Ten Things That Happen When You Are Pregnant In The First Trimester
1. Sickness-
Some of you will throw up, some will just feel queasy or you will get waves of nausea that come and go. Personally, I didn’t have any morning sickness which was great but I did occasionally feel a bit sick from a smell now and then. Even though, it is called ‘morning sickness’ as it is more likely for a pregnant woman to feel sick then, it can actually happen anytime. It usually lasts 6-14 weeks into your pregnancy so rest assured it will ease off. Hormones and body changes are to blame for this and some women have a higher level of hormones which means they suffer with more sickness. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and Estrogen are particular hormones which get the body ready for everything needed to help grow a baby inside of you and are said to be main factors in sickness. Things to help you:
Ginger Nut Biscuits
Ginger or Peppermint Herbal Tea
Eat dry toast or plain crackers if you have really bad morning sickness
Getting plenty of rest as tiredness makes the sickness worse
Lots of fluids like water (Not fizzy drinks or tea and coffee) little and often
Cold meals are better then hot ones as they do not smell as much
Instead of three meals a day, eat little and often with snacks
Go for non greasy fatty foods like jacket potatoes and pasta
Wear looser clothes around your middle so it is not pressing on your stomach and you feel more comfortable.
2. Smells-
You will turn into the best sniffer dog in town when you are pregnant. I can smell everything like the phantom farters, what soup my colleague is eating and don’t get me start don’t get me started on people who eat eggs. This is apparently so that pregnant women can sniff out any food that may have gone off or bad bacteria so they can keep healthy. Unfortunately this means that the bad smells may make you have symptom number one, but on the positive, flowers smell stunning, italian cooking will be so delicious smelling and you will only need a couple of squirts of Chanel number 5 to make you feel splendid again.
3. Hairy Mary-
You turn into a hairy monster. That’s right, two razors one for each leg. Those witch hairs that sprout on your chin randomly will grow into plaits and you may get hair on your stomach. The obvious bush tucker trial of your bikini line will soon be out of your reach in your second trimester as well so my advice is to get what is known as a ‘warm wax’ – ask your local span if they use Lycon which is the best and less painful. The warm wax is peeled off and not stripped as such to leave red marks. Get your underarms, bikini line and legs done and save your belly for a razor in the bath. Otherwise embrace trousers and maxi dresses but don’t say I didn’t warn you about the odd sprout of hair on your toes you can’t conceal. So what’s the cause of this? Hormones, that’s mainly the excuse for everything. But your normal head hair will grow lovely, hard work if you have ‘natural’ ahem blonde hair like mine.
4. Acne/Bad Skin-
As soon as I found out I was pregnant, my usual good skin went disgustingly dry, spotty and red.
I can reassure you though that near the end of the second trimester it does clear up and go away so have patience. Look at some of my beauty product pregnancy reviews in which I show you which foundations and creams are best. Basically treat your skin as super sensitive, no perfumed products or anything harsh and don’t use make-up with loads of powders in that will dry out the skin even more.
Why does this happen? You’ve guessed it; it’s because of hormones and your immune system
changing so it is normal.
At one point I even had an allergic reaction to a ‘Mum To Be’ oil that someone gave me, which you think would be fine to use, I had a rash so bad that I had to go to my GP to get a special cream to calm it down, so stay with baby and sensitive products on your face and body during this trimester.
5. Fatigue-
You will feel tiredness like you have never felt. The horrible thing is that in your first 12 weeks you are keeping quiet about being pregnant so not only do you have to mask your sickness, you also have to try and hold yourself up and hold conversations while feeling like you have been drugged.
I drove with my car windows down when I was driving to get the air to keep me awake on my commute and sometimes if I just sat down to watch TV I would be snoring away for a deep hour. I would just embrace it and sleep where you can, if you have to go to bed at 8pm then do it and it will eventually pass a bit in your second trimester. It’s just your body working overtime trying to get all the vitamins and minerals to your baby. I kept really active in the day and had early nights to keep myself going, as I felt like if I stopped then I wouldn’t be able to get up again.
Try eating energy boosting foods like nuts, and iron rich foods such as red meat and green vegetables to give you energy. Stay away from sugar highs- I’m convinced this is why I craved so much cake in my early pregnancy, because I was so tired the cakes made me sugar drunk but then soon made me tired again afterwards.
6. Lots of Air-
Because you have much higher levels of Progesterone, a hormone that relaxes smooth muscle tissue in your body, your gastrointestinal tract gets so relaxed that it slows down your digestion. This causes burping, flatulence, boosting and generally makes you feel like you want to lie down after a meal. Wear looser clothing and try and get away with things like leggings/smart jeggings that stretch with your body if you can at work so you don’t feel so tight around the waist.
