Hey guys!
Today I am sharing my pregnancy tips for the 1st and 2nd trimester. I wrote these while I was still pregnant which is why I only have tips for trimester one and two. My third trimester was a doozy and ended well before I expected it but I will eventually have a post dedicated to 3rd trimester survival tips! 🙂
In all of the pictures above I was 9/10 weeks pregnant. 🙂
Survival Tips For The First Trimester
1.Be Patient With Yourself And Your Body
Things are changing pretty quickly in this trimester and it’s easy to get frustrated with the way you feel especially because there aren’t many apparent changes happening to your shape. Take lots of naps and take a moment or two (or five) to complain. After all, you are growing a whole human being….you get to complain as much as you want lol.
2.Take Lots Of Naps
Get your sleep. Get plenttyyyyy of sleep.
3.Do What You Need To Do For Peace Of Mind
If you feel like you need to call the doctor for even the smallest thing, call them. At the end of the day this is your pregnancy experience and you get to do it your way…remember that! I called the doctor and went to my ob/gyn urgent care for every little thing with no shame when I was pregnant. Even when doctors or nurses would give me the side eye for coming in for something that they perceived as small. Listening to your body during this time is EXTREMELY important because it will let you know when something is off. This is the time to listen to your gut and ask questions for clarity. You just never know until you ask and if you need to ask clarifying questions as those too. I do believe that asking questions and staying on top of how my body felt allowed my doctors to get ahead of my preeclampsia.
Second Trimester Survival Tips
4. Talk To People Who Can Relate
This is something small but something that makes a huge difference in the way you feel. Talking to other moms-to-be or moms who have had kids recently really makes you feel like you aren’t alone in this journey. It is really easy to feel like you are by yourself because so much is changing so fast. For me, I would find myself frustrated because although my husband was going to get a baby at the end of all of this too, our journey to the baby was different. He didn’t have to change what he ate due to pregnancy diet restrictions or how he completed day to day activities because of a bump. Being able to talk to other moms about this was a relief because most of them felt or had felt the same way. I would have never known though if I had not reached out and asked them. I had some really great moms that helped me with the mental strain of being pregnant. Another thing that really helped was google. I found so much “unknown” but common information about pregnancy through google. For example, I began to pee on myself (on accident of course haha) while throwing up pretty early on in pregnancy (probably like week 9 or so…maybe even sooner). I thought I was broken (lol!) but come to find out it’s pretty common. I then asked my mom friends and my mom about it and they all confirmed that it was completely normal and that it may (or may not) go away after pregnancy.
5. Stay Hydrated and Apply Lotion To Your Belly
From what I have read, stretch marks are not something you can really avoid because they are genetic but you can try to help combat them. Staying hydrated and applying lotion to your belly may help keep stretch marks at bay. When I had the energy to put on lotion I would use Dream Cream by Lush. I ended up not getting any stretch marks during my pregnancy but I do not attribute this to the use of lotion because I did not use it regularly. I did drink a tonnn of water though because I was always so thirsty but I can’t say with 100% confidence that this is why I didn’t get any stretch marks.
6. Be Nice To Yourself
This is when your body starts changing the most and (at least for me) things started changing quickly. Your belly pops, your old clothes stop fitting, your boobs get HUGE (for me they started leaking) and it can be hard for your brain to catch up with everything that is going on. During my down moments, I just try to remind myself that I am creating a miracle and that I will have my body back soon enough.
7. Get Your Sleep
I know I included this as a first trimester tip but I HAD to include this as a second trimester tip too. Take plenty of naps! Sleep when you need to because once the baby gets here you are on their time! LOL
8. Get Your Hospital Bag Ready Now
Pack your hospital bag during this trimester because things can get pretty hectic in the 3rd trimester. If you guys want, I can do a post of what I had in my hospital bag. My bag had been packed weeks before I had to be induced which made it easy for my husband to come home and grab it to bring to the hospital. The funny thing is I did not want to pack my hospital bag until closer to my actual due date but my husband insisted that I pack it sooner. Eventually he stopped asking me and just packed it for me with the things that I ordered. 🙂
