First Trimester

The first 6 weeks of pregnancy ignorance was great!  The doctor confirmed my pregnancy at 8 weeks.  I went 10 weeks without any symptoms, and just as I thought, “This is too good to be true,” the morning sickness began. 

I felt nauseous pretty much every day, and I threw up about 2 mornings per week.  It was hard to drag myself to work!  I did have to call in sick twice.  I hated doing that.  The best relief for my morning nausea was saltines.  My mom suggested keeping saltines on my night stand.  Every morning, I’d eat a few crackers and sit in bed for about 5 minutes before rushing out of bed.  Tums were great too!  During this time, I had zero appetite, and I lost 6 pounds (that took a long time to regain).   At week 14, I felt like this would never end.  Was I going to be unlucky and have morning sickness throughout my pregnancy?  I was encouraged by a friend who said her morning sickness lasted until week 16, and luckily my story was the same.

In addition to nausea, my Interstitial Cystitis flared up a little bit during the first trimester, sometimes for a week or two without ceasing.  I didn’t feel pressure on my bladder, because the baby was still tiny.  The urgency, burning, and frequency increased.  I believe this was due to hormonal changes, because I did not change my meds or eating habits.

The last significant pregnancy symptom during my first trimester was tender breasts.  Tender may not be the right word.  They HURT LIKE CRAZY!  At first, I thought, “This is no big deal.  It feels like the usual soreness I get at the beginning of my cycle.”  But it just kept getting worse, and worse, and worse.  I used ice packs or cold bottles of water for relief.  The reward for the pain was extra attention from my husband due to my changing body.  See, it’s not so bad. *wink*