Things That People Don't Tell You About The First Trimester

I took the pregnancy test and the plus sign couldn't have shown up faster. We had been trying for several months, but the first time that I looked at that pregnancy test and saw the results, I couldn't breathe. It's like we had been working toward a goal, but I never really had expected that goal to be reached. Yet, here I was looking at the plus sign. I had a small array of symptoms, but nothing that was way out of the ordinary of my normal premenstrual issues--sore boobs, a bit crampy and swollen feeling, and a little tired. But the day after I found out that I was pregnant it was like the floodgates were opened for all of the pregnancy symptoms you can imagine. Within the first week of my first trimester I was getting up every hour to go to the bathroom. One night I actually counted 8 times that I had to get up to use the restroom. My boobs became so unbelievably sore that I couldn't touch them. A couple of times someone ran into me at work and I would double over in pain from my chest region. My boobs got massive.... or at least that is how they felt to me! They felt like this...although I'm sure it didn't actually look it... I started to have heavy cramping. It scared me half to death. I, of course, called the doctor who assured me that I would be fine. At 6-7 weeks I started keeping crackers by my bed for when I was starving at night and sick in the morning. Triscuits were my cracker of choice because they had only four ingredients! Anything that can quickly take away the nausea, but also be clean for the baby, I happily kept it around. I continued to do Pilates and yoga even though my body was just a bit more achy than usual. The small bit of stretching from working out actually took away my aches. Immediately I started falling asleep--we're talking heavy sleep--by 7:00 at night just after I got home from work. I WAS STARVING. I've never felt this kind of starving before. One morning when I had to have blood work done at the hospital, I nearly puked on the nurse because I had forgotten to bring a snack. I sat on the floor of the hospital bathroom just waiting for the feeling to pass. It was amazing how empty my stomach would get so quickly. One pregnant lady knew instantly that this was my first pregnancy. She pulled out a granola bar and handed it to me. She said, "Never leave the house without food." I found, suddenly, that this was a rule for all pregnant ladies that I just didn't know. Since I had started eating super healthy during pregnancy: no sugar, real food such as lean meats, lot's of veggies, lots of fruit, nuts, etc...I had to be eating All. The. Time. Which meant that I needed to be stronger in my decision making because I had to be doing it double time! I was more teary than normal--at movies, commercials, or anything that was sentimental. Yet even through all of this, I will never forget the first time that I looked at the screen and saw my baby's heart beat. It hardly even looked like a baby and here was this tiny little heartbeat! It made everything that I was going through, worth it!!!! Every one has different experiences, but these were mine. Just remember, in the end, it's all worth it! EVERY ache, pain, and flutter! XO, Tessa