Hey guys! It’s been so long since I wrote a blog post. I haven’t really been that active on Instagram either. After finding out I was pregnant, A LOT happened physically and emotionally, so I decided to take a little break from picture taking and writing. I have REALLY missed it though. I decided what better way to jump back into it than to share my first trimester journey with you. It’s been quite a crazy ride.
Before I continue, I want to assure everyone that I am SO thankful and blessed to be pregnant. Yes, it’s a weird time in the world right now, and even though this pregnancy hasn’t been easy, I know how badly some women would love to be in my shoes. I understand the struggle that some women have to conceive, and my heart truly goes out to all of those women.
This post is to share my pregnancy journey so far in an honest and raw way, so that women in my position who share the same experiences don’t feel alone.
Conception – 6 weeks
Brendan and I knew we were ready to add to our little family. We knew I wanted to start trying immediately after the holidays. I was so anxious when January came. I took about 20 pregnancy tests. The first 10 were negative 😂
I was testing super early because I have zero patience. After that 10th test, I saw it initially had one pink line. I left it on the counter thinking it would be another disappointing negative. A few hours later I had forgotten about it. When I went back to the bathroom, I noticed a super faint second pink line! I was SO dang excited. I couldn’t wait to tell Brendan when he got home.
Here is how Hadleigh and I told Brendan the big news:
I didn’t have any symptoms up until the first six weeks of pregnancy, except some slight cramping.
6 – 8 weeks
I started getting pretty bad nausea at 6 weeks. No vomiting, but just all day nausea. Then, at 7 weeks I unfortunately got the flu type A from my daughter. It was an extremely rough and anxiety ridden week for me. I not only was worried about my daughter having the flu, but the flu hurting my baby.
I decided to not take Tamiflu and to control my fevers with Tylenol. Luckily, my fever never got passed 101 degrees, so my doctor reassured me that my baby was going to be okay.
We got through it, but man, let me tell you…having the flu while pregnant is NO joke. If it happens to you, just try to stay calm and talk to your OB! They will help ease your concerns and give you good advice!
I also had a little bit of cramping around 6 weeks, which I assumed was due to the baby implanting into my uterus.
8 – 11 weeks
After having the flu, my pregnancy nausea came back full throttle. As did the pregnancy exhaustion. All of this would have been way more tolerable if I didn’t have a toddler to chase around all day!
There were a couple of times Brendan had to stay home from work because I couldn’t be a functioning human let alone parent. I still wasn’t vomiting, which I feel was almost worse. With Hadleigh, I threw up about two times but never had all day nausea.
I know some women have this symptom during the entire 9 months, and have it WAY worse than I did. Those women are real superheros!
I plan on making another post about how I managed my pregnancy nausea in the next couple weeks! So stay tuned!
Other symptoms I had during these weeks were severe meat aversions (I was unable to cook anything – which is not like me at all), cravings for fruit and all the carbs, tender breasts and bloating.
During my dating ultrasound, they noticed a small hematoma near my uterus. This luckily went away a few weeks later. I didn’t experience any spotting because of it.
I noticed that I just was not acting or feeling like myself during these weeks. Because of the severe nausea and exhaustion, I felt like a failure as a mom and as a wife. I could barely keep up with household duties or just being an attentive parent. Luckily these feelings passed. My husband was super supportive during this time and stepped up in a big way to make up for my shortcomings.
After all, growing a baby is hard work! We shouldn’t be made to feel bad, lazy or inadequate when we are sick from pregnancy!
Related post: 6 postpartum struggles I didn’t expect
11 – 14 weeks
My nausea slowly started to get better starting at 11 weeks. I am 14 weeks right now and still have some nausea, but luckily I have found a regimen that helps alleviate my symptoms.
Other symptoms I’ve had during these last few weeks include tender breasts, lots of bloating (or possible small baby bump?), super fluctuating weight, and unfortunately lots of pimples on my chin and back.
I have been starting to feel some movements which is so exciting! I didn’t feel anything with Hadleigh until 16-18 weeks or so. Things really do move more quickly with baby number 2!
I am happy to say that I have started to feel like myself again. But, of course right when that happened, we got the news about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Being pregnant during COVID-19
First of all, I want to say…if you are a pregnant mama as well, I am here for you. I have several friends and family members who are pregnant right now and we are constantly in touch sharing our fears, but also trying to comfort each other. If you don’t have that support system, PLEASE MESSAGE ME. This is NOT a time pregnant women should live in fear alone. I would be happy to provide some sort of comfort to you during this time.
As far as how my family and I have been doing, we are doing pretty well as of right now. I made the decision to not work for at least the next couple of weeks. I work as a nurse at a methadone clinic and I come in contact with more than 300 people a day. It was a tough decision for me to stay home, but my supervisor, myself and my family decided it was the best thing for me and my baby right now.
The biggest fear for me right now is the fear of the unknown. So much is unknown about this virus and how it affects pregnant women and their babies. All I can do right now is distance myself, stay calm and just pray. We are fortunate enough that my husband gets to work from home. My heart goes out to those who have lost their jobs or don’t have the luxury of working from home.
COVID-19 updates from the CDC
I worry that people will be so consumed by their own fear that they react in violence. I have watched way too many end of the world movies and this part is really terrifying. But so far I have witnessed so much good from people. So many people helping others with money, food or child care. There IS goodness in this world, and I hope we can all come together during this scary time and learn something from this experience.
I am a firm believer that God has a plan and a purpose for all of this. We WILL get through this, as humans have persevered through similar events before in history.
So to all my pregnant mamas, my not pregnant mamas, and to anyone reading this…stay safe, stay active, stay healthy and try to find some peace in your days during all of this craziness! Love you all ❤
