So, finally I got to this topic! First of all I should say that pregnancy in general is not as bad as I expected. I did and still do have days when I feel really shitty, but my rich imagination was painting these absolutely terrible pictures og me puking all the time in my first trimester, getting fat and clumsy in my second and being absolutely disfunctional in all possible ways in my third. Well, I am almost 37 weeks right now and I still can walk for hours, clean the house, cook, do laundry and even climb the chairs. It's funny but I faced many other difficulties that I couldn't even think of at first, probably because of the lack of experience. I can say that my second trimester was the best. I felt all energized, and hyper, and active, and willing to work and hang out. First one was kind of depressing, and the last one I am rocking right now is just physically challenging plus stressful in my case (sometimes I get very anxious and nervous about approaching labor).
First trimester was very tough for me and now, looking back to that time, I can differentiate three main reasons for that. The first and the mainest one was the fact that this pregnancy was absolutely unexpected. Psychologically it was very uneasy since in a very short period of time I had to decide what do and how to live with that. Even after we decided to keep the baby it took me a lot of efforts to realize that I will be a parent, a mother. All my life I was kind of selfish, not in a greedy way, I honestly consider myself a pretty generous person. I just was used to living my life my way and I loved it. I loved the fact that technically I don't have any responsibilities and can do whatever I want - work, travel, study, save money, spend money. Having a baby would have changed that a lot. And I wasn't sure if I was ready for all the sacrifices. I realized growing that tummy I would gain weight and mess up my body, taking care of the baby would require a great devotion and 90% of my time, plus all the baby expenses would make me change the whole money spending concept (baby's first while new shoes go last). At that point I was doubting a lot whether I would be a good mother and whether it was fair having a baby when you couldn't give it 100% of everything. Second issue I faced was this absolutely annoying morning sickness. Well, I should admit it wasn't as bad as I expected on one hand, on the other hand I didn't expect my sickness to last all day long being the strongest at night before sleep. I was sure I would be throwing up like crazy all morning cause I remembered my mom telling me how she was puking a lot while being pregnant. Well, I wasn't, not even once. Instead I was nauseous all day long and I didn't have any appetite for any food in the world. I couldn't even drink coffee - my favourite 'food' in the world! Just a thought of a lattee would make me sick. The only food that wasn't make me nauseous was fruits. I really think that you should follow the hints your body is giving you, not only during pregnancy but always. For example, I could never force myself to drink water. A glass a day was my limit. I could drink cups of coffee, tea, even juices and milk, but water - no! I was reading a lot about how good it was for you and how you should keep your body hydrated, always. But no matter how hard I was trying to cultivate the habit of drinking at least 1 litre of water a day I would always fail. Starting from my second trimester though it's never a problem anymore. At this point I drink approximately 5-8 cups of water every day without any effort. My body needs it now and I actually feel thirst for water all the time. Same way with food. The first three months of pregnancy I would devour persimmon, mangos, bananas, oranges, pineapples, peaches, plums, apples, grapes. I guess my body needed vitamins to boost my immune system since we had a pretty cold and super long winter. For that short period of time I went vegetarian too. I couldn't see or smell any meat, not even chicken or turkey. Fish and other seafood was okay but if it was already cooked. In general, I was trying to listen to my body and don't force anything. I wasn't hungry in the morning, so I would wake up and just have a banana. By the middle of the day out of a sudden I would start getting very hungry. That's when I would take advantage of it and eat a good meal, without any appetite but at least not being disgusted. In the evevning I would just have some tea with dried fruits or nuts. It was actually pretty annoying cause I couldn't cook anything in advance since I didn't know if I would be able to make myself eat that particular food. Even if I did cook though I would never eat the same meal twice. This tendency is progressing till now. The only homemade food I can eat a couple times is a soup. I also remember how I used to bring a whole bunch of fruits to work making everyone wonder if I was on a specila diet (I didn't tell them I was pregnant until 4 months). I would feel the worst at night though. It was a challenge to fall asleep while my nausea was growing stronger with every hour after midnight. But thank God, morning sickness, or in my particular case night sickness, doesn't last forever. Sadly, I never got my appetite back. 80% of my meals is a necessity, not a pleasure. But maybe this fact kept me from gaining too many of extra pounds. And back to the third reason of why my first trimester felt so shitty. The weather. I had many long, gloomy, cold days that were not favouring my cheerful mood. January and February were extremly frosty with the temperature going down as low as 5 Farenheit. March and April were cold and cloudy. In general it felt like never ending ice age with grey and monotonous days. But thank God again, eventually summer comes and the world gets brighter, sunnier and way warmer.
