First Trimester
13 weeks just flies by especially when you don’t find out you’re pregnant until week 6. At this point we had been trying for 8 months, my husband would tell you 6 but I had my ways. We were so ready, all the signs pointed to positive and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Getting that plus sign just validated exactly how I was feeling. I woke up early one day and took the test to surprise my husband with the feeling I had all along.
But once my pregnancy was confirmed by my doctor, that’s when all the symptoms hit me like a mack truck. I was EXHUASTED! I couldn’t get enough sleep. Little did I know all that sleep was being saved up for the 3rd and 4th trimester.
Right from the start I struggled eating meat and raw veggies. I felt nauseous morning, noon and night. At one point I had to live off Kettleman’s bagels, so much so, that I should have been their ambassador. I struggled to cook anything. Just the act of handling food would make me hurl. The only thing that got me back to eating meat was going on vacation for two weeks with my in-laws and having to adapt to the food everyone else was eating, by then, thankfully I was into my second trimester.
My cute little baby bump was not so little. It went from bloat to bump overnight. I got so big so quickly it was difficult to hide. Many people thought I was much further along than I actually was. I even got asked if I was sure I wasn’t having twins. PSA please don’t say that to someone, let alone a woman growing a baby and dealing with all these weird changes to their bodies.
I quickly got into belly bands to help me continue to wear my pre-pregnancy pants. This was back when we all could go into work and I couldn’t wear sweats or leggings everyday. My job sometimes requires me to wear jeans and t-shirt because I’m painting a wall or at a bbq or the polar opposite and be dressed to impress meeting with a CEO. So needless to say, I still had to look professional and I don’t think my pants being unbuckled screams I mean business. I did tend to wear a lot of dresses though. During the winter months I wore many sweater dresses, poncho and anything oversized. With those thankfully I could wear leggings. Speaking of which nylons and tights for pregnancy sucks! Harsh maybe but deserving, at least I’d like to think so. First off they are designed like spanx to suck your mid-section in, and no one wants that much restriction when your body is literally trying to do the exact opposite. Secondly, maternity tights and nylons always seemed too big like I was supposed to wear them 40 weeks pregnant or they’d fit better as a turtle neck till then. In all fairness to the creators, who ever they are, I can’t say in the middle of August I was touching those things, so who knows?
All in all, finding out I was pregnant was one of my greatest joys in life. There were so many strange things going on in my body and starting around the world, but we knew 2020 would be our best year.