#first trimester

So, as my followers prolly know, I've been trying to get pregnant for awhile and finally am! (yay!!!!!!!!!)

In the course of trying to get pregnant I read a lot of stuff about what to prepare for and expect. Despite this, some stuff definitely caught me by surprise. Here's a list of everything that surprised me during this first 7 weeks in case anyone is curious or is also trying to get pregnant and be prepared:

[NOTE: NONE OF THESE ARE COMPLAINTS. I am so grateful to be pregnant and after my scare last week, I don't want to complain at all about any part of this. I just find it interesting, and people don't talk a lot about women's health, so I wanna spread info where I can.]

Early pregnancy feels unique: Many people said that the first trimester feels a lot like having the flu, but that is not my experience AT ALL. I'm sure its true for those who said it (or people experience flu symptoms very differently to me), but for me it's just a whole new set of sensations. I feel a little queasy when I stand up, but the nausea doesn't really feel like that deep feeling of being actually sick. It's kind of like a combo of the way your stomach drops when you're on a roller coaster or when an airplane takes off. I don't (usually) need to actually get sick. I just feel unpleasant for a little bit. The real reason I mostly feel like I'm gonna 🤢 is from point #2. (see below)

My body just makes more of everything. My blood volume is increasing by like 50% or something like that. This, I expected. What I didn't know would also happen is that all other body liquids increase by about that much. I live in a dusty desert climate that regularly makes me feel like I have post-nasal drip. This is 50% worse now because my body is producing more stuff that sits directly on top of my gag reflex for 60%-90% of every day. Ugh.

I'm not hungry, especially not for junk food or fried food. I'm not talking about food aversions. (Although I did have some food aversions during the first couple of weeks.) Apparently, your digestion slows up to 30% during pregnancy so that the baby can absorb more of the nutrients from food. This does not go away. This is not a first trimester only symptom. This will, apparently, last the whole pregnancy. As a result, food just kind of sits there in my stomach for a long time, making me feel full in a kind of unpleasant way. Protein is less appealing because protein keeps you fuller longer. I can't really eat dinner most days, because I'm still so full from lunch and by the time I get hungry enough to have anything, it's more like I just want some graham crackers or something. A few weeks ago, my parents and I went to Texas Roadhouse and I had some of their fried onion appetizer thing. It was the thing that made me the most violently ill out of the whole pregnancy so far. There's simply too much fat and calories in fried food and my body FEELS it.

The symptoms you thought come later start right away. I think most people have heard that you feel winded during pregnancy or you have acid reflux/heartburn, or you have trouble sleeping, or you have to pee all the time, etc. I think many people (including me) assumed those things happened later on when the baby was big enough to move your organs around or make you physically uncomfortable based on its size or movements. While I'm sure that will play a role later, it actually all starts almost immediately because of all the hormones happening in you. Remember how I said my blood volume is increasing by 50%? That means my kidneys are working harder which means I have to pee that much more. Progesterone relaxes a lot of your soft muscles meaning acid comes up more and your hips get looser and you can feel your bones shifting a little bit. It doesn't really hurt. It's more of a minor occasional ache that feels a little unsettling when you're trying to sleep. All the shifting hormones make it difficult to sleep, anyway. And feeling winded? Yeah, that's happening cuz your body is producing all this extra stuff and making you take deeper breaths so more oxygen reaches the baby. But that means that things that aren't typically noticeable amounts of exertion leave you breathing heavily, like making your bed or walking upstairs to grab something. Basically, your body is working super hard just existing, so anything you do feels like effort. It's not shortness of breath. I don't feel like I'm having trouble breathing. It's just constantly feeling like my body is making an effort to do things, which it is.

Pregnancy sleepiness is different. I heard people say this a lot, but I misunderstood what they meant. I know what it's like to be incurably sleepy. A few years ago when I was struggling with some major thyroid issues, I could barely stay awake at my desk and make it through a workday. I never felt fully present. My body felt like lead. No amount of sleeping or napping ever made me feel awake. I assumed this is what pregnancy sleepiness would feel like. At least for me, it's not like that at all. I still get that familiar sensation of "Oh, my body will not allow me to be awake anymore" that I would get during my thyroid episodes. But then I sleep and it's fine. I actually feel refreshed when I wake up. I don't feel the need to sleep the rest of the day. I just need to recharge my battery more often. I think that overwhelming drowsiness is something that's really shocking and unpleasant for people who haven't struggled with true medical fatigue before. But for me, as someone who has really struggled with medical fatigue in the past, this was a welcome surprise. It's as all-consuming as people warned me about, but it's not endless like when you're actually going through a medical fatigue situation.

You can have opposite symptoms at the same time. All yesterday I was exhausted because the insomnia hadn't let me sleep properly in days, but I was also overwhelmed with that fatigue I described earlier. I just called my BFF to make my brain feel more awake and then did some stretches while watching TV. It let my body finally burn enough energy to let me sleep that night. But it's very confusing to have very overwhelming exhaustion that makes it difficult to keep your eyes open or focus on work while also being completely unable to sleep.

Symptoms come and go, and often more quickly than you'd expect. For two solid weeks, the smell of coffee made me want to puke. Then, all the sudden, it was fine. I craved oranges and apple juice nonstop, then didn't for two weeks, then suddenly only want those items again. I NEEDED sloppy joes for dinner a few nights ago, and now the idea of eating one makes me wanna hurl. Some days my chest feels fine, others my boobs are so sore it makes me want to shoot the concept of bras in the face. I kind of thought I'd get symptoms and that would just be how I feel the whole pregnancy. But it's always changing.

I cannot drink enough water. I am thirsty like, literally all the time. It makes sense cuz my body is producing so much more blood and hormones in addition to growing a whole person. But it's genuinely shocking to experience. My lips will start cracking even if I've had like 3 64oz tumblrs full of water, even though it feels like I pee every three seconds because of how much liquid I'm full of. I feel a little like a water balloon with a very slow leak.

⋆｡‧˚ʚ🧸ɞ˚‧｡⋆. tiny bump ⋆｡‧˚ʚ🧸ɞ˚‧｡⋆

Romi’s constant daily routine was throw up, nap, hang her head over the toilet again, only to be tired and nauseous an hour later. This pregnancy was kicking her, and she felt awful round the clock.