  The thing I missed the most in the first trimester (heck the second too, so far) was not having to worry about what I was eating.  Until I was actually pregnant I didn’t realize how many restaurant dishes have raw egg, soft cheese, “raw” meat or other food on the no-no list for pregnant women.

Maternity Clothes

Around week 13 I gave in and started rocking some maternity clothes.  While I still “fit” into my non-maternity clothes they just weren’t comfortable.  The funniest part was that my shirts would have fit a lot longer if the “twins” had taken on a life of their own.  LOL!  In any case, my friend {love you Rebecca!} was kind enough to let me borrow her maternity clothes.  Although she didn’t have  a ton of warm weather clothes it was just enough to hold me over until I made it to the store.

I think that pretty much sums up the first trimester.  Did I miss anything??

Any tidbits from your 1st trimester you care to share?  I’d love to hear them!

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