Hi everyone! It has been a minute - ok, over a year - since I last posted on here. So much has happened since then, and I am excited to fill you all in!
Much of late 2017 and early 2018 was spent planning my wedding. I have SO much to say about that, and will work on writing about my experience and offering any advice I can. There were many aspects that I loved about wedding planning and many that I did not. Because I will elaborate in another wedding-specific post, I’ll leave it at this: June 2, 2018 was the most perfect day because I got to marry my best friend, surrounded by all of the people we hold closest to our hearts.
Us on the a private boat day trip to Capri! More photos to come in a honeymoon dedicated blog post :)
A couple of days after our wedding, my husband Brandon and I went on the most incredible honeymoon to the Amalfi Coast and Venice - which is where our little babe was conceived. (Another FAQ by family members/friends: were you pregnant at your wedding? Nope! Not that there would be anything wrong with that). We spent 10 days relaxing, taking in the beautiful scenery, and eating pizza and pasta for mostly every meal. It was truly magical and I would recommend this trip to anyone looking for a romantic, perfect getaway. We stayed at Casa Angelina in Praiano and I do not have enough positive things to say about the experience. I’ll have to write a whole post on our honeymoon to give you guys all of the recommendations!
I have two other life updates before I get into the details of my first trimester - first, I graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in September! I am officially a certified holistic health coach and am working with clients on a variety of health and wellness (including nutrition, skincare, hormone balancing, fertility, etc.) goals. I’m currently at capacity with my clients and am planning to take maternity leave once our baby is born, but I would LOVE to hear from you if you are interested in working together and would like to be added to my waitlist for spring 2019 :) My second life update is that I have left my day job and am now focusing full-time on health coaching, blogging, growing this little human and preparing to be a mama. I am so grateful that I have a supportive husband who encouraged me to take the time I needed to rest, and to be able to work on all the things that bring me the most joy. I will try to be better about getting more blog posts up now that I have a little more extra time on my hands.
Our very first doctor visit when we heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time!
Now onto the start of the pregnancy journey… I’ll address some questions I have gotten, explain how I prepared my body for pregnancy, dive into the details of my first trimester (many of which I would like to forget), and share all of my pregnancy must-have items during this time. My goal in providing this information is to help anyone out there who may be trying to become a mama or is a mama-to-be. I will always be truthful and transparent - when I was struggling in the thick of it, it really helped me to read about the experiences that other women had. With that said, every woman and every pregnancy is so different, so please take everything I say and recommend with a grain of salt. Something that may have helped me may totally repulse you - it is all about listening to your own body and what it needs. Also, be sure to consult your medical team before using or taking anything - I am not a doctor and cannot give true medical advice tailored to your needs, only suggestions that I found have helped me through the process. Lastly, I want to make note that I am by no means complaining about anything related to pregnancy - we are so grateful we were able to get pregnant quickly, and do not take a second of this pregnancy for granted. Every second of sickness will be worth it and I am beyond thankful to experience it all. Please know that if you are struggling to get pregnant, I feel for you and send you all of the love and baby dust in the world.
Buckle up for the ride - it’s about to get real!
Pre-Pregnancy
Brandon and I always knew we wanted to be parents relatively soon after we got married - we both love kids and family is so important to us. I have had Hashimoto’s thyroid since I was 14, which is an autoimmune disease in which your body attacks its own thyroid cells. Because of this, I was always a little concerned about my fertility and wondered if it would be easy for me to get pregnant when I wanted to. I was on the birth control pill a couple of different times in my life, but stopped taking it for good about a year before our wedding. I wanted to give my body a chance to regulate and have a natural cycle to prepare for pregnancy. It did take me a few months to get my period back initially, but with the help of my naturopathic doctor and dietary/lifestyle changes, I began to have a regular, reliable cycle.
I read somewhere during this time that the best way to prepare your body for pregnancy is to act like you are already pregnant. This means treating your body gently with kindness and love (something we should all do regardless!), abstaining from drinking, smoking and overmedicating, managing stress levels, getting enough sleep, and eating nourishing, hormone-supporting foods. I am lucky in the sense that I am not a drinker or smoker to begin with, and try to live a healthy, holistic lifestyle. I eat the nourishing foods, don’t overexercise (long walks are my favorite), and prioritize regular self-care in any form. I believe that getting into this mindset for several months before we were married really helped us get pregnant when we wanted to.