In my second trimester I started eating some poultry to get that protein. I always loved eggs in any variation. Surprisingly, pregnancy changed that too. Obviously, the baby is not a big egg fan. Used to love peanuts, actually any nuts, but this preference changed as well. Oh, a couple things I am absolutely disgusted with now and I used to love before getting pregnant - basil and bbq sauce. I loved basil so much that I had an actual growing plant in a pot on my kitchen windowsill so that I could use fresh leaves while making pasta, pizza or just a sandwich. Well, now I have my basil growing outside at the front porch since even the smell of it is making me nauseous. Same with the sauce. Bbq was always the only one that I could eat my wings with, since I absolutely hate buffalo sauce, ranch, bleu cheese or whatever else is considered 'classy' in case with the wings. Now I try to avoid even catching a look of bbq sauce. But what is driving my stomach absolutely nuts are bbq ribs. Gross gross gross!!!!!! Even though Mike loves them so much, I can't let him order them if we are eating out together. The smell, the look, the taste - all of it is making me feel beyond disgusted. My blood tests were all good through my whole pregnancy, but my doctor is emphasizing every time that I have a low level of proteins. What a big surprise! But if my baby doesn't want it I don't feel like forcing myself into eating pork and beef. He knows better what he wants and what he likes. But occasionally I will still have some 'real meat' if I don't feel nauseated by it's look. It just happens probably once a month. One of my pregnant friends is having the same problem with proteins. Her baby is mostly pro vegetarian too. She is drinking muscle milk to keep her proteins at a higher level. Her doctor seems supportive about it too. I gave it a try but had to throw the whole $5 bottle away. It didn't taste good to me, at least not the peach flavor. Plus I am not a fan of this idea in general, since all these artificial protein products are aimed at people who wanna boost and speed the growth of their muscles while working out. I can't really picture this concept being of any use for the baby. I am more of a fan of everything natural, organic and unprocessed.
My third trimester eating habits haven't changed a lot. At some point though, somewhere around week 35, my doctor advised me to try avoiding sweets (chocolates, candies) and pastry (bread, cakes, cookies). She is concerned about baby's weight since I am a lady of fragile body type, thus to avoid a c-section and tears during vaginal delivery I have to control my baby's weight gain. I should note that I didn't have any addiction to chocolates or candies like most women anyways. I would have some once in a while, but it was never over the limits. At this point I still have a bagel or a chocolate bar if I really want one, but I am not going nuts about it. I usually have cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. All my snacks are represented by fresh fruits in any possible variation. My main meal usually includes veggies (cooked or as a salad) and either some fish, chiken/tukey, eggs or grains. Sometimes I do have to force it but at this point I am more concerned about my baby getting enough nutrients to gain these last pounds before he faces the out-of-womb world.
Cravings. Well, in my case all I am really dying for is a glass of beer or a tasty refreshing summer cocktail (margarita, mojito, gin/tonic with limes). I've never been a drinker but once I started keeping alcohol off my radar I realized how much I actually enjoyed it - once in a while in a good company. I was never a beer fan, but pouring budlight while pregnant I loved even the smell of it. I sniffed every bottle at my bar and even cheated a couple times trying some new mixed drinks with a straw (tiny sips, no swallowing). During my pregnancy I did have a little drink twice - half a glass of wine and barely a bottle of cider. And I should admit I do feel terribly guilty about it, even though recent studies show you can actually have a light beverage once a week or so without any harm for the baby. Now I am honestly looking forward to that first glass of cold riesling I would have after delivery. But since I plan to breastfeed I think I will not avoid feeling guilty about having this little moment of pleasure. Who knows though. Maybe after I see my baby I will not care about anything in the world and wine + sushi (my planned after delivery rewards) will completely fall off my attention. There's only one way to check on this theory:)
One more thing I wanted to mention is my constant digestive issues. I do have gastritis and terribly sensitive intestine. I am lactose intolerant and I can't eat red berries (strawberry, cherries, tomatoes, raspberry) since they make me extremely gassy to the point when it hurts like hell. I had to avoid these products throughout my pregnancy too. But occasionally I would have a real yogurt or some cottage cheese and feel absolutely okay after while before being pregnant I couldn't even think of having any of this stuff. I think it's another sign of my body adjusting to the baby's needs - if he needed dairy for his growth and development my body would find a way to tolerate it.
