First trimester of pregnancy was rough, but I was one of the lucky ones with less harsh symptoms than other pregnant women. However, there were soo many things I felt like I wouldn't have made it without this far.
1. Momma Sea-Bands from Amazon.com
These are acupressure sweatbands that I wore every.single.day. for the first 9 weeks at least. They have these little knobs that push into your wrists on a nerve that relieves nausea. Some people might think it's a mind over matter type of thing, but a couple of the days that I forgot to put them on (because I didn't sleep with them - they don't work if you wear them 24/7 I guess), I didn't notice that I wasn't wearing them and felt more sick than ever.
2. Chicken Broth
For those days I just couldn't stand the smell of anything. I tried the MSG-free kind as well as the regular salty and delicious chicken broth bouillon powders mixed with hot water. The salt seemed to really help settle my stomach.
3. Lemon Ginger Tea
Sometimes my nausea got so bad that this tea was something I forced myself to drink to fight it off. Usually at night. It tasted to me kind of like a butterscotch candy. They say ginger really calms down nausea but I couldn't stand the taste of actual ginger or the ginger candies.
4. Heating Pad
For the first 9 weeks or so I had terrible cramping like menstrual camps on steroids and I'm used to having bad cramps like that but these were pretty scary. I panicked for about the first 2 weeks that I felt them and got a hold of just about every/any pregnant friend that could tell me if it was normal since the majority of the time it happened, it was late and I couldn't call the doctor. It turns out cramping is normal as long as you're not bleeding. I thought I was miscarrying but nope. :)
5. Watermelon
Again, this helped with feeling sick. I also love love love watermelon so I ate it all the time.
6. Sour Candy/Gum & Preggie Pops
For some reason I really craved sour candies and it was a bonus that they fought off aversions. Some of my favorites were sour straws, sour green apple candies, and blow pops.
7. Lemons & Lemonade Flavored Vitamin Water
Because pregnancy requires you to stay extremely hydrated, plain water gets boring. I just so happened to crave lemon and lemonade so this vitamin water was perfect for hydrating and satisfying my craving.
8. My Prenatal Vitamins & Fish Oil
Many women complain about their prenatal vitamins giving them bad tastes or making them sick, etc., but this brand hasn't given me any issues whatsoever. The fish oil, I read, is supposed to help with early on brain development of baby.
9. Ginger Ale & Sparkling Waters
Sickness fighters. Hydration helpers.
10. Humidifier (so very important)
Pregnancy makes me feel really dried out so I invested in some wonderful humidifiers. Toward the end of first trimester, I got a crappy head cold and the biggest help was Vick's vaporub and the Vick's humidifier that spit out vapor to help me breathe.
11. Maxi Dresses/Skirts and loose fitting sweat pants
I started showing at about 13 weeks or so and since then I've really started to pop so the only thing that fits me are dresses and skirts. I'm definitely on a no-pants-until-Fall boycott.
12. 52 oz Bubba Mug for Water
This mug is a lifesaver when it comes to counting ounces of water. Doctors say to drink anywhere from 64-125 oz of water every day.
13. Tylenol
Tylenol is the only safe medicine to take for headaches and other aches/pains during pregnancy as compared to ibuprofen and aspirin. I didn't use it much during first trimester but soon after I went over the 12 week mark I started getting headaches so I would take 1 tylenol from time to time only if I really needed it.
14. Scent-free everything.
Your nose is so strong during pregnancy that you smell everything intensely. Everything made me nauseous so I had to get rid of all of my favorite smells around the house that way they wouldn't ever remind me of feeling that way. Even unscented deodorant was a necessity.
15. Airbrush Tanning
Knowing you're gaining weight no matter what you do, can really take a toll on your self-esteem (yeah, yeah I know it's pregnancy, it's beautiful and weight gain is nothing to worry about blah, blah). I've always liked airbrush/spray tanning because it makes me appear more toned and together, it makes my face brighter, and I feel 100% better.
