First Trimester
By: Mamas Milestones
Tags: Birth, Planning, Blog, Pregnancy, Baby

Well, what can I say about my first trimester. Its a whirlwind of different emotions. Shocked, happy, nervous yet excited. Even though it is scary and overwhelming in the start, the excitement trumps it all.

Before I got pregnant, I was using a few different methods of conceiving like being on a restricted diet, personally I was on the Keto diet and doing a lot of walking everyday. Keto worked like a dream, I had a lot of energy, I was detoxing all the crap from my body and I lost a lot of excess weight. I was told by my doctor that the Keto diet was one of the main factors of why I was able to conceive quicker. I was also using ovulation sticks to monitor my prime ovulation days, these were the strips I used Ovulation Test Strips – Amazon AFF These were quite cheap and cheerful at £16, they have 50 ovulation strips and 20 pregnancy tests, so I opted for these rather than going to a high street store and spending £40+. These worked just as well. I was also having Pregnacare conception tablets before pregnancy, these tablets provide the essential nutrients before pregnancy including folic acid which plays an important role in getting the body ready.

The day of my period was due on 25th May this year so me and my husband decided to wait until that morning for me to wait and try a test. The night before, I kept saying I know having a baby wont happen over night but if I see a negative result tomorrow, I’ll most probably cry, you’ve been warned lol. My husband just said when it’s meant for us, it’ll happen so don’t be too disheartened whatever result we get, we can try again next month. So I kind of mentally prepared myself before taking the test and kept telling myself “if its not positive this time, we can try again..”

It was the night before the 25th and before I went to bed I saw some light pink/red spotting.. I just assumed it might just be my period coming a little early, I told myself that night that it probably didn’t work this month, put a pad on and went to sleep thinking it didn’t work. I woke up in the morning and the spotting had gone so I thought, I would do a pregnancy test as planned. The first pee of the morning will give the strongest result so I got a plastic cup in one hand and a pregnancy test strips in the other. I dipped the test in for 10–20 seconds and laid it facing down on the shelf. I didn’t want to look before the result was fully ready.

I kept telling myself the same thing, if it doesn’t have 2 lines then don’t beat yourself up. “When its meant for us, it will happen..” My husbands words resonated in my mind for the longest 3 minutes of my life while I waited for the test results..

I scrunched up my face, squinting my eyes as I lifted the test and turned it over.. 3, 2, 1. I opened my eyes.. Huh? was I just imagining things? I can see the faintest line next to the darker line?…

I called my husband into the bathroom and I said I don’t know if I’m seeing things but can you see 2 lines here? He said there’s 2 lines but one of them you can barely see. Does that mean its negative? I showed him the test packet and said even if there’s a faint line it meant PREGNANT! :O What!? I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. We agreed because the line was still very faint we would wait a few more days and see if it got darker before we got our hopes up..

A few days later, I took another test, along with a digital test and it came out positive again so I contacted my doctor, they said I couldn’t come in for a blood test due to Covid restrictions but they could give me a consultation over the phone. They told me home testing kits are 99% accurate anyway so if I haven’t started my period and my tests are coming out positive, its most likely that I am pregnant. She asked me when my last period was, congratulated me and said technically I am now 1 month pregnant as your pregnancy technically starts from the first day of your last period. I asked her about the bleeding from the night before my test results, she said it may have been something called implantation bleeding, this is when the egg embeds itself into your uterus wall and it causes it a little bit of bleeding.

Luckily in the first few months of my pregnancy, I didn’t experience any morning sickness. The tiredness, body pains and constant headaches really took me over though. I think I slept my way through most of my first trimester, I didn’t have any energy for anything. My iron levels being low didn’t help at all. I lost contact with a lot of people I would regularly speak to, I just didn’t have time or patience for anyone. It was a tough time, my anxiety would creep up every so often and I’d get really bad dreams to the point where I would wake up in the middle of night unable to breathe, crying uncontrollably while my husband would try and calm me down until I fell back asleep. In the end, the panic attacks started to fade and I was back to my normal self.

At the end of the first trimester, I had my first scan and I was really gutted that my husband couldn’t come with me and experience the first time we see our baby and hear his/her heartbeat. After the scan, he picked me up and I showed him the scan photo, it was a moment I wont forget, we were so happy and kept thanking God for the gift.

Slowly we knew we had to start telling people about our baby being on the way. I’m quite a private person so I only wanted our immediate family members to know at first and then to tell everyone slowly. We told our parents and our siblings who were really happy for us.

Being a first timer, I didn’t know much about pregnancy, just what I saw on TV. A few apps I found helpful during my pregnancy were Pregnancy+, Emma’s Diary and Bounty. I mainly used Pregnancy+ for all my information and learning about mum stuff like the size your baby is and updates about changes you may expect to experience soon. Emma’s Diary and Bounty had these cute little free baby packs that you could collect from your local Asda and Tesco in the UK. I’m 34 weeks now and I’ve been watching a YouTube series called Channel Mum and they give weekly updates of what you must be feeling like and what other mums are experiencing at the same time as you.

Vitamins during pregnancy are very important and my doctors were happy that I had been taking them before pregnancy and during. I chose the brand Pregnacare, they have tablets from when you are trying to conceive, during pregnancy to after pregnancy and ones designed especially for breastfeeding mums. I’ve got about 6 weeks left of my pregnancy now and I will be moving on to after birth tablets by Pregnacare.

Always speak to your midwife or doctor about any questions you may have and contact your doctor as soon as you think you may be pregnant to receive the best support from them. Pregnancy is a long tiring journey but you get a gift at the end that many people only wish for. We are blessed in so many ways and when its the best time for us, it will happen.

If you have any questions, you can leave me a comment or message me privately on my Instagram account – @mamas.milestones