When you’re pregnant, it feels like you are pregnant for 5 years! Time goes by sooo slowly. There is always the next thing to look forward to. Whether it be: finding out the gender, the day your morning sickness goes away, the first kick, when your bump gets bigger, the next ultrasound scan, finishing the nursery and then finally the birth. I could write in a lot of detail about every step of my pregnancy but let me give you an overview of my journey and my top 10 pregnancy tips.
By far the hardest part of this whole journey (even harder than the birth!) was the first trimester. I had morning sickness till about week 13 where there was a solid 8 weeks I was vomiting every day. I had a routine: as soon as I woke up I had to eat something as I felt very sick, only to throw it up half an hour later. It wasn’t just the mornings, I would tend to vomit in the afternoons and evenings as well. The vomiting wasn’t the worst part though, it was the constant nauseous feeling I had all day. I found it especially difficult at a time when you don’t tend to share with many people that you are pregnant so you have to hide the fact that you feel dreadful.
- Tip 1: – If you have bad morning sickness go see the doctor and get some medication: I think I endured a month of this before I saw a Doctor, no idea why I waited so long, but wish I saw someone sooner. My Doctor prescribed me with the sleeping pill Restavit which didn’t stop me from throwing up, but helped a lot with the nauseous feeling I would get all day. Consult with your doctor and they will be able to prescribe something that will suit you. Some of my other mum friends were prescribed with other anti-nausea medication, so see what your options are. Another thing that help me was to have salty chips/crackers with me at all times. Whenever I felt really nauseous throughout the day I would eat a few salty chips and the feeling would subside a little. I lived off these quinoa crackers and carried them with me everywhere I went.
Also the fatigue was a killer! It was actually debilitating how tired I was. I would come home from work at 5.30pm and immediately jump into bed for a couple of hours before dinner. It was such a struggle just to keep my eyes open all day. I remember driving to and from work was especially hard as I was always trying to A) not throw up in the car while I’m driving and B) not fall asleep at the wheel! In the weekend I would park myself on the couch and intermittently nap all day and still manage to sleep a full 10 hours at night.
- Tip 2: You’re growing a human! Let yourself have lazy days/lazy times and sick/personal days (that’s what they are there for!): I didn’t take any sick days, I just powered through it – I wish I just used a couple of sick days for some of those really hard days.
- Tip 3: Download an app to track your pregnancy: Especially before the bump starts forming and before you feel your baby kicking. It made me feel a little more connected to her. It’s nice to see how your baby is developing and the fact that it is the size of a lime haha. I loved the Pregnancy Plus app.
The best trimester as a lot of people experience. The extreme fatigue and morning sickness I was feeling in the first trimester disappeared and I felt like superwoman! I couldn’t believe how great I felt, I was bouncing out of bed in the morning. I felt like I had more energy than I have ever had before. However looking back I think I was just tired and sick for 8 weeks and I forgot how normal felt. The second trimester is where the bump starts forming which is very exciting! I loved that I finally looked pregnant and found myself wearing tight clothes to show off my bump! The second trimester is when you finally start feeling kicks which is just the most amazing feeling. So many nice firsts come in the second trimester 🙂
- Tip 4: Don’t spend too much money on buying a lot of maternity clothes and other pregnancy related products, wait to see what you need: It’s really easy to get excited and start buying a lot of pregnancy related products such as maternity clothes, pregnancy pillows, belly support bands etc. However my advice is to wait to see if you need these items before you purchase them. It is amazing how many clothes you will have already in your wardrobe that is pregnancy friendly – loose dresses, stretchy skirts, flowy tops, wrap dresses – even borrow some of your partners clothes! I lived in my husbands sweat pants at home most days! I also borrowed some maternity clothes from other mum friends which was great too. In the end I only bought a couple of maternity dresses, pants and stockings. Also if you are going to buy any tops see if you can get something that is breastfeeding friendly so you can wear after birth as well. The same goes with bras, my boobs didn’t get larger during pregnancy, I just bought bra extenders and wore my regular bras during pregnancy. I also didn’t need a pregnancy pillow, I got away with putting another pillow between my legs when I slept which did the trick.
- Tip 5: Sign up for prenatal classes. Your hospital will likely offer them, there are also some free ones online here. I also signed up to a paid birthing education program – She Birth which helped us understand the labour process and provided us with tools and exercises to practise for birth. I like information and I like feeling prepared, so for me this was a great investment.
