I can’t believe it’s been 9 months since I found out I was pregnant. 9 months ago I was still rocking my pre pregnancy jeans, I didn’t waddle and no one knew about the growing baby in my belly unless I told them.

With reflecting over the past 9 months, I just wanted to share some things that I wish I would have known, tips and tricks that helped me and little tidbits of advice.

1. If you are dealing with morning sickness, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

I remember in week 4 the nausea spells started. Granted not everyone’s morning sickness will progressively get worse OR stick around until 30 weeks. I tried every natural remedy in hopes of not having to take medicine and even when those didn’t work, I STILL didn’t want to reach out to my doctor. When I finally DID reach out the first medicine I tried was Zofran. When Zofran brought my digestive system to a halt, it wasn’t until a friend reached out with her experience with Zofran that made me connect the digestive issues with being on Zofran. SO, I decided throwing up was better than being on Zofran. A few weeks later of extreme (all day every day) nausea and vomiting, I finally reached out again and was put on Diclegis. Most likely your morning sickness will leave after the first trimester, but in my case it stuck around until the 3rd trimester! I’m glad I didn’t decide to “tough it out” because that would have been  A LOT of vomiting and nausea!

What I learned: reach out for help if you need it! If it doesn’t work, keep trying!

2. Don’t expand your wardrobe in your first trimester.

Stay in your pre pregnancy clothes as long as possible. I was so excited to be pregnant and see my body change but SO naive with just how much my belly would grow and how my body would change. I remember being 10 weeks pregnant and buying 6 non maternity tank tops from target with the thoughts of being able to wear them throughout the summer. I even bought a few other loose fitting tops and maxi dresses to hide the first trimester bloating with the thoughts that I could wear them later on. After my belly started to pop out, NONE of the clothes I bought lasted long. Now… everyone’s body is different and there are some women who get to rock their pre-preg clothes for 8 months BUT I wasn’t and this was just my experience with buying clothes. My advice would be to hold out as long as possible with what you have and then when your body can no longer be contained in your current wardrobe, then invest in some maternity essentials. Don’t buy stuff that you “think” you’ll be able to wear in the future because you NEVER know how large your belly, boobs and thighs will get!

3. Drink a TON of water.

One of my number one 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester must haves has been a camel back water bottle. Drinking water pre-pregnancy is important…. but once you’re growing a little one, it’s even MORE important. Drinking water keeps you pooping (hormones slow down that lovely process), it helps with the 1st trimester breakouts and keeps your energy levels up which most likely have plummeted from the “growing a baby” process. I take my camel back EVERYWHERE. It’s either in my purse, in my hand or waiting for me in my car if I’m out and about.

4. What to expect when you’re expecting.

I would read that book religiously when I first got pregnant. Every little pain or symptom, I would either google it or look it up in the book to see how “normal” it was. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it. 🙂

5. Buying stuff for baby

Even though I was tempted, I didn’t buy anything for Bennett before we knew his gender. Before we got pregnant, Patrick and I said that once we got a positive pregnancy test, we would go out and buy a blanket or something for the baby to celebrate. Well, that didn’t happen. Yes, we could have bought something gender neutral BUT we really wanted to buy something specific for him/her. I’m glad we waited. 🙂 We actually didn’t start buying ANYTHING for Bennett until almost 19 weeks when we found out Bennett’s gender.  Just my two cents. 🙂

For me, other than trying to figure out how not to barf and regulating my digestive system from the medicines, my life didn’t change drastically during the first trimester. By the time you find out your pregnant, miss your period, start planning how to announce it, actually announce it, get over the bloating and nausea, you’re already entering into your second trimester. Every first time mom has a different experience with their pregnancy and this is just stuff I learned during mine. I’m thankful that now I know that Diclegis is my saving grace if pregnancy #2 decides to include nausea and vomiting. It’s all a learning process of what works and doesn’t work for you, your body and your life. So find out what works for you and hopefully some of my experiences will help. The next post will be about my 2nd trimester must haves!