My First Trimester
September 5, 2008 7:50 PM | My Pregnancy | Comments (1)
 | As some of you know by now, my husband and I are expecting a child. I have decided to share this journey. I debated whether or not to do this, since it will contain personal information, but in the end I decided go ahead with it. I remembered that in the beginning of my pregnancy, it helped me to read personal stories of other women going through similar things. Maybe the information I share can make things easier for someone else. Since this is the first posting, you can catch up on the first trimester below, and I’ll keep you updated as the weeks progress. |
Weeks 1 and 2: Pregnancy is usually calculated from the first day of your last menstrual period (LMP). This method of measurement is called the American System, and it is generally done this way because many women don’t know when they ovulate or conceive. On the other hand, more and more women are conceiving with the help of artificial reproductive therapy (ART), which does allow them to know their exact date of ovulation and/or conception. In these cases, some doctors may use a different method (the Ovulation System) to calculate their due dates, although many doctors will still use the American System. If you conceived using ART, make sure you find out which system your doctor is using. I do not know when I conceived, so I will be using the American System. This means that during week 1, I am not even pregnant yet.
Week 3: I felt tired and slightly nauseous this week, otherwise, nothing notable. My workouts continued as normal. Here’s what that looked like:
Week 4: My workouts continued as usual this week, although I was feeling very tired and crampy this week, and very curious. I couldn’t wait, so instead of waiting until I missed my period, I got a pregnancy test (the kind that says pregnant or not pregnant) 2 days before my period was due. Results – PREGNANT! We were both very excited, and wanted to tell the family, but decided to wait. (We became pregnant once before, but I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks, just days after I told my family. This was exactly 1 week after I discovered I was pregnant).
Weeks 5 and 6: Workouts till continued these weeks, although much lighter due to extreme fatigue. I usually take no more than 2 rest days a week. I took 3 rest days each of these weeks. I was also feeling irritable, lightheaded, I continued to have cramps off and on (which is normal when not accompanied by bleeding), and when I got hungry, I felt sick. At 5 ½ weeks, I went to the OB and confirmed my pregnancy. In the same visit, they gave me an ultrasound because I felt a weird tenderness in my abdomen. The ultrasound showed that it was a cyst. They say cysts are common after ovulation, and they usually go away sometime during the pregnancy. They also discovered 3 fibroids (I’ll elaborate more on this in an article). I did get a chance to see my “sac” – the amniotic sac where the baby is. It was too early to see the actual baby at that time.
Weeks 7 and 8: These weeks were uneventful, I just felt like crap. I am certainly not one of those women who have pleasant, nausea-free first trimesters. Horrible nausea all day long, extreme fatigue (I needed to take naps during the day), headaches on and off, a weird, gross taste in my mouth, and most food seemed gross. At this point, I don’t really want to eat, but I know I need to because I still get that sick feeling when I’m hungry. I also noticed that if I did something strenuous (please note that the level at which I consider something strenuous has dropped significantly), or stayed up too late, I felt like I had a hangover the next day. It’s weird, feeling sick, but not actually being sick. As for workouts, I took 3 rest days each week, and when I did work out, I managed a couple of weight training days, but mostly walking.
Weeks 9 and 10: Same crappy symptoms + easily annoyed. I wish I would throw up because that would ease the nausea, at least temporarily. By the way, Saltine crackers, ginger ale, etc. does not work. The nausea used to go away for 15 minutes after I ate; now it’s there constantly. I haven’t experienced that super sense of smell that some do, where you can smell something from a mile away, but the smell of my deodorant was making me sick, so I had to change to unscented. As for workouts, week 9 contained 4 rest days. For week 10, I changed my program to the following and managed to stick with it all week:
Week 3: I felt tired and slightly nauseous this week, otherwise, nothing notable. My workouts continued as normal. Here’s what that looked like:
- Day 1 - chest/back
- Day 2 – biceps/triceps/calves
- Day 3 - legs
- Day 4 – shoulders
- Cardio (30 minutes) and abs 3 times per week.
