Surprise! I’m pregnant! I’m looking forward to sharing my journey with you all as I attempt to have the healthiest and fittest pregnancy possible.
I am currently in my thirteenth week of pregnancy: the start of my second trimester. For those interested, here is how my first twelve weeks of pregnancy went:
Pregnancy Symptoms
I have experienced most of the typical pregnancy symptoms, including mild morning sickness, which makes me feel queasy and sick, although I have never actually thrown up. As soon as I’m feeling sick, I make up a special drink which cures my sickness every time. It’s just ¼ tsp of powdered ginger, ¼ lemon squeezed and icy cold water, stirred together well. Thank God for making ginger: a natural medicine for nauseousness! It has been a lifesaver. I also find the advice of eating regularly to keep your blood sugar levels from dropping has really helped me, too. I feel really sick and horrible if I don’t eat every two to three hours.
I also experienced breast tenderness, headaches, severe bloating (some afternoons I feel six months pregnant!) occasional mild stomach cramping, needing to urinate more often, and extreme fatigue. I haven’t taken any medications during my pregnancy (e.g panadol, nurofen) as I don’t want to risk them harming my tiny developing baby.
Another change I have noticed is that, when I eat, I feel full after eating less food than before pregnancy. In general, my appetite has been down, too.
The only pregnancy symptoms I was lucky enough not to experience were slight bleeding, heart burn, dizziness, constipation and being more emotional and moody than normal. I’ve noticed when talking to other women who have been pregnant that everyone experiences some of the typical symptoms, but rarely anyone experiences all of them.
Food aversions and cravings
The biggest aversion I experience is that I cannot stand hot drinks! I used to love tea and coffee and now they really don’t appeal to me. So, when going out for ‘coffee’ with friends, I have mostly been having iced coffee, smoothies and juices. Another aversion I’ve had is sweet foods. Apart from fruit, I rarely feel like anything sweet. I’ve also gone off salads and protein powder, two foods I used to eat a lot before pregnancy. I have been trying to disguise vegetables in tasty dishes like bolognese and curry.
On the other hand, I have been craving and loving most salty, savoury foods. I’ve enjoyed bacon and eggs on toast a lot as well as plenty of cheese and olives. I’ve been craving processed carbs like gluten-free weetbix and toast. They’re not the healthiest foods, but you can combine fruit and nuts and seeds with the weetbix, and eggs or avocado with the toast.
Despite all these unusual food aversions and cravings, I’ve been trying my best to eat as healthy a diet as possible. Just like before I was pregnant, I’m aiming for plenty of vegetables, fruit, protein sources, good fats and gluten free grains. It is definitely hard, though, with my taste buds so out of whack at the moment!
Changes to my body
I have lost two kilos over the last twelve weeks which is apparently common due to feeling nauseous and having a reduced appetite. My doctor says it’s normal and fine if you stay the same, put on a few kilos, or, like me, lose a few in your first trimester. Now that I’m in the second trimester, I need to put on 100-400g each week so that, by my due date, I am 10-12kg heavier than my pregnancy weight. It’s a little strange to think about weighing that much, more than I have every weighed in my life. But I remind myself it’s what is supposed to happen, I am making and nurturing a baby after all!
Despite my weight going down, I have definitely noticed my waist has gotten bigger. I have had to pack away a few pairs of my tightest shorts and jeans. Your waist gets bigger early on in pregnancy even though your baby is tiny (only the size of a lime by week twelve) because of pregnancy-related bloating and fluid retention, as well as the uterus doubling in size.
Exercise
I have been exercising two to three times a week, mainly doing weight training. I would like to have been doing more, but it is hard to fit it in when I’m feeling headachey, exhausted or nauseous. I have also been walking thirty minutes every day. I have been doing pelvic floor strengthening exercises about once a week. This is not enough and I really need to try do it more than this!
Supplements
My doctor got me to have a blood test just before I started trying for a baby and identified that I had a vitamin D deficiency. So, I have been taking one Thorne vitamin D tablet a day, two fish oils, ½ cup of homemade kefir water (for my probiotics) and 2 Thorne prenatal multi-vitmains each day. I really like the Thorne brand of supplements as it is a practitioner quality brand and quite a good price when you order from iherb.
If any of my readers remember how they felt during their first trimester, I would love to hear about your experience! I look forward to keeping you all updated with my journey through pregnancy and will keep posting other non-pregnancy related fitness and wellness blog posts such as recipes too.
Holly x
Congratulations Holly – I’m very excited for you and Ryan.
Unfortunately during both of my pregnancies I was very ill. My exercise and eating routine went out the window completely! However, despite my sick pregnancies, I had amazing quick births and was able to regain my pre-pregnancy weight and fitness very quickly. (For me, breast feeding helped me to shed pregnancy kilos fast).
-S
Thanks Susan! I hear from quite a few people that they were quite unwell when pregnant. I’m extremely grateful to only have felt mild symptoms. That’s encouraging to hear that you had quick births and bounced back well afterwards. I’m really hoping for the same! I hear so many benefits to breastfeeding so am determined to try as hard as I possibly can to be able to breastfeed. xx