If you feel air coming on when you are in public, develop a way to disguise your ‘steam’ as it were, by excusing yourself or coughing at the right moment and embrace alphabet burps in your own personal time. This one does get worse as pregnancy goes on, so stay away from fizzy drinks, gassy food like baked beans and get good at making excuses in public running off unexpectedly to get that air out of you.
7. Pee Increase-
The hormone hCG increases blood flow to the pelvic area causing you to make more urine. The efficiency of the kidneys also improves during pregnancy so you get rid of more waste products as well as your growing uterus which puts load of pressure on your bladder all making you want to go to the toilet more urgently and frequently than before. If you haven’t done your pelvic exercises then you better make sure you are not a heavy sneezer because you will find you may get little leaks- that’s what all those Tena Lady adverts were always about! Make sure though, that even though you are going to the toilet more often that you still drink plenty of fluids to keep hydrated and you will be asked for your urine on every single doctors appointment so you may as well give them a healthy straw coloured sample to look at. 8. Anxiety-
It doesn’t help any woman out when we open magazines and see perfect celebrity yummy mummies who look amazing, don’t have any money problems and are sailing through their pregnancy with glamorous lifestyles. There is a lot of pressure to be constantly ‘happy’ and ‘glowing’ all the time when in reality, you just want to have a lay down and couldn’t really care less about the melting make-up on your face because you are so hot.
Then there is the problem that saying you are worried or anxious about your pregnancy might be insensitive to your fiends who are trying for a baby because you have been blessed. You can feel as if you can’t talk to friends and family about any worries because they will think you are being ‘selfish’ or like my partner said sometimes, it’s just ‘hormones’.
Well I had full blown panic attacks because at 34 I had been a party girl, big traveller and always loved my beauty regimes and treats so you can imagine how I was suddenly panicking about how I was going to afford a baby and having to give up my independence. I was worried about maternity leave because since I have been 14 I have always been a workaholic and lived life at 100 miles an hour, but I’ve finally got my head round the fact that this will be my biggest job to date and that the rewards will be much bigger than any Louis Vuitton handbag or weekend away in Berlin ever gave me.
My anxiety got a bit worse in my 2nd trimester and I eventually had to go to my GP about it. Don’t feel silly telling them that you can’t sleep, you are losing your temper or generally you are not feeling as ‘happy clappy’ as you think you should be as trust me they will have heard it before anyway and they will be glad that you told them so that they can do something about it now, rather than waiting until post birth and keeping it all inside. I will explore this topic further in a blog post I will do on here and post the link here.
9. Cravings-
Cake, cake and more cake is all I ate as soon as I found out I was pregnant. The lady in Greggs actually knew my name and that I wanted the Victoria Sponge mini cake on demand. The theory behind having pregnancy cravings are that it’s to satisfy your nutritional needs. So red meat would indicate that you are lacking iron or craving orange fruits and veg might mean you need more betacarotene. I don’t really eat anything dairy normally, so the fact I wanted fresh cream, milkshakes and gallons if ice cream makes sense. I don’t think my partner has ever been so happy with a freezer full of ice cream and the cupboards stocked up with cakes. I now love dessert in a restaurant when before, I would be more interested in a starters. So I wonder if this craving will stay or whether it will diminish and I will be back to my olives and breads when I have my baby. The only time you really need to worry about your cravings are obviously when you are craving things like bricks or coal which you should see your GP about. Or if you are just eating cakes alone and no other nutritional goodness then you really want to make sure you are having a healthy diet and taking your vitamins so you are getting everything you need.
10. Sore Boobs-
So you get sore boobs anyway when you come on your period, but your boobs when you are pregnant are beyond anything you have ever experienced pain wise in that area.
I had to wear a maternity bra to bed in the end because they were aching so much it gave them support. I ditched any tight bras that dug in around the back and round the breast with under -wiring and started wearing the soft cotton, stretchy T-shirt style smooth bras for the day. My nipples used to hurt so much when they touched anything but this goes by the second trimester. Your nipples will get bigger and go darker and this is normal. Keep putting stretch mark cream or oil on as you will be prone to this around this area and it will help smooth out the skin.
The reason you get these sore breasts is because your body produces more Oestrogen and Progesterone to support your growing baby. The same thing happens to you before your period so the tenderness you feel in pregnancy is a more dramatic version of this.
Your breasts will get bigger because the fat layer in them thickens and the milk glands and blood flow increases. This is for feeding your baby.
Try and embrace your new sized boobs as they balance out your beautiful bump and make you ‘all woman’. Your partner will love them and they are a constant reminder that they are there eventually for your baby growing inside you- isn’t nature wonderful?
The Glamourcat 