Week 4: My workouts continued as usual this week, although I was feeling very tired and crampy this week, and very curious. I couldn’t wait, so instead of waiting until I missed my period, I got a pregnancy test (the kind that says pregnant or not pregnant) 2 days before my period was due. Results – PREGNANT! We were both very excited, and wanted to tell the family, but decided to wait. (We became pregnant once before, but I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks, just days after I told my family. This was exactly 1 week after I discovered I was pregnant).
Weeks 5 and 6: Workouts till continued these weeks, although much lighter due to extreme fatigue. I usually take no more than 2 rest days a week. I took 3 rest days each of these weeks. I was also feeling irritable, lightheaded, I continued to have cramps off and on (which is normal when not accompanied by bleeding), and when I got hungry, I felt sick. At 5 ½ weeks, I went to the OB and confirmed my pregnancy. In the same visit, they gave me an ultrasound because I felt a weird tenderness in my abdomen. The ultrasound showed that it was a cyst. They say cysts are common after ovulation, and they usually go away sometime during the pregnancy. They also discovered 3 fibroids (I’ll elaborate more on this in an article). I did get a chance to see my “sac” – the amniotic sac where the baby is. It was too early to see the actual baby at that time.
Weeks 7 and 8: These weeks were uneventful, I just felt like crap. I am certainly not one of those women who have pleasant, nausea-free first trimesters. Horrible nausea all day long, extreme fatigue (I needed to take naps during the day), headaches on and off, a weird, gross taste in my mouth, and most food seemed gross. At this point, I don’t really want to eat, but I know I need to because I still get that sick feeling when I’m hungry. I also noticed that if I did something strenuous (please note that the level at which I consider something strenuous has dropped significantly), or stayed up too late, I felt like I had a hangover the next day. It’s weird, feeling sick, but not actually being sick. As for workouts, I took 3 rest days each week, and when I did work out, I managed a couple of weight training days, but mostly walking.
Weeks 9 and 10: Same crappy symptoms + easily annoyed. I wish I would throw up because that would ease the nausea, at least temporarily. By the way, Saltine crackers, ginger ale, etc. does not work. The nausea used to go away for 15 minutes after I ate; now it’s there constantly. I haven’t experienced that super sense of smell that some do, where you can smell something from a mile away, but the smell of my deodorant was making me sick, so I had to change to unscented. As for workouts, week 9 contained 4 rest days. For week 10, I changed my program to the following and managed to stick with it all week:
- Mon – back/biceps
- Wed – chest/triceps
- Fri – legs/shoulders
- Tues, Thurs, Sat – 20 minutes cardio.
I did notice that the weight I lifted was significantly less than my non – pregnancy capacity (and that plays with my head).
Weeks 11, 12, and 13: Same symptoms, but I did get another ultrasound. This time I saw my baby. I was surprised that I could actually make out the head and body. We also heard the heartbeat, which was exciting! I was told that due to my fibroids and the cyst, I would need to see a specialist to keep a close eye on the baby during the pregnancy. So far, the baby is progressing well. Workouts – week 11 went as planned. I only worked out twice during weeks 12 and 13. I am anxiously waiting for the day that these symptoms go away!
Weeks 11, 12, and 13: Same symptoms, but I did get another ultrasound. This time I saw my baby. I was surprised that I could actually make out the head and body. We also heard the heartbeat, which was exciting! I was told that due to my fibroids and the cyst, I would need to see a specialist to keep a close eye on the baby during the pregnancy. So far, the baby is progressing well. Workouts – week 11 went as planned. I only worked out twice during weeks 12 and 13. I am anxiously waiting for the day that these symptoms go away!
Copyright © 2009 by A.M. Birmingham, ISSA CFT
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Comments
Posted by: el | July 8, 2010 12:27 PM