10 Things I Hated About the First Trimester
Here we go again and with another girl. We are super excited and, honestly, I cannot wait for Jordyn to meet this little bean.
Being pregnant the second time around is a whole new omlette! The first time around, you nap when you want, check the pregnancy apps constantly to see how your baby is growing and which sized fruit or vegetable it is that week, take bump progress pictures, and did I say nap? No. With a toddler, there is no time for all of that! And when your toddler sleeps, all you want to do is eat, shower (or I like to bath), finally tidy up your toddler-strewn house then put your feet up and watch the Real Housewives of Somewhere. You actually forget that you're pregnant! The only time I really check the apps are when the grandparents ask "how big is baby this week? Plum? Orange?" Well, I'll tell you, she's a clementine this week.
So finally, I am out of the first trimester and I'll share with you my experience, because this time around, it was a totally different ball game. FYI, this will get a bit detailed, so stop here if you're not into it.
The 10 things I hated about the first trimester:
1. Stuffy nose (pregnancy rhinitis). Blowing my nose, picking out boogers (sorry), sneezing, and breathing that weird whistle while you sleep...so annoying!! A common symptom usually occurring in early and late pregnancy when you're blood vessels swell and your body produces more mucus. Um, Yuck! Thankfully it's easing up...until 3rd trimester that is!
2. The bloat and I am talking bloatation device! I feel like I could float at least 5 people in the water! By the end of the day, I look and feel 6 months pregnant. I'm not joking. I think around 10 weeks I was throwing on my maternity pants, still a bit big, but way more comfortable! Basically, these awesome hormones are starting to relax our muscles to allow for your growing bean to stretch all up in there, but relaxing those digestive muscles creates that fab bloating. Ugh, this doesn't justify a baby bump, just a bloat bump. Not appealing.
3. This brings me to my next point; showing earlier! Once your body realizes you're going to grow another child, your guts just basically goes blah, and those once tight abs no longer hold anything in anymore. Muscle memory! Ya, thanks.
4. Shortness of breath. Am I 8 months pregnant all of a sudden?! I can barely breathe! My very first symptom was shortness of breath and my neighbour called me on it when we went for a walk. Granted, I was pushing a stroller up the hill and slightly hungover (we were camping), but wow, I could barely breathe! And she said, "you're pregnant!" A few weeks later, yup! I sure was!
5. Food aversions and smells. No cravings yet, just foods and smells that make me want to vomit. I used to eat 1-2 avocados a day, now? No thanks! Chicken? Barf! The only things that get me through the mornings, when everything makes me want to vomit (nice word, hey?!) is a bowl of Fruit Loops, Honey Nut Cheerios or toast. I can barely even change a pee diaper. It's starting to get better, but I'll stick with cereal or smoothies, thanks.
6. Exhausted. Like I said above, you don't have time to nap - though, I have been sneaking in a few on desperate days while Jordyn naps, but wow, the heavy eyes last all day and I am usually out by 830 pm. The tiredness is REAL!
Ok, things are going to get real here...
7. Bleeding and cramping. This was my first experience of this and it's scary. I had to take blood tests every 48 hours to check my hCG levels. My doctor wanted to check for multiples and to rule out an ectopic pregnancy, which either would show the types of symptoms I was having. Everything was looking good in my blood. So, we carried on. Then came Mother's Day, 8 am, I went to the bathroom to pee and that wasn't all that came out. It was like a murder scene (sorry, graphic, but I warned you!), and not just blood, but tissue, clotting, and I was terrified. Shaking, I texted Cory, who was away, telling him to call me. I thought I was having a miscarriage. I tried calling my midwife, she didn't answer (we realized later that I was putting my number in wrong in her pager), so I called 811. They advised me to go to the ER. Grandma watched Jordyn and I drove myself to the ER. They got me in for bloodwork, 3 ultrasounds, urine tests, they found a 3 cm luteal cyst (common) on my ovary which could have caused some bleeding. Other than that, my little gummy bear looked normal.
Later, from my doctor, he tells me that I may have passed a twin, an embryo that didn't implant properly. It's not common, but it does happen. It's your body's way of passing something that isn't developing right. Gulp, that was strange for me to process. After that day, everything was fine. No more cramping, no more bleeding, nothing. Another ultrasound done at 7 weeks showed a perfect gummy bear developing on track. Wow.
8. The unpredictability. First trimesters are always anxiety-ridden and you're told a lot of 'don'ts'. You have to be so careful not to do anything too strenuous, don't life heavy objects, don't have hot baths, don't eat this, don't eat that, don't be stressed, don't, don't, don't! The chance of miscarriage in the first 3 months is much higher, so you're always watching what you do. Talk about stressful!
9. Not knowing if everything is okay in there. With all of these don'ts, you constantly wonder, how is my baby doing in there? Is it physically and genetically okay? My genetics counsellor told me that the average person is a carrier of 25 different diseases and may never know it! So, will we pass something onto our baby? For both this baby and for Jordyn, we had the Panorama Test (also known as the Harmony Test) done at 10 weeks. It's a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for various, and more common, genetic diseases (see more info here). They also test for the gender. These tests are > 99% accurate allowing for less false positives/negatives and can be done as early as 9 weeks pregnant. We received our results just a few days ago and knowing that everything is okay makes us so happy and really takes some weight off the shoulders. I feel like I can enjoy this pregnancy now. Oh, and IT'S A GIRL!
10. Did I mention exhausted?? Ha!
All in all, we are over the moon for this wee one to arrive. This time around, it's a different experience in the sense that we are watching it through the eyes of Jordyn. I know what's going on, Cory knows what's going on, but Jordyn is learning this whole process. She points to my belly every time I say 'baby' or 'pregnant'. I have started the dialogue of showing her baby videos and pregnant pictures of her in my belly and I have moved her out of the nursery and into her big girl room. Soon, we will get her a twin bed and move the crib back into the nursery and start to set that up. She will have fun helping me out, I think. Watching this process through her eyes is the most magical part. Unlike the first time around, it's not about me, but about her, her new role as a big sister and her new baby sister. This will be so much fun.
I'd love some tips on how you opened that dialogue to prep for a new baby with your firstborn and for those with 2 girls, what are we in for?!