I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the first trimester of pregnancy is a whirlwind! If you haven’t read part I of my first trimester of pregnancy update, I would definitely suggest starting there and then coming back here to get the rest of the scoop on my personal experience. On that note, onto the second part of my update, including more stories, what I’ve learned, experienced, been craving and more!

Anyways, after we took our own time to soak in our exciting news we started sharing with our closest family and friends — and I also made my first OB appointment, which felt wild in itself! I actually wasn’t expecting to go into the doctors until I was 8 weeks (just from what I’ve heard about other people’s experiences), so I was a bit surprised when they wanted me to come in sooner to confirm the pregnancy. A week or so later I found myself in my OB’s office taking my first (of many) blood and urine tests and confirming with our amazing NP that we were, in fact, pregnant. She gave us the rundown of what to expect early on and answered any questions we had. From here, they would call us with my blood work results and we would take our appointments from there — which is where our story gets a little more fun (and anxious)!

A few days after my initial appointment, a nurse from our OB’s office gave me a call to share that my blood test showed my progesterone being a little high, which meant I could be further along than I thought. At this point, I was like no way — I knew my dates couldn’t be wrong (knowing a few other things my body went through during this time), and I just didn’t think it would be possible to be further along then I thought I was — especially after getting a negative test result the month before. Out of curiosity (and just being the general worry wart I am), I asked the nurse what else could be causing this — her answer, twins. WHAT?! And that was it, the call ended shortly after I sat for a good 30 minutes at work, in shock might I add, until I could get home and freak out in front of Scott since no one at my work knew yet. Looking back — I shouldn’t have worried like I did, either way — all would have been fine and amazing, but I couldn’t seem to let the fear of two amazing babies entering our life at once go (especially because I figured we had a high chance of this being reality with two sets of twins in my near immediate family).

Anyways, I spent a whole week worrying about what our future may look like, along with my pregnancy, labor, etc. I walked into my first ultrasound appointment a ball of nerves (they had us come in the following week to have a good look at everything), but I left feeling at peace knowing that what was meant to be was meant to be — and that was one growing baby giving us a good hand wave as the tech snapped away.  Just minutes before this I found myself not being able to concentrate during the ultrasound until I asked the tech, “there’s just one in there, right.” “Yes,” she said! From here, the tech confirmed I was a little over three weeks ahead and even closer to meeting our little one than we thought — a sigh of relief washed of me! Just one baby, for now — but maybe twins in the future! 😉

Aside from this wild week, the first trimester of my pregnancy was quite a dream — with a few small hiccups along the way, of course! Here’s the rundown —

Symptoms:

The nausea I was expecting to come never did, but the bloating and menstrual cramps that I usually feel with my monthly cycle were out in full force! WOW — I feel like people don’t talk about this often enough, so when I was hit with major cramps every single night I was caught a bit off guard. In retrospect, I know now that this was just my bodying stretching and making room for our little baby and that drinking lots of water definitely helps (drinking water has been hugely important throughout my pregnancy — and even though I was a big water drinker before, I’m an even bigger one now). I also felt a tiny bit of nausea if I didn’t have anything in my stomach, but I learned to always be prepared with a snack or two hiding in my purse at all times. Oh, and the bloating — I swear it looked like I was showing super early, but looking back — it was definitely the bloat overtaking my body and making my bump look even bigger than it was.

Cravings:

Truthfully, I haven’t craved anything crazy (yet)! In the beginning, I definitely had that carb craving and wanted GF pizza, crackers and pasta, but I also still felt good eating my usual meals — salad for lunch and oatmeal for breakfast (my everyday go-to’s). I did notice that I started to need more food and found myself packing extra snacks — GF breakfast bars, nuts and different fruits. With the IBS and gallbladder issues I’ve had over the years, I’m a pretty healthy eater overall — so I was happy to see that translate into my pregnancy. Don’t think that I haven’t indulge in GF cookies, almond milk ice cream and sour candies! In fact, one morning I had to run into the grocery store before work and saw a big bag of sour gummy candies and continued to buy and eat almost the entire bag during my 8am drive — haha. If that’s not a craving, I don’t know what is!

Essentials:

I started taking pre-natal vitals well before I got pregnant, but the two that I’ve tried are this one and this gummy version (would definitely suggest the gummy version, as the horse pill ones were a bit hard on my stomach). I’ve also tried out a few stretch mark creams and so far my favorite has been this one by Burt’s Bees (fragrance free and very thick). I also found  a hairband to be an essential early on — ya know, just in case my pants became too tight and I needed a little extra room! Oh, and for those moments of nausea that may hit — I found out about these Preggie Pop Drops via Kim of Eat Sleep Wear and immediately bought them from Target just incase I would need them, and while my nausea hasn’t been bad at all (knock on wood — I’ve only thrown up once), I have tried them and can attest that they do work!

Lessons Learned:

• Don’t let fear of the unknown take over your pregnancy. What is meant to be will be — and I know that it’s easy to say that in retrospect, but I promise — you and your little one(s) are in the best of hands!
• Listen to you body!
• Rest, relax and drink lots of water!
• Don’t forget, you’re growing a human — so be easy on yourself.
• Enjoy your first trimester as much as possible — it truly goes by so quick!

Alright, I think it’s time to wrap things up here and start sharing more weekly updates with you! I’m currently 18 weeks pregnant and truly feeling so good — I even felt the baby for the first time today! I’ve had a few moments where I was like is that the baby, or maybe now — but this is REAL ya’ll, and it’s so beautiful and wild all at once. I’ve also been sharing mini-weekly updates over on my Instagram feed, but will be sharing more here about what I’m experiencing, loving and up to throughout the upcoming weeks — I’ll be playing a bit of catch-up of the early weeks of my second trimester here too, so stay tuned!

Before I go, I also wanted to say that I couldn’t be more thankful for the love and encouragement everyone has so kindly shown Scott and I since announcing our big news. We are so, so grateful to be able to have this journey and can’t wait to meet our little one come November! Oh, and just like last time — I would love to hear if any of you mommas or mommas-to-be had a similar experience as I, or if you have any tips, tricks or favorite items that you love and helped you to survive the first semester of pregnancy!

Chelsea xo

Photos by Paige Christensen