The Second First Trimester

I am so thrilled to be pregnant again! It's so cool when I remember that little tiny baby inside of me growing and kicking around. I love it. I love feeling those little flutters (I honestly believe I felt the baby around ten weeks this time which sounds ridiculous--I'm well aware--(I felt Tenley at 16 weeks) but my body didn't have even a year to fully recover which means my uterus probably started off pushed much further forward than the first time. Plus, I know what gas feels like and that definitely wasn't it...do people really think they feel the same anyway?? To me, they aren't even close). As with all good things though, there are of course hard parts. So far, my pregnancies have been pretty consistent.

Here (for your information and my future reference) are the symptoms I experienced while in the first trimester:

Nausea

With Tenley, I felt nauseous for about four weeks (8-12ish) but never threw up. It was like all-day car sickness in reality. It was miserable, but tolerable. I didn't even end up filling my prescription for Zofran. Thankfully, my early morning cycling class and working full time kept me sufficiently distracted--enough so that I didn't feel too bad until I got home at 6pm when I would just lounge around without distractions.

With this one, I felt really nauseous (I think more so than Tenley but it's hard to remember) for about two weeks, and occasionally nauseous throughout the day for another few weeks. I threw up once this time, but it could have been food poisoning...it seems more likely that that was the case. I also have not filled my prescription for Zofran this time, but as I'm writing this, I'm kind of wondering why I didn't at least try it.

Stomach Sensitivity 

One of my first symptoms of pregnancy both times has been bloating. My stomach gets super sensitive within just a few weeks and wearing pants suddenly becomes an affliction. I have to wear my pants and skirts and everything else low on my hip bones to prevent them from squashing my uterus. Unfortunately, that seems to last throughout the entire pregnancy for me. Even maternity pants by the third trimester feel like they are murdering me.

Headaches/ Dizziness/ Faintness

I was a little anemic last time with Tenley and occasionally I would have dizzy spells when I stood up too quickly or something else, but this time has been much worse in that respect. In the first trimester, I felt lightheaded almost every time I stood up and my eyes start to black out. I am taking 65mg of iron (I think it's mg...if that seems like it would kill me, then I probably have the amount wrong) and my prenatals (gummy, which I'm actually getting tired of because of the after flavor), and I'm supposed to be drinking a lot of water because my doctor and I both believe I'm dehydrated, but I'm the worst at doing things that are good for me, so the water drinking mainly has not been as regular as it should be. It was a really frustrating symptom though, and I don't typically get many headaches so feeling that way was a bit disabling. Especially with a very loud near-toddler. It's a bad combo. Thankfully it's happened much less since I made some changes and since I entered trimester two.

Exhaustion

Just saying this word makes me feel more exhausted. I thought I was tired with Tenley but now I see that I didn't even know what being tired means. I don't have time to nap but I wish for one all the time. Being a student doesn't help either since I have to stay up late doing assignments or wake up early for class. And chasing Tenley of course makes it all the harder. And breastfeeding took a lot out of me. I already am giving all my nutrients to the growing baby and to the milk, so most likely there weren't enough to spare for me. But seriously, I can't even describe how tired I actually am. Just know that it's exceedingly tired. I can't wait to hopefully get my energy back (at least a little) in the second trimester. (Note: it's already coming back little by little--the more rest I get the better. Who knew, right!? ;-)

Bad Skin

My skin, during the first trimester anyway, has sucked both times. Maybe it's a sign that I'm having another girl, which would fit the old wives' tale that she's "stealing her mother's beauty" but this part has sucked. As if I'm not already self-conscious enough with my awkward muffin-top-baby-bump (you know--when you're at the stage where you're starting to show but people can't tell for sure if you're pregnant or not), I don't need skin problems to make it worse.

Loss of Appetite

I know this is not what you typically think of when you think of a pregnant person, but this has occurred to me with both pregnancies only during the first trimester. (Then of course my appetite returns with a vengeance during trimesters two and three so I gain plenty of weight for the baby). Food just doesn't sound good to me. I'll be starving, but I don't want to eat anything. Especially not sugary stuff, blah. I do eat, of course, but I can never really eat a full meal. I eat about 1/4 or maybe 1/3 of a plate and then I can't do anymore. Like when we got Outback a few weeks ago, I couldn't eat more than one bite of delicious steak and my baked potato. I hated wasting the steak but I couldn't eat it. That part is hard for me because I love to eat and cook, but it's hard to dredge up the motivation to do so when you have no desire to eat. But yay for second trimester hunger!

Sensitivity to Smells

This is one of the worst things for me. Our trash can smelled so bad to me that I had to throw it away. Every single time I walked by it, I would hold my breath and almost gag if some scent leaked out. Dalin says it doesn't really smell, but it smells like being in the middle of a dump heap to me, with rotting food and dirty diapers magnified by ten. The worst is catching a whiff of something that smells so bad you have to run for the sink or the toilet for fear of losing that vanilla ice cream drumstick you just ate. Thankfully I never have "lost it" but I certainly wretched a few times (such a pleasant word, right?).

Differences

One big difference is that this time around, I have not experienced any spotting. With Tenley, I had spotting (not implantation bleeding--actual spotting) 3 or 4 times during the first trimester. It was usually after I had done too much, like walked for a long, long time, or played some exercise/dance game with a friend's Wii or Xbox. It scared me every time. I thought I was going to miscarry and would cry as soon as I saw the streak of pinkish blood. I have though (or at least had) a very sensitive cervix so any strain on my body (or a few hours after a pelvic exam) seemed to cause the spotting. Obviously, things turned out great and I had an overall easy pregnancy and healthy baby so I guess it was not cause for concern.

Anyway, I know this list makes pregnancy sound horrible, but really the first trimester (and the waiting at the end of the third) is the worst of it. I would, however, rather give birth than be pregnant any day.

If I could choose just one symptom from the list to get rid of...I think I would choose the nausea. Even though it's a temporary stage and the dizziness (which has been very bothersome) tends to be longer-lasting. Or maybe the exhaustion. It would be so great to get my energy back! Man, I hate feeling so lethargic all day long. But really, these are small costs for growing a person and as I discovered with Tenley it's worth it a million times over.

What were your first trimester pregnancy symptoms?
If you could have gotten rid of one symptom, what would you choose?
Did anyone else have a loss of appetite?

Hoping you're all healthy and well, ;-)