First Trimester Update!

First Trimester Pregnancy update - Birdie Shoots

So now that the news is officially out, I thought I’d take a minute to take a few steps back to share how things are going, (writing this at 10 weeks) how I’m feeling, and so forth. When we first found out we were pregnant, it was a welcomed celebration! We had only just begun trying so even though we were surprised by fertile myrtle it wasn’t unexpected. The first 6 weeks were great and really uneventful, I felt good, slept through the night, and was more of less life as normal. Then week 7 started and shit hit the fan, and I felt and looked like absolute crap.

Sleep, or lack there of

I hate to be melodramatic about it all, and maybe the first few weeks were too good to be true, but it really did hit me hard. The first thing that really sucked the energy out of me was the lack of sleep. Falling asleep wasn’t the issue, but getting quality Z’s was. In general, I was getting between 3-4 hours of sleep per night and waking up in the middle of the night from insane dreams, like crazy vivid nightmares. Not to mention I’d feel so bloated that it was nearly impossible to get comfortable. Poor Kev took the brunt of this one and reflected my sleeping patterns.

Typically, I’ll try to nap with Sampson in the morning after Kev leaves for work and get an extra hour of sleep. Since we had also heard the news around the same time we got our puppy, it was a bit intense around the house. Sampson is only 6 months old and has plenty of energy to run laps around the house and of course do all the things that come with being a little dog. The good news is, he has settled down quite a bit and has really blended into our lifestyle nicely. Aside from the whole biting and jumping, which we’re currently working on.

Food Aversions

The next thing that took me by surprise was how intense my food aversions were. I’m normally not a picky eater and enjoy pretty much anything. Well, that changed quickly, and for the life of me, meat products disgust me. I’ve been leaning on chicken tenders and shakes to get much-needed protein, in addition to nuts and beans. On top of that my appetite has taken a hit, because of morning and afternoon nausea, lunchtime sounded incredibly unappetizing, I’ve even given up my morning coffee (which is a HUGE shock from a girl who used to drink 2 cups a day!) I never really knew bad headaches from caffeine (or lack thereof) until now.

They're getting a little better, and have since submitted a lemon ginger tea and the occasional Diet Ginger Ale (which works wonders on the stomach.) I’ve also started implementing smaller more frequent meals throughout the day, which helps keep me satisfied.

Energy Levels

To get my energy levels up I’ve been trying to keep my workouts up at least 3-4 times a week. I’ll do 30-45 mins of targeted strength training (at home!) and run with Kevin on the weekends. These definitely help and I end up feeling much better about how my body feels, and somewhat of my old self. I also find that this spurs me to get ready for the day and push past the lackluster feeling. I’ve been reading a handful of books that recommend keeping up with exercise if possible, so along with my dr. go-ahead I’ll continue to run as I normally would, just at a slower pace.

I hope this post wasn’t too much of a downer, just trying to keep to real with you all! I will say that things do get MUCH better during the second trimester, and I’m so grateful that I was never super sick during this time.