My TTC & First Trimester Journey
I want to begin this blog post by saying that this is my own personal experience. I understand not everyones journey looks like this. In this blog post I am going to be sharing a little about the road to pregnancy and what it looked like for me personally during the TTC process. I do share supplements that I incorporated into mine and my husbands diets, and that is just speaking from experience and is not in any way medical advice. Always consult a doctor before changing your diet or adding in any supplements. If this is a topic that triggers you in ANY way, please go check out one of my many other blog posts that I have for you.
My husband, Bobby, and I got married back in June 2021. I had originally wanted to start the TTC process right away but because we had our honeymoon coming up in July and we were going to be moving in August, we decided that it was best to wait until September/October. I didn’t want to add stress on top of TTC. I was also excited about the health and wellness plan that I had created for myself to do 2-3 months prior to conceiving which I am excited to share with you now.
For about a year and a half before my wedding, I was beginning to be “sober curious”. I had learned a lot about the effects of alcohol on the women’s body during my health coach training and I had been reading “Quit Like A Woman” and I had been growing curious about cutting it out. I was also starting to feel like alcohol just wasn’t aligning with my life anymore. I was still continuing to drink here and there in celebration as well as at my wedding and the honeymoon, but I knew that I just didn’t like it anymore. I decided that after the honeymoon I was going to quit cold turkey (not for alcoholism but for personal reasons) and I wanted at least 2-3 months without alcohol before conceiving. (Honestly after almost 7 months with no alcohol as of this writing, I don’t think I will ever go back, more on this in another blog post one day!).
I also wanted to get my nutrition in order. I focused on cutting out processed and fried foods. I focused on filling my plate with lots of healthy fats, protein, carbohydrates and fiber. I also started to take a prenatal supplement 3 months prior to conceiving as well as a sea moss supplement (which is an essential for me and it has a lot of amazing benefits for the TTC process). I also started me and my husband on Pre Mama Wellness Fertility Support for Him & Her. I also started my husband on a high fat/omega 3 diet. Like I said above, this is just what I did in my experience and this is not medical advice. I had gotten all of my information and research online and used my best judgement. There are lots of great resources online from experts.
I also wanted to make sure I was in a good place mentally. I was focusing on cutting out stress and leaning into activities like reading, writing, meditation, working out and walking.
I had also planned on doing an at home hormone test to test to make sure my levels were okay but it ended up unnecessary, but that is something I will be doing post pregnancy before we TTC for another baby. I also had planned to use ovulation testing tips to test for my most fertile days, but again I did not end up using them but I heard that they can be key to learning when you are most fertile. I had been tracking my period on an app on my phone since I was 15/16 years old, which I highly recommend all women do regardless of wanting to conceive. Most apps will let you know which phase of the month that you are in which is very helpful even when wanting to prevent pregnancy. I also had a pelvic exam prior to TTC as well to make sure everything was looking okay down there.
We found out I was pregnant on Halloween 2021. I was testing for the few days prior and kept getting negative results (I DO NOT recommend testing too early! I started testing 7 days before my first missed period and it was an awful feeling seeing that premature negative result. Had I waited I wouldn’t have had to deal with the feeling of not receiving the result I wanted.) I woke up on Halloween around 7 am and I just thought what the heck, I will just keep testing and just maybe it will say yes. So I ran to the bathroom to check and it said positive. I ran out screaming into the bedroom where my husband was still sleeping and I woke him up to the good news. I had planned on a huge surprise for him, but I was so excited I couldn’t hold it in!
