First Trimester Reflections

I've read several different theories on when exactly the first trimester ends and the second begins. Some say 12 weeks, others say the start of week 13 and still others say week 14. I've decided to use simple mathematics and take matters into my own hands. If a full term pregnancy is 40 weeks, and a trimester is 1/3 of the pregnancy that would equal 13.33 weeks per trimester. Since today is exactly 13 weeks and 3 days, I'm considering myself officially in the second trimester!

Below is a list of some common early pregnancy symptoms and how I fared in those areas through my first trimester.

• Morning Sickness/Nausea/Vomiting - I had none. Perhaps I am just extremely lucky, or perhaps my eating habits helped prevent the nausea. I ate healthy and I ate often (no big meals, lots of snacks). I will say when I did eat big meals I felt some indigestion and just generally sorry I had done it, but (knock on wood) I have not vomited once - or even felt the urge to.
• A heightened sense of smell - Haven't really noticed that.
• Fatigue - Yes, Yes and Yes! More like complete and total exhaustion - physically, mentally, emotionally and everything in between. I could come home from work and fall asleep immediately after dinner, only to be woken up at 10:30 to move to bed and sleep until morning. Some days I'm not sure how I kept my eyes open at my desk. Around week 12 I started to get my energy back and while I still call it a night by about 9:30 pm, I'm not nearly as tired as I was earlier in the pregnancy.
• Frequent Urination - Yes. I'm guessing it was about week 8 that I started having to get up in the middle of the night (usually 2:30 am) to pee. I also go much more regularly throughout the day. To date, this is still true.
• Food Aversions/Cravings - Not so much. I've never had a gag reflex at the sight or smell of a particular food. And I've yet to have an emergency need for any specific food item. Although, I will say there are definitely some things I've been eating on an unusually frequent basis: BLT's, Yellow Sub, fried egg sandwiches, diet cherry limeade from Sonic, and baby dill pickle spears. In fact, I could go for a dill pickle right now!
• Headaches - I had a few (maybe 2 or 3 total) but nothing major. Most likely just stress headaches - there's a lot to think about these days!
• Swollen Breasts - Yes. This was the first symptom I had. I only had soreness for about 2 weeks, but they are definitely larger.
• Changes in Libido - Yes. I'll keep the blog G rated, but this was definitely true. And not in a good way (sorry Drew).
• Vivid Dreams - Yes. I can't really remember details now, but I would wake up almost every morning of my first trimester and have a memory of some totally crazy dream. And I'm usually not a person who remembers my dreams. They were not necessarily scary, or even baby related, I just know I would wake up often thinking "wow, what a weird dream".
• Emotional Ups and Downs - Big Yes. Especially early on I had so much anxiety. Pure terror might be a better description. I was so afraid something would go wrong. I also found myself waffling back and forth from being super excited and confident to worried and totally unsure (often within just minutes of each other). I was also more emotional - a commercial on TV could easily bring me to tears. Since reaching my 12th week (which was a self-proclaimed "safe zone") I have relaxed a LOT. I'm probably still a bit more emotional than normal, but I definitely don't have the anxiety and constant worry that I had during the first 12 weeks.

Overall, I can't complain! In fact, looking back, my first trimester was a breeze. Of course, that is my perspective, not my husband's who has had to live with my mood swings and insecurities for the past 12+ weeks. I wonder if I could convince him to do a post about the first trimester from his perspective? It would be quite interesting, but I'm afraid unlikely.

Anyway...here's to another 2 trimesters that are just as easy as the first!