10 tips for the first trimester
The first trimester can be filled with ups and downs, here’s my top 10 tips to navigate the first 3 months of pregnancy (and beyond!).
I remember thinking oh my god why didn’t anyone TELL me about all of this stuff!? Whenever I seemed to mention how crappy I was feeling to my friends who are already Mothers they would nod with a knowing smile and I would say ‘Hello!!? Why didn’t you warn me!?’
One of my friends’ jokingly said after that one day ‘Because if we told you how terrible it was you wouldn’t want to do it haha!’
Yes, well it seemed the joke was on me, and here’s my tips and mindset changes to help you through because I wish I had of known. I wish I had a bit of a heads up. Somewhere I could have looked to or read that all of this was normal and that everything was, in fact, going to be okay.
Be kind to yourself. Learn the art of feeling into what it is your body is telling you that you need that day and if that is to rest, it is ok to rest. You actually NEED to rest. It may feel foreign, but you are growing a human life, after all.
You are not failing if you don’t get ‘all of your things' done’ that day. Or if you don’t make it out for a walk, to the gym or if the only thing you manage to eat is white bread, a packet of lollies or plain pasta. Learn to catch your expectations on yourself and your days now so that you can get good at creating this as a tool once bub is here.
Don’t set any more than 3 goals per day. I am a classic for piling a heap of things on my to-do list and feeling super accomplished when I get all of them done. This only made me feel worse when I wasn’t up to completing even half of these things most days. If you get 3 goals actioned every day, that’s 21 tasks you have completed that week. Stop focusing what what you DIDN’T do and bring the focus to what you did.
Voice how you are feeling. Whether it’s to a friend, family member, your partner or even just in a journal. It is immensely helpful for your mental headspace (and hopefully your sleeping patterns) to let it out.
Cry when you need to. What better time to start to be okay with crying. Don’t feel silly, just let it out if that’s what you need.
If you’re nauseous, make a list of bland foods that you CAN eat. It’s so easy to focus on what you can’t eat but that isn’t going to help your headspace. Jatz crackers and Saladas we a lifesaver for me along with cold grapes and V8 fruit juice. (And of course cheese and bacon rolls). Now is not the time to beat yourself up about what you ‘should be’ or ‘shouldn’t be’ eating.
I know there’s a stigma about telling people your exciting news before 12 weeks has gone past, but consider this perspective…just as much as it can be beneficial to share exciting news and celebrate with friends or family, it can also be benifical to have friends by your side if something does in fact happen during those first 12 weeks. This is a totally individual decision, but I felt a weight had lifted when I chose to tell a few of my closest girlfriends and voice to them how terrible I was feeling. I also knew that I would love and cherish their support if I was to have a miscarriage.
Create a gratitude list or start a gratitude journal. It can be easy to get stuck in what you can’t do or how you’re feeling physically. By starting a gratitude list or journal it helps you mind to also be aware of and start looking for the good things you also have in your life and to cultivate those warm fuzzy feelings. If this feels hard, start with 2 things each day that you have been grateful for.
Ask for and accept help. Even if you’re not used to it. The people that love you want the best for you and if that means that you’re used to helping them, there’s a good chance they want to help you as well. If you need help with something, don’t be too proud to ask. This is also going to be a fantastic practice to get used to now, because once your baby is here there is going to be a lot of things that will be much easier if you ask for help (cleaning the house, cooking dinner, having a shower, getting your baby to sleep just to name a few) and if you start to build this muscle of asking for and accepting help now it’s going to feel much more comfortable in the future.
Bonus tip : do not go for a walk on bin day - and if you do, wait until the afternoon so the bins have been emptied. Trust me, it will make for a vomit inducing 4km that will make 30 minutes feel like 4 hours.