Bye Bye Abs, Hello Baby! 1st Trimester Blues

The countdown to the end of my First Trimester has officially begun and I couldn't be more happy! The ending of these long 14 weeks means (hopefully) I get some energy back and stop feeling like ish all the time. This pregnancy stuff is no joke.

Lets start from the beginning

Yay! Holy cow we are pregnant...

When we found out we were pregnant it was a surreal moment but also terrifying at the same time. I think I was in shock for quite a bit while millions of questions ran through my head at all times. Realizing you are going to be a Mom can be scary and is totally normal. You are so worried about the baby, how you're going to deal with no wine or sushi, and how you will stack up to being the best Mom ever. Calm down, it's all going to be fine!

I found out pretty early, at just about 4 weeks, and other than being scared shitless, I felt fine and still continued my normal gym routines. I of course being a crazy person went and bought a bunch of books to read so I wouldn't be hit with any pregnancy surprises. It might have just caused anxiety instead. I stopped reading. This is the book that I used to get me through my entire pregnancy (linked here).

Shit Got Real...

Fast forward to week 6, say goodbye to feeling fine! Serious fatigue set in first, I couldn't keep my eyes open past 2 PM. I was no longer able to take pre-workout for gym time, I was limited to 1 cup of coffee each day, and my afternoon cup of green tea (because I chose coffee instead) was out of the question now. It didn't matter what time I went to sleep, getting up was a chore, and doing anything active felt impossible. At this point, getting up and getting to the gym, other than to meet clients, was an impossible feat. Let's also mention here that this wouldn't be such a "bad thing" if I was still eating like my normal self. Oh but of course not, nothing even remotely healthy sounded good. Gimme CARBS! I only wanted the bad stuff. Talk about a 180 in my eating habits. Around week 6 is when I also started to get sick. I have to say I am fairly lucky, I never threw up, and didn't battle morning sickness, but night sickness instead. Like clock work around 4PM I would get nauseous. The only thing that made me feel even a little better was cookies, crackers, chips, carbs, carbs, carbs. If you know me, you know, NO starches after 2PM. YIKES! My body went into freak out mode.

First Nugget Sighting...

At 7 weeks we had our first Dr. appointment which was a mix of emotions. We got to see babys heartbeat which was super cool but also got to learn all the do's and dont's of life over the next 7 months. I learned that while I choose to be dairy free, that this can potentially cause baby to be lactose intolerant. The last thing I wanted was to cause issues for baby and have to deal with all the pains of a baby who has to have special formula. I decided to incorporate small amounts of dairy into my diet like Greek yogurt, cheese, and ice cream of course, Blue Bell never tasted so good!

Up Next....

Our 10 week appointment and gender tests! Exciting!

Current Struggle...

While everyone has different pregnancy struggles, and I don't expect everyone's to be the same as mine, I think my biggest struggle has been trying to keep up my healthy eating and workout habits. Bye bye Abs, here comes baby!

Final Takeaway...

I learned quick that pregnancy fatigue is no joke. I made a point to go to bed as early as I could and take at least 1 small nap during the day, usually after lunch. Once 9 weeks hit, I started to get a little more energy back and feel less like a walking zombie. I made a point to try to run on the mornings that I didn't train clients and then do weighted workouts at the gym after client sessions. Per my Doc, all of my normal exercises were perfectly fine to continue. I decided to stop doing heavy weighted abs anymore and really listen to my body if it felt worn out or over worked. To be honest, I was probably only being active 3 times per week instead of my normal 6. I was just tired or felt bad and as big as a struggle it was I had to continually remind myself that it was OK. I didn't find that not being able to drink wine was even remotely an issue, I felt like crap most of the time and the last thing that sounded good was alcohol. I tried my best to meal prep, at least my snacks, since I was needing to snack most of the day to keep from feeling more sick than I already was. I kept lots of healthy foods like veggies/hummus, boiled eggs, cheese sticks, almonds, fruit, and yogurt at the house as well as Ginger Ale, that is all natural and has no sugar. Keep in mind that all of this was going on during Christmas too, so I was determined to eat the best I could during the week at least. I secretly couldn't wait for the holidays to be over, it seemed that my will power for saying no to goodies had gone out the door. Being pregnant is definitely not the time to start thinking, "Oh I can have that, I'm going to gain weight anyways!" NO NO NO! Do not do this, there is no coming back from this Lol! While you should always "treat yo self" remember, baby does not need any additional calories during the first trimester, you're NOT eating for 2. Plus, I choose to look at it this way, anything over normal weight gain means I will have to work twice as hard to get my pre-baby bod back. No thanks! This girl is determined to stay true to the #fitlife and keep up healthy and active habits until baby is here. Remember, the first trimester is the hardest, slow down, take naps, eat healthy, and do your best to stay stress free!

#Baby #1stTrimester