It’s amazing how fast this pregnancy is going by.
I’m 19 weeks! And on Friday this week, I’m officially 20. Half way through. How wild is that?! Guess it’s time to provide a first trimester pregnancy update before I’m out of my second, no?! 😉
The first trimester for me is always kind of, well, weird.
As I look back on the past few months, time feels like it’s been equal parts a blur and yet some days were so looong. Especially the first weeks leading up to the 8 week ultrasound — it’s like this constant waiting game where you’re not really sure what’s happening. Is this all legit? Will the doctors hear a heartbeat? How are my hormone levels? Is it normal to feel sick one day and totally fine the next? The rabbit hole of thoughts and questions goes deep.
This pregnancy’s first trimester in particular has been a total dichotomy of emotions. Feeling excited but cautious. Wanting to tell the world yet feeling protective of the delicate nature of pregnancy. Incredibly grateful yet nervous because OMG it’s a human life I’m bringing into this world. Every cramp and physical symptom is hyper-analyzed and questioned. (Er…if I’m being honest, even once I got out of the first trimester, a lot of those feelings haven’t changed.)
As I’m already well into my second trimester, I thought I’d share a personal post all about my first! How I felt, the differences between this pregnancy and my others, how I told Doug, how we told the girls, and more. Here we go!
First Trimester Pregnancy Update
How did you feel during the first trimester?
I’m breaking this down into two parts: One physically and one mentally.
Physically, overall I felt much better than in my first two pregnancies.
I had moments of nausea and felt exhausted at times, but overall my first trimester felt less extreme than my first trimesters before. My pregnancies with my girls were very similar – I was nauseous to the point where I could barely eat pretty much the entire first 12 weeks – but this time it was more moments of nausea that subsided fairly quickly. I still felt (and feel!) pregnant, mind you. Just different. It’s hard to explain.
Could it be because it’s a boy?! Who knows – the doctors say every pregnancy is different – but from my experience so far I do think there’s something to it all!
Mentally, adjusting to having a third kid has been a lot.
I’ve definitely had some anxieties with this pregnancy thus far. It’s interesting because I feel like in general, I’ve been more laid back than my past pregnancies about prepping for the baby (nursery, necessities, etc.) and delivery, but instead I’ve been hyper-focused on the details surrounding life and how it’s about to change for us all.
I’m worried about how Grace and Josephine will feel and react. When it was just Grace, and Joey came along, we could still very much devote lots of time to them both. But with a third, Doug and I are officially on zone defense. Oh boy. How will they do with the transition of a baby in the house? Will they feel jealous? Sad? Happy? The girls will need to share a room — how will that adjustment go? There are just a lot of changes and things in flux as we all prep for the baby to arrive, and it all feels like it’s going so fast that I can hardly keep up.
When the baby’s born, Doug and I will have 3 kids who are 4 and under. WOWZA. How will we change as parents? How will we manage it all? Will we be able to devote one-on-one time to each kid still? Will life be so crazy we feel like we can’t keep up? And will our relationship suffer?
I’m filled with anticipation about having a newborn again.
I remember feeling so tired I could barely function at times with both girls, and even feeling lonely at times. How will I manage being a mother to a newborn with two toddlers in the mix? It’s going to be very different this time around because – unlike before when Doug had a flexible schedule and was able to be around a lot to help – he’s now in a corporate job without the flexibility from before. (Pinging my parents! Heeeey!)
I’m also feeling super anxious about my job and maintaining things here. I had a maternity leave with Grace and Joey, but of course, now that I’m self-employed I won’t have one. How will I juggle my business and a baby and a family at large? I think of it all and it feels daunting right now. I’m still thinking through/putting together a plan of action on how I – we – are going to manage.
Most of all, however, I am so excited. Life is certainly about to change, and we’ll all go through lots of adjustments, but there’s no greater gift than that of life. I can’t wait to meet our baby and see what his personality is like. I know Grace and Jo will be the best big sisters. There’s nothing like newborn cuddles. It’ll be so fun to have a baby again — I feel like I’m going to have so much more of an appreciation for it all because I’ve seen how crazy fast it flies by. Three kids will be so much fun!
