The First Trimester: Acne, FOMO, and Still No Baby Bump!

Hi everyone!

It’s taken me up until my third trimester to realize that I haven’t really been keeping track of my pregnancy symptoms as I’ve experienced them. Since I am hoping to have more children in the future, I would like to have somewhat of a write-up so I can compare notes in my next pregnancy and I figured if I was writing it down, I may as well share it in case it helps someone else!

As of right now, I am 33 weeks pregnant, so I am going to start off with a short synopsis of my first and second trimesters and then delve into a little more detail with my third trimester since it’s fresher in my memory. I will try to share as much as I can about how I have been feeling physically and emotionally during each time period, and I will probably do separate posts just so they aren’t too long. I have a few photos of my bump that I will try to insert as well!

First Trimester (Weeks 1-13)

Physical: Compared to many women, I think I had a relatively easy first trimester! However, I wasn’t spared from morning sickness completely. In general, I would wake up every morning feeling quite nauseous between about weeks 6-10. If I drank anything right when I woke up (even just water) there was a good chance I would throw up so I had to wait until I ate breakfast before I drank. I think over the course of the first trimester I threw up a total of about 5 times, which I consider pretty good! I also didn’t suffer from too many food aversions so I did my best to eat small meals throughout the day and include as many fruits and vegetables as I could.

A symptom I wasn’t expecting…acne. I have struggled with my skin for years but had finally gotten it somewhat under control through the use of birth control and a medication called spironolactone (both helped regulate my hormones). However, once we started trying to conceive I stopped taking those medications and my skin immediately blew up. I had severe acne on my chin, jawline, and my back. Unfortunately, instead of improving once I became pregnant, it just got worse. I definitely didn’t experience that pregnancy glow! Luckily, it began to clear up near the middle of my second trimester!

Another symptom I wasn’t prepared for was the pure exhaustion. I don’t think I’ve ever slept so much in my life! I was teaching at the time so my hours were approximately 8am-5pm. Here’s an example of my typical daily schedule:

7:00am – Wake up and get ready for work

8:00am-5:00pm – Teach my lovely students and try to hide being pregnant

5:00-8:00pm – Get home, eat a snack, and immediately crash on the couch

8:00pm-9:30pm – Cook dinner, get ready for bed, and sleep from 9:30PM until morning.

In case you don’t want to do the math, that’s 12 HOURS of sleep per day! EVERY DAY! I couldn’t believe it! But in the first trimester, you gotta do what you gotta do! We will see how I handle it in my next pregnancy when I have another little one to attend to…

My last noticeable symptom is a common one, sore breasts.  I could hardly shower because it was too painful! Luckily the pain subsided after the first trimester was over.

Emotional: Throughout the first trimester, I think I was simply coming to terms with the fact that I was pregnant. Although our pregnancy was planned, I am one of the first people in my friend group to become pregnant. I struggled for a while with the realization that my life was about to completely change. I worried that my days of going out with my friends, music festivals, and all the indulgent things 20-somethings partake in were coming to an end. And honestly, they were! Not being able to drink alcohol with my friends and husband was annoying in the beginning, especially because I didn’t really feel like I looked pregnant yet. I felt like I all of a sudden had to be super careful about how I lived my life. This meant the obvious things such as avoiding alcohol and watching what I ate, but also feeling nervous on crowded trains or when working out since I was always thinking about protecting my barely existent bump.

Little did I know that was only the beginning!

I don’t have a lot of bump shots from the first trimester, but here I am at 12 weeks in Okinawa. I could still button my pants but things were getting a little tight and I think I just looked like I gained some weight!