Pregnancy - The First 12 Weeks

The First Twelve Weeks or so...

Some people have a great first trimester with very little change to their bodies. But most people that I know, including myself, had a bad or even terrible first 1/3. One of my friends threw up several times a day and one day she even threw up 14 times. She couldn't even keep water down. Another friend's sister had to have an IV regularly. But these are total extremes.

Before I knew I was pregnant, I felt different. I had these weird lower back pains but I thought it was a new pair of shoes that I bought. And I was TIRED. Once I found out, I was really excited, so I went to Whole Foods and bought chicken, salmon and their yummy Italian meatballs. I bought tons of veggies and decided that I was going to eat right and help this baby's brain! Well, I cooked the chicken on Sunday night and woke up Monday morning SICK, SICK, SICK. And I stayed that way for about 10 more weeks.

I felt dizzy, hungry and nauseous from morning to night and in the middle of the night too. I literally had to eat every hour. Just don't fight it. Eat as often as you need to, because when you don't eat, it makes it WORSE. Keep saltines or graham crackers by your bed and eat them as soon as you wake up BEFORE you even get out of bed. It helps, a little.

I only threw up once, after eating cooked onions (big mistake!) but I dry heaved several times a day. And when you start dry heaving, you think it might be puke, so I still ran to the bathroom or trash can every time. I also had lots and lots of SEVERE heartburn. Tums very rarely helped. But, you can try them. I could not eat ANY poultry, cooked veggies, tomato sauce, gum, greasy food, etc. Sweets made me sick and that is coming from a person with the BIGGEST sweet tooth on earth! So, I really searched for things that sounded appetizing. Here are some helpful food ideas.

THINGS YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO EAT:
Mac and cheese
Grilled cheese
Pasta with butter
Steak (OK, this might not be universal, but I could have eaten it every day for the entire pregnancy)
Graham crackers
Saltines
Capri Sun Fruit Punch
Granola bars
Trail Mix
Bagels with cream cheese
Mashed potatoes
Bananas
Lemonade/Lemon hard candy - a lot of books suggest lemon flavored things and there is some scientific reason behind it. It did seem to help me.
Ensure Healthy Mom shakes, Ensure Healthy Mom bars
Preggie Pops - these are great because they aren't too sweet.

I hope this helps and hang in there. For almost everyone, it does get better early on in the second trimester. Email me if you have any great T1 remedies!