First Trimester Recap Pregnancy Q&A

Whoo hoo, my much anticipated first trimester recap is finally underway! Last week I gave y’all the option to ask my any pregnancy related questions via Instagram. By the way but thank you to everyone for your endless love from our announcement and support on this new journey of our lives! This baby is so loved already. Anyway, I saved all of your questions along with ones I get asked all of the time and answered them all in today’s post. I’m thinking that I will do another Q&A on Instagram with Sheldon so he can chime in on some answers too so stay tuned for that.

How/When I found out

I will never forget the day. It was on July 28th around 3:45pm. Now mind you, I didn’t have any true symptoms besides the fact that my emotions were ALL over the place the day before I took a test. I would get these overwhelming feelings of anger and rage hahaha. Like if the wind blew I was pissed. It was honestly insane. A friend came over to our house that day I was trying to joke with him about how crazy my emotions were that day. I honestly didn’t even think anything of it. I was to get my period that week so I figured it was some true PMS. Oh and I drank a Blue Moon with my friend! Needless to say that was my last one.

The next day…Y’all this is going to sound so crazy but in true Davida fashion I decided to run and grab a pregnancy test because I wanted to drink this new bottle of Chardonnay that I’ve had. In the back of my mind I kept thinking I didn’t want to willingly drink alcohol if I had any suspicion or inkling of being pregnant. Mind you, I hadn’t missed my period yet, still wasn’t having true symptoms and I was contemplating buying a test the week before because I just had a weird feeling.

I assumed I was being antsy but went to the dollar store, yes I said it…Family Dollar, grabbed a First Response box and made my way home. Long story short, I took the test and it says to wait 3 minutes. I sat it down and then went back to the bathroom because I forgot something behind. And to my surprise 2 lines showed up almost instantly! Haha I said, “No way!?” I convinced myself that it would turn to negative if I waited a little longer (it didn’t). And then I tried to convince myself that it was a false positive because it was bought from the dollar store lol.

Interestingly enough, I called my OBGYN because I was trying to schedule my annual visit and they said they couldn’t get me an appointment until September/October. Naïve me said “ok”. Before going ahead to schedule the appointment I added in, “Oh by the way I just had a positive pregnancy test, what should I do?” Haha I lie to you not I think the nurse thought I was nuts! She goes, “Umm we will have to see you way sooner than that then.” I proceeded to tell her that I would take one more test the next day just to be sure before making an appointment with the OB. Y’all I was still in shock.

I decided not to tell Sheldon right away because I was still in disbelief. Yea so that lasted about an hour or so and then I had to tell him. I couldn’t hold it in and I needed someone to talk to about this haha. Oh and by the way…within the next few days my period never came and I’m super regular so that was what finally convinced me that this was happening lol.

How did I tell Sheldon

Get ready for the most unromantic/anti-climactic story. After feeling guilty for knowing all of one hour, I looked at Sheldon in the living room and said, “I have something to show you, but don’t freak out” his immediate reaction was, “Oh no, what did you do?” I’m like I didn’t do anything but I just have to show you. I went up to my office to grab the test. I came back down the steps with the test behind my back and said “don’t freak out.” Now he goes, “What did you break.” I show him the test and he had the biggest smile on his face. My reaction, I said, “ See look at you all excited…I need to take 40 more tests.” He goes “Oh you have another one?” I let him know that the box came with two and I would take another test before calling the doctor.

The next morning I woke up at about 7:45a and took the second test. Sure enough, 2 lines appeared in about 10 seconds. I grabbed the test from the day before along with the new one, showed him and said, “Umm so I think this is happening and I’m going to call the doctor.”

First Signs/Early Symptoms

Nothing really gave anything away especially since I took the test before I missed my period. The only thing was how my emotions were all over the place the day before I took a test. I was about 4 weeks pregnant when I actually found out. Weeks 4 and 5 were when my nipples got super sensitive and then week 5 my boobs felt like bricks lol. If I didn’t think or feel pregnant yet, the boobs were a dead giveaway.

I will say that I felt these weird pinching sensations on my left side…not cramps, just pinching. Come to find out that was the baby implanting. Another thing that was followed up with that pinching was some super light spotting. This honestly freaked me out a bit because I feel like of all of the pregnancy blogs I’ve read no one talks about this. The pinching feeling lasted during weeks 5 and 6 with light spotting. I would always go back to my pregnancy book to get a little assurance that everything was fine.

