Hello peeps!
Since I’ve made my baby announcement, I can finally start blogging about my first trimester experiences while the memories are still fresh.
11 August 2017, Friday – The Discovery
We first discovered about this little development in my womb on 11 August 2017, Friday. I remember testing myself at home because my period was a little late and we were going to meet friends for dinner and drinks that weekend. So, I got myself tested to just in case I’m pregnant and I should immediately stop my alcohol intake. To my surprise, the test came out positive! I didn’t really think it would turn positive as I didn’t experience any obvious symptoms other than my usual PMS ones like swollen boobs, water retention and a thicker belly from the thickening of the uterus wall before every period. I was 5 weeks pregnant. This is me at 5 weeks: 
5 weeks pregnant
I immediately sent a text to my hubby who was extremely busy at work (he was in printers for an IPO submission that very day), and I got an immediate response from him! Usually when he is in printers, he doesn’t reply my texts till much later when he takes a breather. Guess he was so happy and excited about the unexpected news that he had to reply. That very day marks a big change in our lives – we are going to be parents! And yes, from that day onwards I am going to be a real party pooper and can’t drink with friends… hahaha!
Our first meeting with Baby…
After I found out about our pregnancy, I immediately went to read up about pregnancy Do’s & Don’ts (read more about this my next post). We also quickly made our appointment with a gynaecologist to confirm the pregnancy. Though pee sticks are 99% accurate, we had to be 100% certain and also to ensure the baby and I are both healthy. Our first appointment was on 23 August, but our baby was so shy that it coincided with Typhoon Hato and we had to reschedule our meeting. We finally get to see our baby on the ultrasound screen for the very first time on 31 August!
8 week ultrasound photo
Seeing our little one for the very first time felt surreal… at 8 weeks he/she is the size of a kidney bean as you can see in the ultrasound image. Confirming the pregnancy! Up until the scan it still felt like the pregnancy wasn’t real as I didn’t have morning sickness which was a main telltale sign of pregnancy. I guess I’m one of those lucky few! Yay!
Bumpies
Like every first time mums, experiencing pregnancy for the first time is really exciting and I really wanted to document every moment of it. Hence, I took weekly bumpie pics to see the slow changes in my body as the weeks go by:
My Personal Symptoms
The main big difference to me was my boobs are perpetually sore and my sense of smell became extra sensitive (I already had a keen sense of smell, but now, the faintest smell from far away affects me). It was so sensitive that I couldn’t cook at home anymore, as the smell from oils, garlic, spices, seafood etc just made me sick.
As the weeks passed, I noticed changes in my appetite too. It was insatiable but yet I felt full from bloatedness all the time. So it was very confusing. There was a constant struggle of wanting to eat but not being able to swallow anything in. I’ve also lost my usual cravings for snacks and sweets which was a first for me, my favourite foods like salted egg yolk crispy fish skin, chocolates, tom yam seaweed, all suddenly didn’t appeal to me anymore. It’s not like the sight of these foods made me nauseous, it just that I stopped wanting to eat them. I can eat maybe a piece or two and I’m done. Previously, I could easily chow down a whole packet on my own.
Fatigue did set in too. However, my solution to it was to go for a nice slow run. As after every run, I felt great and energised and back to my normal self again. Guess all the serotonin and endorphins that kicks in helps a lot. Of course, I did get my doctor’s approval to continue my regular runs as long as I felt great after each run and not like its torture. I know in most Asian cultures that running and exercising during your pregnancy especially the first trimester is a BIG NO-NO! I did receive a lot of comments from others that I should stop running, but I know my body the best. If I felt any pains, bleeding, discomfort during my runs I would have obviously stopped and discontinue the exercise. On the contrary, exercise did make my first trimester a lot more enjoyable.
My body also didn’t agree with the pregnancy supplements brand Materna– this made me real gassy and stomach constantly felt acidic like I was having gastric all the time. I informed my doctor about this and she changed my prescription to another supplement brand Elevit. After switching brands, I felt a whole lot better. The suitability of supplements depends from person to person as the hormones are going crazy inside making changes to your body to grow this baby.
Looking back, I had a rather smooth sailing first trimester as compared to what others experience. I really have to thank my lucky stars for that and my mother’s good genes as she didn’t experience morning sickness for all 3 kids!
Signing off for now. My next write-up will be on Pregnancy Do’s & Don’ts. Watch out for it!
XOXO
Jessica
Jessica's Blog 