How to ride out first-trimester of pregnancy

The first trimester can be an emotional roller-coaster ride for many and so was mine. At first, I had no idea what to do, so I called my GP for an appointment. They said my first pregnancy appointment will be after 8-9 weeks with a midwife, not General Practitioner ( NHS, UK). I was asked to submit an online “Pregnancy notification form” to the nearest midwifery service. They will allocate a midwife to me and then she will schedule my first Antenatal appointment.

It was my first pregnancy. There were so many questions in my head: “what am I supposed to do now?, What foods I should avoid? is it OK to drink coffee? What tea is ok and how many cups a day? can I still go on hikes and runs?. Also, I am new to the country and I was still learning about the health care system. Everything was making me a bit restless, due to which, I scoured the internet and pregnancy books available on the internet. I downloaded apps like Ovia, it has lots of information around pregnancy but later I realised it is based on the USA health care system, In the UK we have something similar like Emma’s Diary and Bounty. They have several articles on various pregnancy-related topics. Reading those articles daily answered my many questions.

Beware, You can find all sorts of stories online and many of them can stress you out. I knew nothing about pregnancy, so out of curiosity, I read all sorts of experiences people were sharing on online forums, but soon I realised that it is not helping me at all, I need to know the facts, not personal experiences as many of them are just terrifying. So I started focusing on facts and useful information from credible sources. Acquiring knowledge helped me a lot to manage my initial anxiety.

As per NHS (National Health Services, UK), the first trimester starts on the first day of your last period and finishes on the last day of your 12th week. I was already 4 weeks pregnant when I took the pregnancy test, but I didn’t feel any different up until 6th or 7th week of pregnancy. Then I started experiencing “symptoms of pregnancy”, I woke up with a new problem every morning. 

I researched all the issues that I was facing and tried many remedies suggested by friends, mom, midwife, NHS website and other online portals. Some of them were useless and others worked. I have listed here my personal experiences and tips that worked for me. 

Nausea

More commonly known as morning sickness. I had nausea and a bad metallic taste in the mouth all day long. It was a big issue for me and I had tried several things to feel better. In a separate article, I have listed all the thing and tips that worked on me. You can click on the link below to read this post. 

12 tips to ease nausea during pregnancy

The heightened sense of smell

This was another big problem for me and the main trigger for nausea and headaches. I did a few changes in my lifestyle and food habits that worked on me, I have a separate article on this topic too. 

6 tips to manage the heightened sense of smell

Nasal congestion

I woke up with a stuffy nose and difficulty in breathing almost every morning. It is called pregnancy rhinitis. Increased hormones during pregnancy can cause the nasal lining to swell. Also, increased blood passing through the body can make tiny nasal blood vessels swell. That in turn triggers increased mucus production. All this results in the problem of a stuffy nose. Sometimes it makes me snore as well. It is not a good feeling to wake up with a blocked nose. However, it is not that bad in my case, I just do some exercise, drink warm water or take a warm shower to feel better. I also avoid potential triggers such as smoke, the smell of paint and cleaning products. 

Frequent headaches

My headaches were mostly random, they felt like migraine pain. I would just stay away from strong smells, eat small meals and drink plenty of water, to avoid these painful episodes. My midwife suggested paracetamol for headaches but I had it just once. I would just take some rest and feel better within a few hours. Sometimes, head-massage also helped me with headaches. 

Changes in vision and tired eyes 

I noticed some changes in vision during my first trimester. Sometimes my eyes turn red and watery. If I am hungry or tired, my vision would go blurry. It was concerning to me so I took immediate optometrist appointment to check if everything is ok. My optometrist was really good, he took his time and checked everything. I wear glasses when studying and working on the computer. So I took them with me to check if there are any changes in my vision. My eyes were ok, no change in eyesight. He just gave me some eye drops for dryness and tired eyes and suggested me to wear my glasses all the time and drink plenty of water. I realised that I need to listen to my body and I can not exhaust myself anymore. Following changes helped me a lot with my eye problems.

1. Cut short outings and take frequent rest during the day 
2. Don’t use the computer for more than one hour in one sitting 
3. Use eyeglasses more often
4. Drink plenty of water 
5. Massage around eyes (eye muscles) every evening for relaxation. 

Excessive salivation (Ptyalism)

Salivation was one of the most annoying pregnancy symptoms. I couldn’t even swallow my saliva because it made me nauseated and I had to spit it out. It was particularly challenging when I was out for shopping, driving or studying. So I came up with few ideas that worked for me 

1. Sipping cold water: Sipping on cold water will wash down the saliva and make you feel fresh. I used to have some cold and favoured water (with fresh lemon, mint, ginger, strawberries, etc.).  
2. Nibbling on something: Nibbling on crystalised ginger, raisins, craisins, a small piece of fresh coconut etc. can also help. They make it easier to swallow saliva. But that doesn’t mean I was eating loads of these things. 
3. Brushing teeth: I used to brush my teeth several times a day, even if it was just a quick brushing, it helped. 
4. Avoiding excessively spicy or savoury food: Over time I noticed that spicy, overly salted or sweet food made me salivate more. I was better off with bland or mildly flavoured food. 