And the last note that popped into my mind about the first trimester and it's challenges. Here's something I hated more than everything else mentioned above - constant fatigue and exhaustion. That terrible feeling when no matter how much you sleep or how little you work you are just deadly tired 24/7. Even in the first trimester it's different. You do sleep a lot, but I don't feel that tired, just more physically challenged (sounds funny). I do have energy, I just can't physically go for everything that needs to be done, at least not in my normal speed.
Well, sounds like that's it. At least for now)))
First trimester was very tough for me and now, looking back to that time, I can differentiate three main reasons for that. The first and the mainest one was the fact that this pregnancy was absolutely unexpected. Psychologically it was very uneasy since in a very short period of time I had to decide what do and how to live with that. Even after we decided to keep the baby it took me a lot of efforts to realize that I will be a parent, a mother. All my life I was kind of selfish, not in a greedy way, I honestly consider myself a pretty generous person. I just was used to living my life my way and I loved it. I loved the fact that technically I don't have any responsibilities and can do whatever I want - work, travel, study, save money, spend money. Having a baby would have changed that a lot. And I wasn't sure if I was ready for all the sacrifices. I realized growing that tummy I would gain weight and mess up my body, taking care of the baby would require a great devotion and 90% of my time, plus all the baby expenses would make me change the whole money spending concept (baby's first while new shoes go last). At that point I was doubting a lot whether I would be a good mother and whether it was fair having a baby when you couldn't give it 100% of everything. Second issue I faced was this absolutely annoying morning sickness. Well, I should admit it wasn't as bad as I expected on one hand, on the other hand I didn't expect my sickness to last all day long being the strongest at night before sleep. I was sure I would be throwing up like crazy all morning cause I remembered my mom telling me how she was puking a lot while being pregnant. Well, I wasn't, not even once. Instead I was nauseous all day long and I didn't have any appetite for any food in the world. I couldn't even drink coffee - my favourite 'food' in the world! Just a thought of a lattee would make me sick. The only food that wasn't make me nauseous was fruits. I really think that you should follow the hints your body is giving you, not only during pregnancy but always. For example, I could never force myself to drink water. A glass a day was my limit. I could drink cups of coffee, tea, even juices and milk, but water - no! I was reading a lot about how good it was for you and how you should keep your body hydrated, always. But no matter how hard I was trying to cultivate the habit of drinking at least 1 litre of water a day I would always fail. Starting from my second trimester though it's never a problem anymore. At this point I drink approximately 5-8 cups of water every day without any effort. My body needs it now and I actually feel thirst for water all the time. Same way with food. The first three months of pregnancy I would devour persimmon, mangos, bananas, oranges, pineapples, peaches, plums, apples, grapes. I guess my body needed vitamins to boost my immune system since we had a pretty cold and super long winter. For that short period of time I went vegetarian too. I couldn't see or smell any meat, not even chicken or turkey. Fish and other seafood was okay but if it was already cooked. In general, I was trying to listen to my body and don't force anything. I wasn't hungry in the morning, so I would wake up and just have a banana. By the middle of the day out of a sudden I would start getting very hungry. That's when I would take advantage of it and eat a good meal, without any appetite but at least not being disgusted. In the evevning I would just have some tea with dried fruits or nuts. It was actually pretty annoying cause I couldn't cook anything in advance since I didn't know if I would be able to make myself eat that particular food. Even if I did cook though I would never eat the same meal twice. This tendency is progressing till now. The only homemade food I can eat a couple times is a soup. I also remember how I used to bring a whole bunch of fruits to work making everyone wonder if I was on a specila diet (I didn't tell them I was pregnant until 4 months). I would feel the worst at night though. It was a challenge to fall asleep while my nausea was growing stronger with every hour after midnight. But thank God, morning sickness, or in my particular case night sickness, doesn't last forever. Sadly, I never got my appetite back. 80% of my meals is a necessity, not a pleasure. But maybe this fact kept me from gaining too many of extra pounds. And back to the third reason of why my first trimester felt so shitty. The weather. I had many long, gloomy, cold days that were not favouring my cheerful mood. January and February were extremly frosty with the temperature going down as low as 5 Farenheit. March and April were cold and cloudy. In general it felt like never ending ice age with grey and monotonous days. But thank God again, eventually summer comes and the world gets brighter, sunnier and way warmer.
