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I am sorry. I meant to write this post weeks ago.
I meant to update you all on my pregnancy months ago. WAYYY back when I was actually in my first trimester. But once in a while, life gets in the way, and here we are.
I’m almost twenty one weeks into my pregnancy with our baby girl and I haven’t truly had a minute where I wanted to write about it. My first trimester came and went… and now my second one is more than halfway over. Holy Lawdd. To be honest, my professional life has been extremely distracting and somewhat difficult for the past few months (I may touch on this more at a later date, not sure yet) and as a mom I’ve been trying to be much more present with our kids, so these longer, more in depth posts have been hard for me.
I am going to try to do at least one lengthy and really honest post a month from here on out, but if you like knowing what is going on in our lives – the real day to day stuff – please follow us on Instagram. I story there frequently and it really is the best way to stay up on what is going on with my family and I.
Anyhow – now to the good stuff.
My first trimester with Baby Caroline – spoiler alert – yes we are naming her Caroline!!! – was easy enough. Thankfully, I didn’t have the bleeding I had with David. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you can read about my miscarriage scare > here. I did spot for a couple of days this pregnancy, but looking back, I am fairly certain it was implantation bleeding – so that was a relief. But what I did deal with this pregnancy, and am still dealing with, almost daily, are horrible migraines. I had only gotten one notable migraine in my life up to this point, but lately it seems as if every day I am dealing with a horrible pounding headache, light sensitivity, and some very odd symptoms. When I looked it up online – the results were laughable. Migraine triggers included: coffee (well — try waking up at 4am without coffee), stress, lack of sleep, eye strain…. pretty much all things I can’t eliminate from my life. So… daily migraines it is. (If that is the worst of it, I’ll take it). The only concerning thing was and is that I get atypical migraines – which can be kind of scary. I lose part of my vision, see weird blinking lights, half of my face goes numb – and sometimes my hand/arm does too – always on my right side. But I’ve learned that if I can get to tylenol quickly enough – usually these symptoms don’t persist – and with a little water I’m back to normal in no time. Truthfully that was/is the worst of it.
I also touched on this on stories yesterday, I am having a HORRIBLE aversion to tomatoes this pregnancy. And by horrible, I mean immediate. projectile. vomiting. I had horrible heartburn with the boys (none yet with Baby Caroline) but projectile vomiting… that is my new thing. :/
Other than that, my first trimester was like the others. Pretty constant nausea…. my coworkers like to tease me that they knew I was pregnant on the first day because all I ate for 6 straight weeks were rice crackers. Oops. I was really tired – nothing new or groundbreaking there. My skin was horrible — probably worse with this pregnancy (I have heard that girls do this to you). And I gained a bunch of weight — again — same as with all the other pregnancies.
Now, thankfully in my second trimester, I feel amazing. I have much more energy. My hormones seem to have leveled out. What’s more… we just had our 20 week scan (the scary one where they look at your baby’s heart, brain, and body) and she is SO beautiful and perfect. We just cannot wait to meet her.
Now to my first trimester “MUST HAVES”. This is just a list of things that I love and things that made my life easier this pregnancy and the ones before it. I hope this list helps you, and if you have any other items to add, please let me know!
First Trimester Favorites:
1.) New Chapter Prenatals: I have used these with all my pregnancies. You still need to take a DHA supplement, I take additional iron and fiber (this is just because I am somewhat anemic), and I also take additional calcium as well.
2.) A blend of peppermint & wild orange essential oils in a rollerball: My girlfriend Keeli – is the essential oil guru – and she made me this rollerball that helped my nausea immensely during my first trimester. I would just roll it all over my palms and literally huff it at work. (What she calls the “anywhere diffuser”) 🙂 Hit her up >>> here if you want to know anything about essential oils and how they can help you.
3.) Water Bottle: You’re supposed to drink 100 oz of water a day while pregnant – and the straw is the only thing that gets me there.
4.) Aventura Bienne Leggings: I have searched high and low, and these are my favorite leggings of all time. And for under $30 – the price cannot be beat.
5.) HATCH Maternity tops: These tops are definitely on the pricer side, but they are the best I have found. They are baggy, long and they hold up well in the wash. I wear mine all the time, even when I am not pregnant.
6.) Tunic top for under $30: This top is SO amazing, pregnant or not. I wear a size Medium or Large when pregnant, and when I am not pregnant I take a size small. It comes in 6 colors – and really – you just can’t beat the price.
7.) Cozy Long Cardigans: These three (1, 2, 3) are my favorites right now.
8.) Comfy PJS: Literally I rip my clothes off the second I get home from work, and all I want to do is throw on the comfiest jammies I can find.
9.) Cozy Shirt Dress: This shirt dress, from one of my favorite maternity brands, is SO flattering, and perfect for for layering under long cardigans. I love that you can wear it during the winter with booties or OTK boots, and during the spring/summer with flats and sandals. They also have a sleeveless version – here.
10.) Hydrating Eye Masks: I use these every morning and they are totally pregnancy friendly.
11.) All Natural Body Oil: I put this on – every day – nipples to knees (as I like to call it) and it is super hydrating and supposed to help prevent stretch marks. I currently have no noticeable stretch marks from either pregnancy (I had some right after David that faded away) and I am trying to keep it that way. I have heard that hydrating your skin helps -and this is the best thing I’ve found so far. Plus… it’s only $15!
I hope this list helps you – or if you have a momma to be in your life – please feel free to share it! Lots of love and light to all of you! XooX
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Aw! Baby Caroline. I love the name!!
xo, Nicole @ http://simply-nicole.com