Indigestion and bloating: 

I hardly ate anything during my first trimester, and one of the reasons was that I was not able to digest food well. My digestion was never great, I had to maintain a particular lifestyle to keep the digestive system going. It includes waking up early in the morning, staying active whole day, lots of exercises, no naps during the day etc. Once I was pregnant and down with nausea, ptyalism, tummy cramps, tiredness my daily routine was out the window. And then those pregnancy-related changes in hormones and muscles makes it worst. It took me forever to digest a simple piece of toast. I lost about 3-4 kgs weight in 1.5 months. The key tip to deal with indigestion problem is to “eat and observe”:

1.  Mindful eating: With time I realised that some food I can handle better than others. For example, it was hard for me to digest lentils, beans and anything with yeast but I was ok with a quick bread, rice thins, multigrain crispbread. 
2. Eat slowly: Chewing food well gives the digestion process a headstart. 
3. Prefer cooked over raw: I love salads, however, I felt better after eating some stew or soups. I make them at home without ( or minimum) butter and cream. 
4. Try simple carbs: I have heard a lot during pregnancy that you should eat a well-balanced diet, healthy food blah blah blah. But carbs was all my stomach could handle ( in first few months). So be it. Though I tried my best ( most of the time) to choose better options over something less advisable. For example, the jacket potatoes or baked sweet potato with some topping, boiled sweet corn, cooked beetroot, banana with nut butter, buttermilk pancakes with blueberry compote, homemade oats and berry muffins etc.  
5. Avoid fatty and oily food: This one is no rocket science, you may already know that oily food takes longer to digest so no more potato chips or arancini cheese balls for me. 
6. Staying upright after meals: Little efforts made me feel exhausted. After cooking and eating my breakfast or lunch, no matter how small was the portion, I would just go to bed to just relax for a bit. Most of the time, I would doze off for an hour or more. Sleeping slows down my digestion and I would wake up feeling heavy and bloated. I would end up feeling terrible for the rest of the day. So rather then going to bed I would just walk around or sit on the cold leather sofa and watch something on TV ( anything to keep my eyes open). Even if I sat down for just 20 minutes or so I could collect energy to get back on my feet again. 

Sore Breast:

Have you experienced sore breast during your periods? Me too, well they were not even a problem compared to what I experienced during pregnancy. Yes, they get big and not in a nice way. They are tender, sore, painful and very uncomfortable. they make your life terrible until 

1. You find the right fitted bra. Don’t forget to update them with changing size. 
2. You learn to gently massage them twice a day. Once before going to bed so that you can sleep and then before leaving bed in the morning so that you can start your day. 

Exhaustion and tiredness

I was just one month in pregnancy and I could feel reduced energy levels and soon they hit rock bottom. It was hard to get out of my bed in the morning and little exertions made me exhausted. Though I hardly missed my daily walks I would sleep for at least an hour afterwards. 

Less food intake, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, hormonal changes…no wonder I feel exhausted. The only tip here is to “listen to your body”. I understand that during pregnancy we have a very little reserve of energy and the only way to refuel it is to eat and relax. So I did a few changes in my lifestyle, 

1. Take it easy: I would take as many short breaks as and when my body needs (It was doable for me). Rather than going on my regular 8 to 10 km walk, I reduced it to 4-5 km and sometimes skip when feeling lethargic. 
2. Get out of the bed: Lying in bed all day long made me more sick and lethargic. I would go out to get some fresh air a few times a day. 
3. Every bite counts: I ate whatever I could, but I made it count, for sweet craving I choose raisins, craisins, dates, bananas. Instead of plain water, sometimes I would choose coconut water, yoghurt based drink, smoothies. 
4. Take supplements: During pregnancy, our body needs more nourishment but my food intake reduced significantly. so I made sure that I don’t miss my supplements. 

Constipation 

This was one of those problems that I don’t have much experience with. Thanks to my high fibre vegetarian diet, I suffered from constipation for a very short period. The main culprit was less food and water intake and inactivity. as soon as I fixed that, constipation was resolved itself

1. Eat fibre rich food: bowel movement significantly depends on the quantity and quality of food. Dietary fibres keep everything healthy.  
2. Drink water: I have a habit of drinking 2 glasses of lukewarm water first thing in the morning. And it works for me. during pregnancy, I just pay attention to my overall water intake. it’s particularly important because in cold climate you don’t feel thirsty very often. I just fill up the 2-litre water bottle in the morning and aim to finish them before 5-6 pm. Drinking too much liquid later in the evening can disrupt my sleep. 
3. Active lifestyle: It was difficult to stay very active during the first trimester of pregnancy but every now and then a just a 10-15 minutes walk can help with the good digestive system. 

Breakouts and other skin problems

Dry and itchy skin, oily patches, and breakouts …they are no joke. It was hard to pinpoint what’s wrong and how to fix that. I have dry skin and it gets worst during winter. I don’t use many products on my skin except just a gentle facewash and a cream for normal skin. In winter I switch to something oil-based. Time to time I massage my whole body with coconut oil before taking a warm shower. And that’s it, this strategy has been working perfectly fine until now. Not anymore though.

1. No oil-based products for face: My face skin is oily now and I am breaking out more often, so I don’t use oil-based products for my face anymore. I use gel-based moisturiser but I have to use it at least 2-3 times a day to keep my skin moisturised and it works. 
2. Keep it clean: Oily skin, dust and clogged pore cause pimples, so I wash my face twice a day.  
3. Moisturising your whole body: Interestingly, my face skin is oily these days but the rest of the body is dry to the crips. I have used palmers cocoa butter and its good, but coconut oil works best on my skin. The good thing is, as my skin is very dry, coconut oil gets absorbed in my skin quickly, so no complaints of oil stain on cloths. 

I understand that every pregnancy is unique. some Somen may not feel anything and others can experience terrible pregnancy symptoms. I think I was somewhere in between these two categories. By 9th or 10th week of pregnancy, I was overwhelmed with all these problems. They might not be very serious issues ( in my case) but they made life uncomfortable. All, I wanted was to lie in my bed and keep quiet. Still, I would make an effort and do things that will make me feel better at that moment. The only thing that kept me going was my recently acquired understanding of these common discomforts of pregnancy and hope that I will feel better during my second trimester of pregnancy.

The glorious second trimester.

Keep trying, you will get there!

XX