The first 2 weeks after finding out I was pregnant weren’t so bad. I was still riding the high of the exciting news that I was going to be a mom, but I could tell that my energy was starting to decrease and I was beginning to get nauseous after my daily walks. Once I hit 6 weeks, everything went downhill. Coffee started to smell and taste weird, food that I liked instantly made my queasy, I had terrible morning sickness and I had almost no energy or motivation to do anything throughout the day. I tried to stay on top of my usual routine, but a few weeks in, my whole routine went out the window. I could barely work, working out seemed daunting, cleaning my home was something that wasn’t happening, even cooking meals and being in my favorite place (the kitchen) wasn’t exciting for me anymore. The morning routine, full of journaling and reading, I had set for myself instantly became a routine of morning sickness, naps and tv time. I basically lived on my couch until I was around 11 weeks pregnant. There were a lot of days where I would cry when my husband got home from work because I just felt like I was failing myself. I was feeling like I should be doing things but I just couldn’t. I physically and mentally had a hard time doing anything. I felt lazy which was so new for me. I spent a lot of time online researching if it was normal to feel this way and if there was anything I could do to pull myself out of this funk I was in. There were so many amazing tips online from other mom bloggers, but the problem was that they didn’t motivate me whatsoever. I basically had to ride it out.
After a few weeks of being a complete couch potato, I slowly started adding workouts back into my routine. It was something for me to focus on and it was a way for my to move my body (and basically my only form of self care). I focused on just 20 minutes a day or working out, mostly bodyweight exercises. I knew that this was not the time to push myself and I also knew it was only temporary. (It is WILD how much the surge of hormones in the first trimester can turn you into a different person! I felt like I had met a version of myself that I never knew existed.) I knew that things would get better as I got close to the second trimester. From what I read online, energy and appetite would increase around 14 weeks and that was true for me. It was almost instant how quickly my motivation and energy came back (around 13-14 weeks). I finally had goals for work again, I was excited to start getting back into the kitchen and I was excited to finally get back into my workouts and go for a walk. I still had morning sickness (which is finally starting to end now that I am 16 weeks) which wasn’t the worst for me. To be honest, I would take the morning sickness over feeling lazy any day of the week!
A few other not so fun parts were- my bras no longer fit (the girls have been VERY uncomfortable), the bloat and the nausea during the day.
Eating during the first trimester was another struggle. I was only sick in the morning, but I was nauseous all day long, and sometimes sick at bedtime. I planned on sticking to my usual eating habits because the vitamins and nutrients are so important for the babies development. The problem was that I could barely eat a lot of the time because of the nausea. This brought up so many fears in me “is my baby going to be okay”, “am I getting enough nutrients for the baby”. I thought with pregnancy came this large appetite and cravings, but for me it was the opposite and that was difficult. A typical day of eating was usually like this:
Breakfast- lots of water with a pinch of sea salt with toast and peanut butter, a light smoothie or a protein breakfast wrap
Lunch- (something small because this is when I was most nauseous) a kale salad or another protein wrap
Snack- A Go Macro Bar or hummus and crackers if I was feeling hungry
Dinner- Usually some mix of sautéed vegetables with protein or sometimes another kale salad because it was all I wanted
Dessert- I haven’t been into eating dessert or snacking during pregnancy so far
I searched online for some tips for getting through the first trimester but honestly for me, none of those tips helped. What actually helped:
Reading “What To Expect Eating Well When You’re Expecting”- there is lots of information on the vitamins and nutrients that you should be making your main focus and why. There are also some fun recipes and small meal recommendations for when you aren’t feeling well.
Leaning into rest and relaxation- As hard as it was I knew I had to just relax. This sometimes meant watching a show or movie first thing in the morning (I am usually a strict no tv before noon girl but I had to let it go for the first trimester) or reading a book when I should be working or cleaning.
Asking for help- I asked my husband to pitch in more than he ever has before.
Letting go of perfection and manage expectations- It took me a couple weeks to realize that it was okay if my home was messy and if laundry wasn’t done, it was okay to eat leftovers from last nights dinner for breakfast, it was okay if all I did was shower and watch reruns of my favorite show, it was okay that I wasn’t putting effort into my work. Everything was going to be okay, and it is.
Naps- I wouldn’t have made it to 5pm without one.
Everyones journey looks different. I can’t wait to share more on this journey as I go through the different stages.
