Pregnancy Update – The First Trimester

With Arlo, I was ill with cold after cough after cold throughout the first trimester. This time round I wasn’t ill once. They were both pregnancies that started during winter, so I’m not sure if it’s down to the vitamin C I’ve been taking this time round, or the fact that I’m not travelling on germy London tubes every day (although you’d think spending 24/7 with a germy toddler would do it). With Arlo I had this persistent cough from the start up until 13 weeks, but after subsequent pregnancies I’ve realised that it was probably actually my gag reflex working not to make me sick – I feel like I’ve been living with my gag reflex at the front of my mouth for the past few months!

As with Arlo, I went off most vegetables and meat again. The only veg that I could really tolerate for the first few months was broccoli and carrots. Sam has been a lot more patient with me this time. He didn’t complain when I picked at meals or left my plate mostly uneaten in favour of sitting by the toilet. He would check with me to see what I thought I could stomach and then cook accordingly, and he worked with the vegetables that I would eat rather than force me to eat things that were making me feel sick. Last time he got very annoyed and tried to hide veg in my food!

The sickness was worse this time round. I will do anything not to be sick. I got through Arlo’s pregnancy feeling sick every moment of the day but only being sick once. This time round I sort of accepted that feeling sick constantly and the thought of being sick was actually worse than actually just getting it over with. I’d say with Arlo, the bouts of nausea were stronger, but with this pregnancy they have been more frequent. 6 – 8 weeks and 10 – 11 weeks was a particularly horrible but very reassuring time, then everything got a lot better at around 11.5 weeks (compared to 14 weeks with Arlo). Now that I’m based mostly at home, it’s been a lot nicer to deal with nausea in the comfort of my own home.

I’ve had no fainting spells like with Arlo, but then again I think being at home and being able to go at my own pace really helps. If I’m feeling unwell I can sit on the sofa and slow down for a bit. With Arlo, I was living with 3 friends, commuting on the busy northern line, and sticking to a strict morning schedule to get in to work on time. I couldn’t wait to have a shower later or wait for a less busy train (The two fainting episodes that come to mind were in the shower and getting off a packed train at Waterloo).

I haven’t felt the ridiculous tiredness that I felt with Arlo. My body is still revelling in the fact that Arlo is finally sleeping through most nights, so I don’t think it registered pregnancy tiredness in the same way. Plus, I don’t have the stressful job. I knowingly took it easy with my photography stuff and took on less bookings (just as well, as for two months I couldn’t look at my computer or phone screen without wanting to puke! Have you noticed the reduced amount of blog posts and twitter activity?!) saying that, I’ve still been falling asleep on the sofa at 9.30pm and taking the occasional nap whenever I’ve been able to, so there obviously has been some element of pregnancy tiredness.

All in all, I’ve found it a lot easier dealing with first trimester symptoms at home than when I was working during my pregnancy with Arlo. Even with a demanding toddler around! Commuting in London was difficult, my job was hugely busy at the time – I was midway into handling the first project with our biggest client to date and working very long hours (8am till at least 7pm) to make sure they were happy, taking them to bars in the evenings, figuring out how to project manage the biggest team project we’d ever had on our hands, all whilst trying to discreetly deal with the massive stress of just finding out about an unplanned pregnancy. Thinking about those days still makes me shudder.

Although there have been some big stresses in this pregnancy too (if you have read my miscarriage posts then you will know why), I have really appreciated the difference in the start of this very much wanted and planned pregnancy as opposed to the start of Arlo’s pregnancy, which guiltily still ranks up there as one of the worst times of my life.

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I’ve been thinking about the adjustment to our sleeping arrangments since March, and I think we have pretty much decided on the cheapest option with the most longevity –  putting our mattress on the floor alongside a single mattress to create one big sleeping space (more on this plan later), but I am still browsing sites like Fairway Furniture and dreaming of luxury king size mattresses and padded headboards (so much more comfortable for breastfeeding).

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