Surviving My First Trimester

To be honest, I'm not even sure I can title this "surviving" because I feel like I personally had to crawl, scream, and vomit my way through the first trimester. It was that rough, and no I am not exaggerating. 

The first week I found out I was pregnant might have been the easiest so far and if every week since had stayed that wonderful, I might not feel so much hatred towards my first trimester. The only symptoms that were prominent were the fact that I slept a lot more and my chest was growing, other than that it was smooth sailing. However, the second I hit 5 weeks all hell broke loose and I don't know how I made it through. 

From 5 weeks until about 16 weeks pregnant, I had the same constant symptoms of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, aches and pains. So many people that I had talked to had told me it lasted for a few days with them, or they had vomited once and felt great afterwards. That was absolutely not the case for me. Once I started vomiting, I couldn't stop. Once the nausea hit, it never went away. It was awful. But I made it through and here's a few reasons why.

1. Zofran. As soon as the nausea hit and Brian could see that I was in pain, we went to the ER. I couldn't keep anything down and was completely dehydrated so it felt like the smart thing to do and I am forever thankful that I did. The doctor I saw prescribed me Zofran which is a dissolving pill that helps with nausea and it really works. The second I took it I instantly felt relief. I didn't want to become dependent on taking them so I only would take Zofran when I instantly felt sick to my stomach and it really helped me get through a lot of the times I felt horrible.

2. Quitting my job.  Leaving my job was probably the smartest decision I made because it was costing me more to get there and then leave than what I was making overall. I was working at a Barne's & Noble Cafe that served Starbucks coffee as well as many other sandwiches, bakery treats, etc. I didn't mind the fast pace whatsoever when I started working there and I loved the aroma of food baking in the oven. But my goodness, being pregnant and nauseous and smelling all of that all of the time killed me. Just about every shift I was scheduled to work I had to leave either due to vomiting or getting so nauseous that I was preparing myself to vomit. I was becoming a liability and I knew that so I decided to leave. It was a very smart decision in my first trimester just because I'm not sure about everyone else, but I personally prefer to be sick in my own house, in my own bathroom, than in a trash can in the back of the store. The first few weeks I had off were so helpful to me because I was able to rest more, try and eat what little that I could, and start getting over the sickness I was dealing with. This has been the first time since I was 15 years old that I hadn't had a job I had to physically go to, so I decided that once my second trimester hit (and I was feeling a lot better), I'd find a way to work from home and that's exactly what I'm able to do now. 

3. Applesauce & water. It should go without saying that when pregnant, you need to drink at least a gallon of water a day. But because in my first trimester I wasn't really eating that much I was able to drink almost two gallons of water a day and it really did help. I truly think that drinking that much water was what made some days so much better than others. On the off chance that I could actually stomach some food, all I wanted was applesauce. It was the easiest thing to take down and it tasted so good. The few times that I would leave the house to go do something, I'd take at least 3 applesauce cups with me because they really made everything feel better. I highly suggest finding an easy food to eat if you're feeling as nauseous as I was. Anything such as applesauce, yogurt, fruits, veggies, anything. 

Those are the three things that really did help me make it through my first trimester. Those, and being curled up in a ball for the most part trying to sleep it all away. I know a lot of pregnancies don't experience anything like this but there are a few that do and I wanted to share a little bit of what I had to do to help myself through it. 

xo, Kirsten