- Tip 6: Don’t forget to exercise your pelvic floor. I used an app called KPFL to remind me everyday (and I still do) to do my pelvic floor exercises. I also bought and used an Epino to help with my pelvic floor exercises and started stretching at week 36. If you have not heard about the Epino device, it is something I highly recommend it! Click here to read my review and learn more.
Oh the bump got large, very large! The first half of the third trimester was not too bad but in the second half I was feeling really uncomfortable. If I spent too much time on my feet, I would get really bad sciatic pain. I would need my husband to massage me to try and ease the pain so I could sleep that night and not wake up with terrible pain. One day I was walking down the stairs and my left leg gave way from the sciatica pain and I slid down the stairs. Which being in my third trimester pregnant – was a very scary experience! But of course she was fine, thankfully my large bottom helped me out!
The last couple of weeks I had quite bad pelvic girdle pain. It hurt to simply turn over in bed, or to get out of the car. It is amazing all the little things you take for granted when you’re not pregnant, things like getting out of the car, sleeping on your front, eating whatever you want to eat, having a full nights sleep without waking up to go to the bathroom every couple of hours.
- Tip 7: See a physiotherapist that specialises in pregnancy. I saw a couple of physios while I was pregnant but they either didn’t specialise in pregnancy or they just weren’t that great. I wish I saw a great womens physio while I was pregnant. A couple of my other mum friends did and I think it really sets you up for birth. They can provide really great advice when it comes to pregnancy related issues such as pelvic girdle pain (one of my physios I saw didn’t even know what that was). They can also examine you performing your pelvic floor exercises and make sure you’re doing them right, even show you how to push during labour! I really wish I did this. I’m seeing a great one now post birth (I highly recommend seeing a physio post birth as well) here are her details if you are an inner westy in Sydney.
- Tip 8: Get a fit ball! I found in my third trimester sitting all day for work became very sore. However I felt a fit ball was a lot more comfortable to sit on, also better for your posture when working on a computer, not to mention fun! I also used the fit ball to stretch and exercise during my pregnancy, it is also great to have on hand when you are in labour.
- Tip 9: Download a baby naming app: One of the fun jobs during pregnancy is to decide on baby names. My husband and I used this baby naming app which gives you a lot of baby name suggestions which you can look at separately, then swipe when you see which ones you like (yes, like Tinder). Then the app will let you know which names you both like and match. In the end my husband and I went to the hospital with our two favourite names, then decided on Olivia after she arrived.
I was pregnant from December 2019 – August 2020 so yes right when the Covid-19 pandemic was at its worst in Australia. Being pregnant during the pandemic had its blessings such as there was no FOMO of missing out on oversea adventures or not being able to drink at my friends weddings as everything was cancelled. Everyone was hibernating at home like me, perfect when you are in your nesting phase!
Unfortunately it meant I didn’t get a baby shower. We just so happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time where a positive Covid-19 person worked in a restaurant we dined at with friends. This led us to be in mandated quarantine for 14 days where the only reason we were allowed to leave the house was if I was having the baby. I missed my 36 week scan and also had to cancel my baby shower. But thats OK my husband and I had a special celebration with just the two of us.
- Tip 10: Take lots of pictures: Look I know how you feel, you feel fat and you think you look like a whale. You’re probably avoiding cameras at all costs. But trust me, you will want to capture your pregnancy. I love to look back at pictures and see how my body changed. Pregnancy is beautiful, yes you may not feel that great during it. But it is a huge milestone of your life that I remember fondly. I put a reminder in my calendar every two weeks to take a photo so I wouldn’t forget.
Other than the first trimester I loved my pregnancy, I loved the feeling of her kicking inside me. Loved showing off my large growing bump. Loved buying all the baby items and decorating the nursery. I think I was lucky with my pregnancy, yes I had morning sickness and a few pains near the end. However I have other mum friends who had morning sickness all the way through their pregnancy, or had to deal with other health issues like gestational diabetes that can put you off pregnancy (and having another!). I look back fondly of my pregnancy and think.. Yea I could do that again. What about you? Let me know in the comments: How was your pregnancy? What are your tips for surviving pregnancy?
Ready for the next chapter? If you have not read it yet, here is a link to my birth story