Getting Pregnant
Because I was so in tune with my body and my cycle (I used the MyFLO app to track), I knew my exact days of ovulation, which is key when you are trying to get pregnant. I thought that maybe the last-minute stress of my wedding day coming up would influence my cycle, but my period came right on time a week before the big day. This meant that I wouldn’t have my period on my wedding (a relief) and that I would be ovulating right in the middle of our honeymoon (perfect time to conceive).
We are beyond grateful that we got pregnant our first month of trying. When we first told our family and friends, many of them asked if our baby was “an accident” or “unplanned” - definitely not the case! We wanted nothing more than to get pregnant soon after we were married, and the timing of the universe all worked out perfectly.
The Beginning Weeks: Pre-Pregnancy Test
My first “symptom” of early pregnancy happened when we were still in Italy. We were walking around Venice on the last day of our honeymoon, and all of the sudden this feeling of intense nausea came over me but quickly passed. At this point I was hoping that I was pregnant, so I chalked it up to that and was excited by the feeling. Once we landed back in NYC, I had a few other symptoms that could have been mistaken for PMS. I was ravenous, had extremely sore breasts (spoiler alert: the soreness is REAL and lasted way into my second trimester) and was a little crampy as if I was getting my period. For a couple of days I was bummed and convinced that it was just PMS because it felt so similar! One difference between this feeling and PMS was my food aversions that started really early on - I could not stomach the thought of eating a salad and my body was craving all of the white carbs, dairy and red meat (all things I only occasionally eat). I had a good feeling that I was pregnant, but wanted to wait another week to take a pregnancy test to avoid a false negative.
When we did take the test, neither of us were really surprised - it was kind of confirming what we had thought. Even though it didn’t shock us, we were SO SO excited (!!!) and felt so lucky, yet also a little nervous of the unknown and what was to come.
The Middle Weeks: The Dark Days of Morning Sickness
I had on-and-off nausea spells for the first couple of weeks after we had taken the test, but nothing that wasn’t manageable with some ginger chews and sips of cold water. We decided not to tell any friends and family at this point - our baby felt like our sacred little secret and we liked it that way. We ended up only telling my mom a couple of weeks later, because as someone who FaceTimes and chats with their mom everyday, it was impossible to not tell her what was going on once my morning sickness really hit. I also needed her support and love while I was going through all of these new feelings and emotions. For the couple of weeks before the sickness came in full-force, I took it easy and focused on listening to my body (AKA ate a ton since I was constantly starving).
Now comes the part of the story that I feel like I partly blocked out of my memory, yet is still very vivid and feels like it happened yesterday. Brandon and I were headed to the Hamptons with his mom for July 4th/her birthday weekend. Everything was fine at first - I was dealing with the occasional nausea bouts but handling them discreetly. I remember we were in some traffic as we were getting close and my mother-in-law started talking about picking up a green juice (we both share a love for all things healthy!). I was sitting in the backseat of the car wanting to throw up at the thought of any type of green, especially in juice form. I somehow managed to change the topic of conversation, but as soon as we arrived I had to lay in bed, sip cold water and try to get my mind off of the intense nausea I was experiencing. It wasn’t going away quickly or with the help of the ginger candies how it used to. In fact, the candies were making it worse! I was at a loss for what to do, and it only continued to worsen. The next day, I was unable to get out of bed - it felt like I had an intense stomach flu. The only thing I could possibly think of being able to eat was a toasted bagel with regular cream cheese, so Brandon ran out to the nearest coffee shop and picked one up for me. I felt slightly better after eating the bagel, so we made our way to where his mom was staying to spend the day with her. I remember that I literally couldn’t get off of the couch for most of the day. Brandon and I later went to the grocery store to pick up some food for the rest of the long weekend, and the only thing I wanted was pretzel chips to dip into cream cheese (two things I never liked). I was a complete misery and could not be around any of the food that was being cooked, and could barely partake in normal conversation. I felt awful, physically and emotionally. We ended up having to leave the very next morning instead of staying the rest of the weekend because I felt so sick. The car ride from the Hamptons back to the city was torture - another side effect of pregnancy for me has been extreme car sickness, which is something I never had a problem with.
My husband has so many pictures on his phone that look exactly like this one from my first trimester. Pretty much sums it all up!
