First Trimester With Mini Marino

I cant believe I said goodbye to the first trimester already a few weeks back, it went by fast looking at it now but it was so slow when I was going day by day.

As soon as we found out I was pregnant, the excitement hit but it was paired with an overwhelming amount of nerves and anxiousness. Considering our miscarriage before, getting pregnant was just the first hurdle that we got over which I am so thankful for. Testing positive five days early made for a very anxious week, as the days dragged on, eyes peeled on tests each day with hopes that they would grow darker and darker and they did! Each test was a relief (except the one I thought was actually lighter, this is not exactly the most accurate way to test that your HCG hormones are rising, some tests are just simply more sensitive than others and some have different dye saturation etc.). For the most part, I was able to tell that they were big fat positives and as soon as that week ended I made the call to make my appointment. You can read about our first appointment {HERE}.

After we knew everything was good and God redeemed our first appointment, the relief only lasted a few days. Though I would watch the video of the heartbeat over and over again, it was still so hard to know if anything was going to happen or not. Some days I was paralyzed with fear and some days I wouldn't be able to do anything but pray and beg God to just give me the strength to get me through whatever this pregnancy may look like. Finding a balance between worry and trusting God in this has been the hardest thing for me and it still is most days. With every twitch, twinge, stretch or cramp I freaked out thinking something was wrong. When I initially went in for my first appointment I was farther along than I anticipated (7.5 weeks) which I was so relived about. I then went in again at 10.5 weeks and 12.5 weeks. Each time slowly but surely getting slightly easier. I still would walk into the office and get instant anxiety just anticipating the worst news. Over and over again God redeemed each appointment. We are so happy to be where we are today continuing to watch this baby grow and taking it day by day just celebrating each milestone and each day that I am pregnant and growing a human life. A lot of people have asked how the first trimester was and beside the fear and anxiousness, a lot of normal pregnancy symptoms have hit hard and some not so much, so I am going to answer some questions and share about our first trimester with our Mini Marino!

How have you been feeling during the first trimester, have you been sick?

My OB wanted to put me on progesterone until 12 weeks as an extra blanket of caution just in case at my first appointment (hello even more hormones) and wanted to see my every two weeks to ease my anxiety and fear which did make me feel a lot better! I wasn't too sick before I went on the progesterone, just some nausea here and there and a little dizziness and then as soon as I got on the progesterone it was a whole other story. Sickness hit instantly, and it was not just morning sickness it was ALL day sickness. I’m still not sure if its the progesterone that made me as sick as I was or if it was just that on top of the sickness finally hitting me, but regardless it was rough! I don't know why they call it morning sickness you guys, most women I know have it at random times of the day or all day long. Mine was so bad I couldn't get out of bed for weeks. Poor sweet Dan was so gracious and took care of me in so many ways and helped clean and would get me whatever I needed to help ease the nausea. It hit the hardest at 9 weeks and thats when the vomiting greeted me. I remember a friend telling me that she read somewhere that week nine is the worst for most women and that was definitely the case for me. I couldn't keep anything down, anything I ate made me sick, even the act of chewing made me sick. Walking, driving, riding in the car, even certain dims or brightness of light made me SO sick! It was the worst of the worst of it. I wasn't able to do too much for a while, so all you amazingly strong women who have to go to work while dealing with sickness, props! This is when working from home definitely became a life savor! My OB put me on diclegis at 10.5 weeks and that was a huge help also! It helped me keep food down here and there, even though it didn't fully take the sickness away. It didn't start letting up until 15ish weeks with some spurts of nausea still here and there, so hopefully its all up hill from here! Other than the sickness, no one really tells you about the stretching dull pains and aches you get in your first pregnancy. It is definitely an interesting feeling but also a relieving one knowing my body is doing what it should. I cramped a lot for the first few weeks too and even though it is totally normal, it was still kind of scary. Overall it makes for normal first trimester pregnancy symptoms thus far.

Any cravings or food aversions?

Because I have been so sick, there hasn't been any particular cravings yet. I had one random night that I really wanted pancakes and compromised for muffins and ended up throwing it up! Eek. There were a couple of times where I wanted guacamole really badly too and it would taste sooooo good but then I would get full really fast and get sick. When the sickness began to let up just a tiny bit when I started taking the diclegis, I wanted cold crisp foods like cold grapes or apples and crisp veggies. I guess thats a good thing? lol. Other than that there haven't been many cravings but we will see! When it comes to aversions, almost anything that had a strong smell made me nauseous even mens cologne. It also didn't help when dan wanted to roast brussel sprouts or steam broccoli, each time I would end up throwing up so he had to stay away from those for a while!

Any foods that helped when you were sick?

Hello carbs! I basically lived off of bland foods. I would wake up and eat dry cheerios and then some saltine crackers or peanut butter filled pretzels. Some times I would try and eat an apple and on some days it helped and others it didn’t. My biggest life savor were Brazi Bites! They are gluten free but still substantial enough to keep my stomach full to the point where I didn't get sick. Rice, tortillas, mac and cheese and some bland soups also helped a little sometimes. Ginger beer helped a TON, the carbonation was amazing and it tastes like real ginger. Crystalized ginger sometimes helped too and the wintergreen lifesavers helped also.

When and how did you tell people?

We tried to decide how and when to tell people, if we should wait or not, but at the same time there is this part of you that just wants to scream it from the roof top that we have a baby that is growing! We told my parents and siblings immediately in person and a couple of our closest friends over text. We were so scared and nervous we mainly needed prayer and were so unsure of how this pregnancy was going to go. We told Dan's immediate family also that same week and just a couple more close friends once we knew for sure that I wasn't having a chemical pregnancy. We slowly started telling more and more friends and extended family after our first two appointments, which was fun because I was able to text them photos of the ultrasounds and a video of the baby with hiccups jumping on the screen at 12.5 weeks. We didn't fully announce our pregnancy to everyone until I was 14 weeks. Mainly because it took a little while to put together our announcement, which you can see {HERE}.

When is your due date?

We are due November 3, 2018 which is so exciting that our little one will be here right before Thanksgiving and Christmas! The holidays are my favorite time of year and now getting to celebrate this little babe being in our lives is going to make it my favorite ten fold!

Will you find out the gender, and what do you think you're having, a boy or girl?

Because I am such a planner, finding out the gender was not even a question. We also don't have a significant reason to not find out the gender, which I know some people do and it's why they choose to wait. If we didn't know the gender, I think it would give me anxiety (haha) because I would not know how to plan accordingly. This whole time, since the beginning I thought the baby would be a boy, and Dan this whole time thought a baby girl. We were both sure of the genders we guessed... 50/50 shot right? Even though we already know the gender now, I can't wait to share our reactions and what it was like finding out!

We are so thankful for this little bean and we can not wait to continue sharing our journey as we watch our little one grow now and when Mini Marino is here! Thank you all for all your continued love and support, we feel so overwhelmed with how everyone has come along side of us in this process and in our grief and now in our joy. Thank you for celebrating this life with us, this baby is a true blessing and gift!

ALL PHOTOS BY: THE AMAZING EMILY MAGERS / @emily.magers