Pregnancy is assumed to be a magical time period in any woman's life. And perhaps this is sometimes true, but often the first trimester leaves us feeling so far from the norm that it seems anything but "magical". Here's some pesty symptoms we don't often hear about
1. Fatigue
The word fatigue should be replaced with ultimate exhaustion. The energy change can be like running into a brick wall going 100 miles per hour. The worst part is that it seems to be crippling - very little gets done around the house, and even work that once felt energizing can seem like a daunting task. Suddenly chores pile up because you simply cannot keep on your feet long enough to maintain normal household duties. What was once effortless now takes 10x the effort than it did before. And if you weren't into napping before then you definitely will be when the "fatigue" hits. Also I have learned this time around that adding a crawling infant into the mix is definitely enough to leave me screaming for my bed at the end of the night
2. Appetite Changes
I foolishly assumed that the pregnancy appetite increase would hit me right away. Boy, that was far from the truth. Most days I didn't want to eat a thing, and even the thought of food was enough to induce instant nausea. Dinner became a meal I no longer enjoyed, as the only foods I now wanted were cold fruits and plain bread. During the first trimester you often wonder if you're eating enough to maintain one life, nevermind two.
3. Constipation
Considering the little you're ingesting, it's hard to believe that constipation can be a pesty symptom of the first trimester. But oh, it is. Suddenly your regular BMs turn into self-induced sessions of spending hours on the toilet after sucking down prune or plum juice. The bloating that results from this phenomenon is unreal. During my first pregnancy I swore I was already starting to show at only week 6. But it turned out that it was only bloating that caused the bump underneath my shirt.
4. Crazy Dreams
How I should've known I was pregnant this time around: I dreamt a giant carrot was chasing me, begging me to eat healthier. And the dreams only got weirder from then on out. They're the kinds of dreams that leave you feeling restless when you wake up. The kinds of dreams that seem so real that you swear you entered an alternate universe and not sleep. If you weren't one to remember your dreams before you'll suddenly remember everything you saw once your eyes closed.
5. Anxiety
Lastly, and the most annoying of all, is the never ending anxiety that creeps up the second we see our positive tests. The continuous questioning of what is good or bad during pregnancy. The worrying game of "am I eating enough?" Or "will I be a good mother?" From skincare to diets to exercise, there is a lot of changes a woman has to make when she finds out she is pregnant. For first time mothers this can seem like a guessing game that often leaves us doubting our abilities to do the right thing. Endless lists of questions written down for our doctors can seem so daunting. Not to mention the day to day worry about whether or not your baby is doing well or if something is going wrong with your pregnancy. Waiting for ultrasounds or heartbeat checks gives us so much to create an endless amount of scenarios of negative possibilities. The bad news is the anxiety doesn't seem to end after the first trimester, at least not in first time pregnancy. I think I spent the majority of my pregnancy wondering how things would be once she entered our world.
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