I wish I could say that weekend was the worst of it, but that feeling continued on until I was about 14 weeks pregnant. I spent my days and nights in bed feeling the most nauseous I have ever felt. If I was able to eat, it was usually a frozen waffle or toasted bagel (neither of which were “healthy” brands - I’m talking about those mini cinnamon toast Eggo waffles I grew up on) that Brandon would make and bring to me. Food was my worst enemy yet also the only thing I knew would make me feel better. On the days that I was able to go to work - probably a total of 8 days in the month - I would fall asleep at my desk and count the seconds until I could go home. Once I got home after a work day, I would cry and was convinced I was coming down with the actual flu, every single time. The level of exhaustion, nausea and body aches was something I had never experienced. It was at this point that we decided it would be best for me to leave my day job and take care of my body and our growing baby. Brandon was in the middle of transitioning jobs, so it was a blessing that he was home to take care of me 24/7. I could not have gotten through this period without him! Weeks of staying in bed, not taking care of myself (basic hygiene went out the window), not talking to anyone or seeing the light of day was very difficult for me. I had to constantly remind myself that I am healthy, I am happy, I am pregnant. This mantra helped pull me through and reminded me of the reason I was feeling this way. There would be a light at the end of the tunnel.
Although this time period was tough for me, there were some extremely high points that I will always cherish. The first of which was when we saw our doctor at 7 weeks pregnant and heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time - it was SO special. It was crazy to see that little blob flashing on the screen at such an early stage! Another amazing moment was when we found out that our baby was low-risk for genetic disorders and found out the sex at the same time. We opted to get the Natera testing done at 10 weeks which tests for both. We were very happy with all of the results - most importantly that our baby was low-risk, but I also loved finding out the sex. We are having a baby girl!
Some other things worth mentioning: I experienced some light spotting at around 9 weeks and we went in to get it checked out. The doctor said it was completely normal and the baby was totally healthy and fine. At one of my doctor visits, my OBGYN gave me Diclegis which was a life-saver. I usually avoid prescription medication with the exception of my thyroid medicine, but taking this was the only way I was able to get through the night and eat anything when I woke up. I continued to take it daily at night until I was about 13 weeks pregnant.
The End Weeks: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
At around 12 weeks, I was still feeling pretty nauseous despite everyone saying I’d feel better after the first trimester. I learned to be patient and understand that everything happens gradually. I could have one really amazing day where I felt great, and the next day I’d be back in bed sick to my stomach. There wasn’t going to be a miraculous overnight “recovery” that I had anticipated, but I was SO happy to slowly begin to feel better in small increments. Any moment I had where I felt good and like myself was such a win.
We decided to tell our family and friends once we hit the 12 week mark. First we told Brandon’s mom and step-dad, then my extended family and cousins, then his grandma, then each of his aunts and cousins individually on FaceTime. It was so exciting to break the news - we told all of our family members on the same day! Over the following couple of days, we FaceTimed our friends and shared the news before we decided to post on our personal Instagram accounts. I highly recommend sharing this news in person or on FaceTime - the reactions you get are priceless and so special. Telling people and having them share in our excitement definitely helped raise my spirits. Even though I still wasn’t feeling great physically, it was really nice to have people check in and be so happy for and with you.
Lessons Learned
The biggest lesson I learned during the first trimester was to listen to my body. My diet pre-pregnancy was heavily plant-based and mostly gluten-free (because of my thyroid issues). This all went out the window from the second I conceived, and I was totally ok with it! If some days all I could eat were bagels with cream cheese, it was better than not eating at all. I learned to be ok with going weeks without a green, and to honor my cravings of foods I previously never liked or avoided. There was a week or two where ALL I wanted was fried eggs - so I literally ate 5 eggs a day. After the end of the phase, I became extremely averse to eggs and haven’t had them since. My body may have known my baby needed a certain nutrient from eggs, and once it had enough it told me to stop. Our bodies are way smarter than we give them credit for, and it has been so eye-opening to me to be able to follow these cues so intuitively. I learned to eat what I can, when I can, with no judgement on whatever that food might be.
Another lesson I learned was to surrender and trust. I know this sounds woo-woo, but it’s the only way you can get through pregnancy if you have a naturally worrisome, Type A personality. You have to know that your baby is growing exactly as he/she should, and that you are doing your absolute best even if it doesn’t always feel like you are. Of course if something feels off, you should definitely call your doctor/midwife/doula, but on a day-to-day normal basis it helps to just trust.