How did you tell Doug?
I had actually taken a pregnancy test the week prior, which was negative, so we both weren’t anticipating it. Flash forward to the following week, I remember thinking, “Wait…shouldn’t I have gotten my period by now?” I grabbed a pregnancy test just to be sure, and when I took it, there were two lines. I took another to double-check and that one said “Yes” too! I was shocked since I had totally pushed the idea of being pregnant out of my mind that month.
Doug was coming home from work in a few hours and I couldn’t wait to tell him. I completely improvised it all — zero plans, not much thought, and so CHEESY! We had buns in our freezer, so I grabbed one and put it in our oven along with the pregnancy tests. When he got home I awkwardly said, “Hey honey can you check what’s in the oven?” He was like, “Uh yeah sure…” and then opened up the oven to find a half-frozen bun and two peed on sticks. My special little surprises just for him.
Yup — you read that right. I told Doug by placing a literal “bun in the oven.” My creativity knows no bounds. 😉
I know I’m ridiculous, by the way. We can all laugh together with this as common knowledge.
How did you and Doug tell Grace and Josephine?
It was the day after we found out we were pregnant. We were in the car, on our way to tell my parents, when Doug said, “Wait…shouldn’t we tell Grace and Joey first? I feel like they should know before anyone else.” GREAT point.
I wish I could tell you that we were super pulled together parents and had a long chat about life, a new baby coming, and what it all meant for them…but that’s not how it happened. We looked at each other and decided to just go for it. Right then. Driving in the car.
I turned around in the car and said, “Gracie…Joey….Mommy and Daddy have some exciting news! We’re going to have a baby! You’ll get to have a little brother or sister!” Joey didn’t seem like she had much comprehension of what that meant and said, “Boppa and Grammy’s house!” (Where we were headed.) Grace, on the other hand, turned into a future-seeing teenager and said, “I know. It’s a boy!” We were like, “Uh…it is?!” (At that point we obviously had NO idea it was a boy.)
So overall it went…great? I think a lot of the processing for them has come in the weeks following and as we’ve continued to talk openly about everything. We’ve been sure to ask them a lot about how they’re feeling, what it means for another baby to come, etc. Overall we’re still definitely all wrapping our minds around it all!
Do you have the nursery planned yet?
Nope. Not at all. Really gotta get on that. But first, the girls need to start sharing a room. We’ll probably make that transition in the coming few weeks.
When did you “pop”?
I honestly feel like my body started changing from the moment I found out I was pregnant. But they were the type of changes where I don’t think anyone besides me could really notice. I officially *popped* — a noticeable belly — around week 14. But below is me at week 12 — you can totally see a little belly, no?!
A budding baby belly is kind of funny because it fluctuates so much from morning to night. At the beginning of the day I’d wake up and there’d barely be a belly, but then at the end of the day it’s be like 3x the size and I’d have to change pants.
It’s actually crazy to think about how things change week over week with pregnancy. I remember thinking, “Everyone will know I’m pregnant, I’m totally showing” when I wore the below dress, but now I look at those photos and think, “OMG you can barely tell!” Especially because now my belly is soo much bigger, and it’s only been 5 weeks since those were taken.
Next Ultrasound?
This week! AH! We have our full 20-week ultrasound on Thursday and I’m so excited to see how much the baby has changed from our last one, which was done at 8 weeks.
Any food cravings?
Yogurt. Anything sweet. Specifically candy. I’ve been a candy FREAK. Really should slow that train a bit…
With both Grace and Josephine, I craved weird things like a well-done steak. But this time around it’s really been just sweets. So strange!
Any other questions?! Feel free to leave them in the comments below!
PS – 10 Pregnancy Tips For Meghan Markle + An Open Letter To Breastfeeding