In my second trimester I started eating some poultry to get that protein. I always loved eggs in any variation. Surprisingly, pregnancy changed that too. Obviously, the baby is not a big egg fan. Used to love peanuts, actually any nuts, but this preference changed as well. Oh, a couple things I am absolutely disgusted with now and I used to love before getting pregnant - basil and bbq sauce. I loved basil so much that I had an actual growing plant in a pot on my kitchen windowsill so that I could use fresh leaves while making pasta, pizza or just a sandwich. Well, now I have my basil growing outside at the front porch since even the smell of it is making me nauseous. Same with the sauce. Bbq was always the only one that I could eat my wings with, since I absolutely hate buffalo sauce, ranch, bleu cheese or whatever else is considered 'classy' in case with the wings. Now I try to avoid even catching a look of bbq sauce. But what is driving my stomach absolutely nuts are bbq ribs. Gross gross gross!!!!!! Even though Mike loves them so much, I can't let him order them if we are eating out together. The smell, the look, the taste - all of it is making me feel beyond disgusted. My blood tests were all good through my whole pregnancy, but my doctor is emphasizing every time that I have a low level of proteins. What a big surprise! But if my baby doesn't want it I don't feel like forcing myself into eating pork and beef. He knows better what he wants and what he likes. But occasionally I will still have some 'real meat' if I don't feel nauseated by it's look. It just happens probably once a month. One of my pregnant friends is having the same problem with proteins. Her baby is mostly pro vegetarian too. She is drinking muscle milk to keep her proteins at a higher level. Her doctor seems supportive about it too. I gave it a try but had to throw the whole $5 bottle away. It didn't taste good to me, at least not the peach flavor. Plus I am not a fan of this idea in general, since all these artificial protein products are aimed at people who wanna boost and speed the growth of their muscles while working out. I can't really picture this concept being of any use for the baby. I am more of a fan of everything natural, organic and unprocessed.
My third trimester eating habits haven't changed a lot. At some point though, somewhere around week 35, my doctor advised me to try avoiding sweets (chocolates, candies) and pastry (bread, cakes, cookies). She is concerned about baby's weight since I am a lady of fragile body type, thus to avoid a c-section and tears during vaginal delivery I have to control my baby's weight gain. I should note that I didn't have any addiction to chocolates or candies like most women anyways. I would have some once in a while, but it was never over the limits. At this point I still have a bagel or a chocolate bar if I really want one, but I am not going nuts about it. I usually have cereal or oatmeal for breakfast. All my snacks are represented by fresh fruits in any possible variation. My main meal usually includes veggies (cooked or as a salad) and either some fish, chiken/tukey, eggs or grains. Sometimes I do have to force it but at this point I am more concerned about my baby getting enough nutrients to gain these last pounds before he faces the out-of-womb world.
Cravings. Well, in my case all I am really dying for is a glass of beer or a tasty refreshing summer cocktail (margarita, mojito, gin/tonic with limes). I've never been a drinker but once I started keeping alcohol off my radar I realized how much I actually enjoyed it - once in a while in a good company. I was never a beer fan, but pouring budlight while pregnant I loved even the smell of it. I sniffed every bottle at my bar and even cheated a couple times trying some new mixed drinks with a straw (tiny sips, no swallowing). During my pregnancy I did have a little drink twice - half a glass of wine and barely a bottle of cider. And I should admit I do feel terribly guilty about it, even though recent studies show you can actually have a light beverage once a week or so without any harm for the baby. Now I am honestly looking forward to that first glass of cold riesling I would have after delivery. But since I plan to breastfeed I think I will not avoid feeling guilty about having this little moment of pleasure. Who knows though. Maybe after I see my baby I will not care about anything in the world and wine + sushi (my planned after delivery rewards) will completely fall off my attention. There's only one way to check on this theory:)
One more thing I wanted to mention is my constant digestive issues. I do have gastritis and terribly sensitive intestine. I am lactose intolerant and I can't eat red berries (strawberry, cherries, tomatoes, raspberry) since they make me extremely gassy to the point when it hurts like hell. I had to avoid these products throughout my pregnancy too. But occasionally I would have a real yogurt or some cottage cheese and feel absolutely okay after while before being pregnant I couldn't even think of having any of this stuff. I think it's another sign of my body adjusting to the baby's needs - if he needed dairy for his growth and development my body would find a way to tolerate it.
And the last note that popped into my mind about the first trimester and it's challenges. Here's something I hated more than everything else mentioned above - constant fatigue and exhaustion. That terrible feeling when no matter how much you sleep or how little you work you are just deadly tired 24/7. Even in the first trimester it's different. You do sleep a lot, but I don't feel that tired, just more physically challenged (sounds funny). I do have energy, I just can't physically go for everything that needs to be done, at least not in my normal speed.
Well, sounds like that's it. At least for now)))
Bon appetit.
Xoxo
Xoxo