Lastly, I learned to rest! Even on the days when I wasn’t extremely exhausted, I didn’t push myself to do anything that didn’t feel relaxing and restful. I had to keep reminding myself that my body is working so hard to create a human life right now, which is no easy feat. Rest is good for mama and for baby, and it should not be taken lightly during pregnancy if you are fortunate enough to be able to prioritize it. Many people find working out is amazing for them during their pregnancies, but I have been feeling my best taking it easy and walking when I can.
First Trimester Must-Haves
Here is my list of must-have items that helped me get through the first trimester. As I stated earlier, be sure to check with your medical team before using anything as everyone is different! Everything I used was given the green light by my doctor, and I intuitively knew it was right for me and my baby.
doTERRA Peppermint Oil: I do not know how I would have gotten through my severe bouts of nausea without this. I would put a drop on my tongue, rub it on my upper belly, forehead and neck when I was really struggling. It prevented me from throwing up countless times. Another weird first trimester symptom I had was a constant sour, bad taste in my mouth no matter what I did, but peppermint oil helped at least temporarily. I never left the house without my bottle in hand because it also helped with my smell aversions. Any time I was out in public and a smell was bothering me, I’d take a few whiffs!
Pink Stork Magnesium Spray: I was skeptical of this spray at first, but it really did seem to help my nausea when I used it. I wouldn’t say this product is the end-all-cure-all, but I believe it helped. And when you’re feeling that bad, anything that slightly helps is worth it. I would spray some on my ankles, legs and feet at night before going to bed.
Queasy Beads: Some days I felt like these really helped me, but other days my nausea was too strong and I didn’t feel like these made a big difference. These bracelets work by putting pressure on a point in your wrists to relieve nausea. I love that they are custom-made to your wrist size, and they are definitely cuter than the SeaBands on the market. I bought the “French Vanilla” color in the neutrals collection.
Ginger People Ginger Chews: These helped settle my nausea early on in the pregnancy. The spicy flavor of the ginger helped distract me from feeling so sick, and the ginger settled my stomach. It is worth giving these a try to see if they help you too!
Vitamin B6/Unisom: I took this combination before I was able to secure a prescription for the Diclegis pills, which are essentially the same thing. Be sure to ask your doctor about this because there is a specific type of Unisom to take and the dosage of both pills matter. Beware that this combo will likely make you tired, so you may want to only take it at night!
Diclegis: As I mentioned above, I took these prescription anti-nausea pills every night until I was about 13 weeks pregnant. They were a life-saver and helped me get through the night and be able to stomach food in the morning. My doctor actually ended up giving me lots of samples, so I never had to pay for filling a prescription (I have heard it is expensive). It is for sure worth asking your doctor for samples or coupons if you are experiencing bad morning sickness.
Zoe Organics Belly Oil + Belly Balm: I started using this belly oil and balm combo early on in the pregnancy to try to prevent any stretch marks. I love that it is all-natural with no weird ingredients. I don’t apply it religiously everyday - probably every other day after I shower. I put the oil on first and layer the butter over it. Just be careful as it can stain your clothes if you put them on immediately after.
Cocokind Chia Facial Oil: Like I mentioned earlier in the post, my basic hygiene went out the window during my first trimester. I was lucky if I washed my face a few times a week. With that said, this oil was the only skincare product I used for the first few months. My skin was a little wacky with the hormonal changes and I needed to rely on a gentle yet effective oil. I never had a reaction from this chia oil, and I felt good knowing my skin was getting all of the nutrients in a 3-second occasional skincare “routine.”
Gap Breathe Underwear: I swear the second that I found out I was pregnant, anything even remotely tight on my belly felt so constricting. I had one pair of these amazingly soft Gap undies in my drawer that I bought within the past year after Emily from Cupcakes & Cashmere recommended them. When I tried them on after none of my other underwear felt comfortable, these were like a saving grace and I knew I had to get 20 more pairs. No underwear has ever compared to the comfort level of these - I would highly recommend them even if you are not pregnant! If you are pregnant, I recommend sizing up one size for maximum comfort.
Gap Maternity Leggings: I also ordered these maternity leggings very early on in pregnancy because of the uncomfortable restricting feeling my other pants were giving me. They are super soft and comfortable - I bought a few pairs during a sale and rotated them daily. I liked that these went over the belly, so I didn’t have to worry about the elastic digging in where my little bump was growing. They are not the thickest, highest-quality leggings - but they have been perfectly comfortable and a go-to for my temporary maternity use.
I hope this was helpful to you to read about my experience and tips. I’d love to hear all about your experiences! Feel free to leave a comment below.
xx