At week 7 I got a little freaked out again because there was some spotting again. At this point I had told my best friend so I had her to help reassure me as well. I looked up the cause and did some math. Apparently this was the week that if I weren’t pregnant I would have gotten my period. Your body is just trying to do what it’s used to by actually giving you a period….but you don’t really have one. The spotting only lasted for a day.

Oh and how could I forget my friend fatigue! If y’all know me I am always full of energy. Once week 6 came, the fatigue hit me like a freight train. Never had I ever felt so tired in my life! I thank God for being able to be home while having gone through this stage of pregnancy. It was actually very hard for me to adjust to this and listen to my body. I felt like a failure to my audience and that I was not showing up because I physically was not able to. At the end of the day you have to realize that it’s not just about you. Those plans can wait, that deadline, push it back. That TikTok video or blog post you wanted to write can also wait.

Did you have any symptoms like nausea, etc?

I am so grateful to not have experienced this but I did not get any morning sickness. To the point that I asked my doctor if I was okay because that’s all people tell you about in the first trimester. I only had one day that I actually thought I was going to throw up. Other than that it was just some slight nausea but nothing I couldn’t handle or that needed to be treated. Again, I feel like since so many people talk about getting morning sickness, if you don’t experience it you sort of feel like something is wrong.

Another symptom y’all asked about was if I’ve had any cravings. I am so sad to say that I have not. Now with being hungry all of the time, sometimes I wish I had more cravings to guide me on what I want to eat for the day.

What symptoms did you have?

This is similar to the above question but more to do with my personal experience rather than things I heard I would have.

Extreme fatigue. I mean to the point that I would almost cry at the thought of being awake haha. I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow and just stayed in our bedroom. Y’all I would literally sleep for like 12 hours and still be tired. Of course being an overachiever I felt like I was letting you all down because I was creating content like normal. I didn’t even really have any creative juices flowing. All of my energy was going to creating this baby lol.

Frequent Urination. Listen….I’m so glad the first trimester is over because the bathroom was my best friend lol. I’m so glad I didn’t have to deal with sickness too otherwise I would have never left the bathroom. Anyway I distinctly remember not being able to go 30 minutes without going pee at least twice. It was nuts. On top of all that, you’re suppose to drink lots of water so it’s a double edged sword. One thing is for sure, do not come between a pregnant woman and her need to pee!

Pregnancy Brain. Y’all I’ve heard of it before but now I’m experiencing it and it is REAL! Haha it’s the strangest thing but my head just feels foggy all of the time. I’ve been so forgetful with things (misplaced my wallet, forgot where I put the food I was just eating). It’s kind of fascinating and annoying at the same time. I’ve been trying to find out the reasoning for it but there really isn’t any true knowledge besides a few speculations and a couple of studies done. I will say, it has made these last 14 weeks fly by!

Breast growth. This may be TMI but if you’re here reading this post, you asked for it lol. I’ve gone up almost 2 cup sizes. I noticed the most growth within like 2 weeks after finding out I was pregnant. According to the docs and apps they are only gonna get bigger (yay!) haha.

Nosebleeds. Not very fun but at week 13 I had my first nosebleed in years! I used to get them a lot when I was younger. Apparently nosebleeds and gum bleeds are common in pregnancy. “Pregnancy can make the blood vessels in your nose expand, and your increased blood supply puts more pressure on those delicate vessels, causing them to rupture more easily.” – Baby Center

Headaches. I was never one that was prone to headaches until pregnancy. I will say they got a little more frequent as I entered the second trimester. It does help to know what could be causing your headache to help treat it. I don’t take any OTC (over the counter) medication while pregnant so knowing the cause helps. Usually it’s from my blood sugar dropping too much, dehydration or moving too fast. If the headaches get bad enough I just sleep it off lol.

Gas. Yea I don’t think I need to elaborate on this but there’s so many weird things that come with pregnancy haha.

Did you have any difficulty?

To make a long story short, no. Of course my heart goes out to any and everyone struggling. I feel like this is a harder subject to talk about or elaborate on because I don’t want to “offend” anyone. I want to be mindful of everyone in my audience because I respect each one of you so I hope my short answer is enough.

