How I Survived the First Trimester

Whoa, was that first trimester full of nausea, chest pain, exhaustion, and bloating or what? Truly, I was just so thankful to be pregnant, that I welcomed every single symptom that came along with it. I found my daily nausea and weekly vomiting to be such a welcomed reminder that I was lucky enough to be carrying a beautiful baby in my belly. During the first trimester, I still couldn’t even believe that we were pregnant. It was a mix of excitement, disbelief, and pure happiness. There were times I would wake up at 5AM and instead of rolling over and falling back asleep, I stayed wide awake, too excited close my eyes again.

Because of the IVF process, I let close friends know about our pregnancy so much earlier than I would have otherwise, which ended up being such a blessing as I had a lot of close friends to talk to about the process — and what to do (and eat!) when you feel so crummy!

Everyone goes into pregnancy thinking they will be so healthy, to nourish the baby, but when you essentially feel hungover 24/7, it’s very hard to eat a green salad. Thankfully, there were days that I craved greens, but a lot of days consisted of eating like a kindergartner, and I allowed my body to do so. A good friend of mine who happens to be a dietician reminded me that I ate really mindfully before baby, so I had some good nutrients built up to cover me through the first trimester!

Below I’m sharing some of the tips I learned along the way, and ultimately, my food diary to survive the 1st Trimester! I know that everyone’s pregnancy journey is different, including the foods you crave and the aversions you have, so this is just what worked for me!

Breakfast

Every morning I woke up and had 2 eggs, 2 pieces of Bread Alone toast (with lots of butter!), a big bowl of strawberries, and chocolate almond milk. I found that if I didn’t have breakfast, I would immediately throw up, so I had to quickly get food in my stomach. That’s the name of the game in the first trimester — a lot of little (or big) meals throughout the day.

Lunch

Carbs, Carbs, and more Carbs… I often had mac and cheese, grilled cheese, PBJ, buttered noodles or on the rare occasion I was craving something healthy, I would pick up a salad from Sweet Green, Acai bowl from Juice Generation or grab a quick and easy Daily Harvest Smoothie. And sometimes,I did a mix of both!

Snacks

Jonathan almost killed me in the snack department. Every time I’d go shopping at Whole Foods I would get a craving for something random — Annie’s Teddy Grahams, Gold Fish, Peanut Butter Crackers, etc. And then by the time I’d get home, I couldn’t even stomach them. So, I had an entire drawer full of snacks that I couldn’t eat. :)

Dinner

I ate a lot of matzo ball soup, tomato soup, pasta, buttered noodles, and toast. I had major aversions to onions and avocados, so I steered clear of anything that included those. Let’s just say my love of mexican food completely disappeared (I hope to see you again someday!)

I found that for meals, the simpler the better. Thankfully I still enjoyed chicken, but any other meat and fish was off the table. I really just tried to listen to my body and give it what it was asking for. I didn’t try to limit it, or force down foods that didn’t feel good.

Dessert

Sadly, my sweet tooth completely disappeared during my first trimester (and even now, into my second). I used to have sweet cravings all day — literally. I would have chocolate after every meal. I’ve mostly been craving salty foods, but I’ve been having a lot of fruit too! I do hope my sweet tooth comes back because I’m missing my daily dose of chocolate! :)

Nausea Help

Thankfully, I had a lot of friends who had tons of recommendations on how to help the non-stop nausea of the 1st trimester. I had one friend send me a package of Lemon Drops from amazon, yum! My acupuncturist recommended Pregnancy Pops, and a lot of other recommendations included ginger chews, fruit chews, peppermint tea, sea bands, acupressure points, and ultimately B12 and Unisom if necessary. I found that small meals throughout the day to avoid getting too full or too hungry, and bland foods were what made me feel the best, but I did try all of the above — especially on particular bad days.

The Takeaway

The biggest thing I learned during the first trimester was to just listen to my body. I’ve always functioned this way, but I had to really lean in because my body was feeling things I had never felt before! If I felt sick, I let myself lay on the couch for as long as my body needed. My nausea started to subside around week 14. I still can’t eat most things, but I’m feeling a lot better and finally have energy to do some small and light workouts. I can only imagine what the 2nd and 3rd trimester will bring, and I’m ready for whatever comes my way.