Pregnancy Chronicles: My Nauseous Review Of My First Trimester

General warning: this post discusses pregnancy—if you don’t want to know about it then don’t read it! 

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It started with fatigue, which I explained away as stress. Then it got worse. I seriously thought I was ill. I could barely drag myself down the sidewalk. After a negative COVID test, I surmised that perhaps my period was coming soon (I sometimes feel ill in the weeks leading up to my period.) And then a week later the nausea started. 

Nausea is not in my PMS symptom repertoire, so it was time for a pregnancy test. Sure enough, the pregnancy test turned out positive! And the second test did too—just because I had to double check! 

My Reaction to the Test

Taking the pregnancy test was a bit nerve-wracking. I re-read the directions several times to be absolutely sure I didn’t blunder through it. At least it’s simpler than a COVID rapid test! It’s such a huge life change if it indeed turned out positive, so I was really nervous. Even though I wasn’t really surprised by the positive result, I still felt that my world had turned upside-down. I was going to become a mother to a human being, rather than only a cat mom. Nothing was going to be the same. My life had turned to another road—even though this new path had been planned and wanted.

My cat was the only being around to witness my emotional reaction…and he clearly wasn’t surprised. In fact, he gave me a look that clearly said that he thought I was the dumbest human to not know already! So yes, my cat knew before I did. 

Telling My Partner 

My husband was sure I was pregnant from the moment he heard about the nausea. Even before the test. However, I still wanted to surprise him with a small announcement. I placed both my positive pregnancy tests in a baking dish lined with parchment paper. I wrote “Hi Daddy!” on the paper and placed the dish in the (off) oven. When he got home, my husband got to open the oven and discover the dish inside! He was very happy, though obviously not surprised. I’m just thrilled that he was nice enough not to say “I told you so.” 

First Visit to the OB

One of the first things I did after finding out was to book an appointment with an obstetrician. Different from my general primary care doctor, the obstetrician will oversee my health throughout the pregnancy and the baby’s birth. I shared the news with one of my close friends who was also pregnant at the time and got the name of her OB. So it was easy to find a good OB based on my friend’s recommendation. If you’re ever in the same situation I would highly recommend asking your friend group, especially if you’re not the first one having a baby. It’s so easy just to be able to “copy” your friend and takes the stress out of having to research doctors. 

My first visit to the OB was a virtual online visit, essentially going through family history and things to watch out for. I was already taking the recommended supplement dose of folic acid for baby’s development, so I continued that. 

A few weeks later I met the OB in person and essentially confirmed the pregnancy via an ultrasound. My husband came to that visit and we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time and see his tiny image on screen! The doctor did draw quite a bit of blood that day for routine tests: gauging my health, immunity via my childhood vaccinations, and, as we elected to do it, a chromosome breakdown of the baby (which is reflected in the maternal blood). The chromosome breakdown told us the baby’s sex, as well as it’s probability for disorders such as Down syndrome. This test can be done starting at 9 weeks gestation, which I happened to be at the time of this appointment. 

Waiting to Tell Our Families 

Despite all this excitement, we waited to tell our families. As this was going to be the first grandchild on both sides, we wanted to be a bit further along before sharing the news. We didn’t want to get everyone excited and then have something go wrong, as the chance of miscarriage is higher early in the first trimester. It so happened that we would be reaching the 12-week mark just before Christmas, so we decided to announce then. 

I did share the news with a handful of close friends though, just so I would have support and a few people to talk to. I found this super important during this strange, exciting, and nervous time. 

The Nausea Continues 

Even though I was blessed with a low-risk pregnancy (so far), the main theme of the first trimester was nausea. Even though I didn’t actually vomit until week 13, I came close several times before that. If I ate too much, if I was hungry…nausea. And the mere thought of coffee or a salad was revolting. 

Eating carbs such as breads and crackers helped for a while. I even had a few weeks of French fries magically calming my stomach. I seemed to just want these carbs plus protein—British style fish and chips were a brilliant meal! 

I found that sea band anti-nausea bracelets also helped, whether that was a placebo or not. I bought these bracelets from Amazon. They can also be used for motion sickness while traveling. The bands seemed to tone down the nausea to a very manageable, if basically unnoticeable, level (except if I got extremely hungry of course). Just be sure to hide the bands under a long-sleeved shirt if you’re not announcing your news to the world yet! 

I very much looked forward to the second trimester when the nausea was supposed to be much less. 

Finally Telling Our Families

We did tell my parents first at 10 weeks, due to them making travel plans. But everyone else got to wait until Christmas as planned! We bought baby announcement gifts for everyone, from mugs to books. Each gift was personalized for the individual, but informed them that they were going to be a grandparent or aunt or uncle. Needless to say, it was a wonderful Christmas and everyone was thrilled! We were also relieved to not have to keep this secret any longer! 

Informing Work of Pregnancy 

The other notification I decided to do in the first trimester was to inform my workplace of my pregnancy and planned maternity leave. Legally I could wait until later—I have to inform by 25 weeks—but I decided to do it earlier. My reasoning was to tell them before I started to clearly show (and therefore avoid all the guessing), to give them plenty of time to plan for my leave, and to also allow for potential absences relating to morning sickness. And with the COVID situation, I also felt it was best to open about my being at slightly higher risk. Thankfully, everyone has been understanding and excited! 

Growing a Bump

Throughout this trimester I felt bloated and consequently wore increasingly looser clothing. I “retired” my tightest jeans within two weeks of taking the pregnancy test. I started wearing my largest size jeans around week 9–they started off comfortably loose but quickly became tighter! I did have quite an appetite, so I did gain a little more weight than what is necessarily recommended in the first trimester, but my doctor was not worried. 

I did try wearing the Bellaband from Ingrid & Isabel over unzipped jeans to lengthen the lifespan of my clothes. The Bellaband was extremely comfortable and I highly recommend it if you have a more sedentary lifestyle or are not needing to walk quickly from place to place.  Wearing it around the house or on strolls worked really well for me. I actually may use it for holiday dinners in future! However, when rushing to work (with bags in tow) it definitely did not stay in place! 

My friends “in the know” did say they started noticing my tiny bump around 8 weeks. Most other people did not notice anything until the very end of the first trimester (around 14 weeks). I know this varies between people, as everyone’s body is different—and this is my first pregnancy so I’m more likely to show later. I did purchase a few maternity clothes before the end of this trimester so I had something to wear just in case nothing suddenly fit!

The first trimester was a time of change, especially in my life’s journey. I’m sure as the pregnancy develops this change will only become more clear—I’m thankful to have nine months to plan and get used to it! If you have gone through this on your own journey, is any of this similar to your experiences? Or different? I’m interested to hear what you have to say! 

I’m sure the second trimester will have its own unique story—stay tuned for that coming up in a few weeks!