Jordan's First Trimester Survival Guide

Shortly after we found out I was pregnant, I was hit with a bunch of crazy new emotions and some pretty intense nausea.  Here are a few things I found helpful in navigating the beginning of this very sweet journey:

1. Lemons

I am a disciplined water drinker.  I feel like I've failed if I haven't consumed four to six full Nalgenes by the end of the day.  So when morning sickness hit and drinking more than a sip of water at a time made me feel like throwing up, I got a little worried about getting dehydrated. Luckily I had gotten in the habit of adding lemon to my water every day or two before I got pregnant, so after I tried squeezing an entire lemon into my water bottle while nauseated, I was back to my normal water drinking habits immediately.  Lemon water is not only easy to drink, but actually helped my nausea.  Lemon scented soy candles are also helpful to keep around the house--I light one beside the bed before I lie down so it smells awesome when I'm trying to fall asleep.

2. Journal

I had a lot of anxiety in my first trimester, especially in the first few weeks.  After a couple of days of driving myself crazy, I decided to let go and trust the Lord that we were actually anticipating a sweet little one.  To help me do that, I bought a journal to dedicate completely to writing letters to my this first babe of ours.  I write after appointments, when I'm feeling anxious, or when I'm feeling really excited and want to share that with them.  I plan to give it to him or her when they're expecting their first child, or sometime around then.

3. Someone One Step Ahead

We waited to openly share the news of our pregnancy until the end of the first trimester, but we did confide in a few trusted friends and family members fairly early on.  My friend Kaitlyn (who just had baby Harlow six weeks ago--see their sweet family here!) has calmed my silly nerves and fears more than she knows in the past couple of months.  I definitely recommend asking someone who has been pregnant somewhat recently all of your "is this normal?" questions before turning to Google, which will nine times out of ten send you into a panic attack, prompting you to call your doctor's office for the third time this week.

4. Someone to Share/Validate Your Excitement

The best things in life are definitely even more exciting when someone else agrees they are.  As I discussed in my last post, I have the most solid best friend who really knows how to celebrate my victories with me.  Nataley's reaction to my news was so fun and it helped me to settle down and enjoy what a blessing this whole thing is instead of worrying so much.  I think I felt like it was okay to be excited for the first time after I told her (since we hadn't shared it yet, it didn't really feel real immediately), and sharing updates with her after each appointment allows me to relive the excitement of happy news all over again. :)

5. A Good Book/Netflix Show (or both!)

Getting in bed at 7 p.m. was a completely new concept for me, but night after night I found myself skipping dinner to lie down.  However, getting comfortable and finding a position that didn't make me feel sick was a little challenging.  Having a book or show to focus on while waiting to fall asleep really helped me stop thinking about how yucky I felt and just relax until my eyelids started to get droopy.


I don't mean to make pregnancy sound totally awful, because it's definitely incredibly exciting and absolutely worth every slightly uncomfortable thing I'm experiencing.  :) I can't wait to meet this little peach!

-J