Is Stevie (our cat) being more cuddly towards you?

Haha, how did I know that there would be a Stevie question in here? So interestingly enough, Stevie knew I was pregnant before I did! If y’all watch my stories then you already know that she is literally my shadow. Well looking back I can remember that she wouldn’t leave my side and kept laying and sleeping on my stomach. It was bizarre but I thought she was just wanting extra attention. Apparently cats (and dogs) can pick up on the changes in your scent (hormones), heart rate, temperature, movements, etc. She probably also heard an extra heartbeat too! So yes, she has been my guard kitty.

How was your first trimester?

Don’t hate me but overall it was great, very uneventful! Since I didn’t have morning sickness my only real issues were the extreme exhaustion. I’ll take sleeping over throwing up any day though. Heartburn was minimal (though it comes back every now and then), my skin was clear, I really don’t even think I had any crazy mood swings…let’s ask Sheldon lol. My takeaway is that everyone’s experience is different so please don’t let anyone scare you about something that happened with them.

Tips to drinking more water?

Now this is any interesting one. You have to drink so much more water when pregnant so I understand the struggle. Honestly in the earlier weeks I was so thirsty! Like drinking 4-5 bottles of water per day aka 10+ glasses. One thing that did kind of help was buying this water bottle from Amazon. It’s really big but you only need to drink 2 bottles to reach your daily goal. It’s all a mind thing so I just picture my baby begging me to drink more water. Haha what a guilt trip, but it works. I also have Liquid IV packets which are safe to drink while pregnant. But 1 packet equals 3 bottles of water and they taste delicious. Use my code VIDAFASHIONISTA for 25% off and free shipping.

How many weeks are you? When are you due?

I am 15 weeks and I am due in April.

Are you going to find out/reveal the sex or wait until birth?

We are absolutely going to find out the sex and we can’t wait! There will be some sort of reveal for our family and I will eventually share with all of you too. Gotta do it for the gram right lol. But seriously it’s been so fun playing the guessing game and having people guess what they think we are having. I thought I would want to know right away but we are waiting a bit to find out.

Do you think you are having a boy or girl? What do you want first?

I think/feel like we are having a boy. In my mind because I have 2 nephews and I feel like I’m such a guys girl and this baby has been so gracious to me that’s why I think so lol. Listening to the old wives tales is hard but symptom wise seems like a boy. As for what I want first, I hate to sound cliche but of course I just want a healthy baby. We’d love a boy first. I have just always loved the idea of a big brother as I have one. You know, to protect the younger siblings.

How many kids do you want?

Well I used to say I wanted 4. My family is huge and I love big families and people all around. Sheldon wants 2. I might be able to convince him for 3 but I don’t like the idea of having a middle child haha. Who knows, but at least 2.

How’s momma feeling?

OMG thank you so much @heather.ras for asking this! Pregnancy is such a selfless thing and I don’t even notice that people really don’t ask this question often enough lol. But I feel great! Honestly after getting over the shock of being pregnant…mentally, physically and emotionally I really do feel great.

How did you find out/what made you take a test? Were you surprised?

I sort of gave a long answer to this above but here’s the short version. I took a test because I had a nagging feeling and I wanted to drink a bottle of wine guilt free haha. So yes, I was a bit surprised. Surprised because I had no symptoms, hadn’t missed my period, just had a hunch.

Are you using any particular pregnancy fitness app or program?

So I just started working out again since I am in my second trimester. I did a couple of times during the first trimester before the exhaustion hit. But between the early spotting and not having my first doctors appointment yet I decided to stop until I was cleared. Now that I have again, long answer short is “no”. I’m not one to use fitness apps and programs, just what feels good for my body. Before getting pregnant I always did pilates on YouTube. My favorites in particular are the “Pop Sugar Fitness” pilates workouts. Since now I have to modify so much, I searched “prenatal pilates” on YouTube and did the first workout that popped up. I think it’s called “Body by Amy” and I really love the workouts.

That’s it for today. I’ve already created a “baby” category for the blog. That way any baby/pregnancy related posts will be archived there. I’m sure there are a ton more questions that you may have and I know there are lots of things that I did not cover. As I stated earlier, I am thinking about doing a live Q&A on Instagram with Sheldon that I’ll save to a highlight. If you have anymore questions for me just let me know.

Thanks for reading!