All About my First Trimester (+ Second Trimester so far…)

Hi friends – happy Tuesday! This week – scratch that: this summer – has been a blur already. There was no new post up yesterday since I was still with my best girls (ICYMI, they all flew in from across the country for a girls’ weekend – and there was T. Swift involved). But we’re back at it again today – and it’s still non-stop busy. Today’s agenda includes multiple campaign shoots + meetings, and running to the mall to pickup a newly-altered bridesmaid dress to accommodate my newly-showing bump – didn’t think that one totally through a few months back. Ha! So, send coffee. Actually, send the lavender chai lattes from Nordstrom’s cafe. Because THAT is where it’s at. Anyhoo – today is *also* our 20-week baby appointment – EEP. It’s probably one of if not the “biggest deal” appointment, if you had to pick one, since it’s a bigger ultrasound, anatomy scan, all that good stuff. We’ll also be finding out Baby G’s gender today (fingers crossed he/she cooperates – ha!)! So it felt rather fitting to make today my everything-you-need-to-know-slash-asked-about-so-far preggers post. 😉

It’s kinda a hodge podge since it’s ERRR’THAAANG from my first trimester + second trimester so far, so bear with me here…I promise I keep it real (as always) and have a few laughs with maybe too much realness??? We’re talking boobs, butts, farts, THE WORKS, peeps. Let’s do this.

All About my First Trimester (+ Second Trimester so far...) - Pregnancy Update from Coming Up Roses

FIRST TRIMESTER THOUGHTS:

  • I haven’t thrown up once (bless up).
  • Is there a baby in me? There’s a baby in me. It feels like I just ate too much pizza today. But it’s a human being. 
  • Maternity clothes are a godsend.
  • Maternity clothes are also from hell. The jury is still out on when they’ll make elastic waistbands that actually fit over butts on the way up.
  • Pregnancy farts stink. Literally.
  • Not drinking wine also stinks.
  • God must use pregnancy to prepare women for the selflessness of mothernood. You’re pregnant? Cool. Take away wine, coffee (to some extent), good cheese, lunch meat hoagies, roller coasters, and margaritas on Taco Tuesdays. Now you know the selfessness of a mother. 😉

First thing’s first – I haven’t FELT pregnant. I was lucky enough to have NO morning sickness whatsoever – none, nada, zilch. The one or two times I felt the slightest bit nauseous, it was just because I hadn’t eaten in an hour or two. But I didn’t throw up at all and had really no other “symptoms” in the beginning besides being totally exhausted!

Something harder for me was not LOOKING pregnant. Nobody really tells ya about the weight gain before you “look pregnant” – it’s real, yo. I gained weight in my thighs/hips, stomach and boobs, so MAN I FEEL LIKE A WOMAN. Ha! Lots of my girlfriends didn’t really think it was noticeable at all, but when NONE OF YOUR PANTS suddenly fit…you notice. Gaining weight quickly when you don’t “feel” pregnant at all in any other way was hard for me, since it felt like I was just gaining weight for no reason and none of my clothes fit. REAL COOL.

Maternity clothes aren’t all fun and games. I had a battle with some “maternity” shorts in the Target dressing room – they were two sizes bigger than what I normally wear and I STILL couldn’t get them up my ass. Like…WHAT THE HECK. I nearly fell over and was swearing up a storm in there – real good look. 😉 But my tip is to avoid the maternity pants that have that really long, extended flap of elastic unless the top seam is truly *stretchy*.

First trimester was really just more of a blur (as is life as of late – ha!). It feels like it was indicative of how LIFE is/will be – just continuations of moments, and needing to really cherish + count every single one! We had an ultrasound where we got to actually see Baby G right around 10 weeks, and before we could see the screen, the doc pulled it up and said “WHOA, now that’s a baby!” To which we both said, “It’s just one, right????” Ha! We couldn’t hear anything at that appointment and it was more to just confirm that we were, in fact, pregnant. So beyond that, we’ve gotten to hear heartbeat twice at “belly scan” appointments (where they just put the jelly on your abdomen and listen to hear/check heartbeat, and that’s it). Aaaaaand here we are – our second full ultrasound today! WOO! I didn’t realize how few times you actually see/hear the baby during pregnancy (at least during early pregnancy). I think I had this lofty idea in my head that every time you go to the doc, they’re pulling in the ultrasound machine to take a peek – and NOPE.

 

Cravings…

Stuffed cherry peppers, lemonade, cheesecake, pickles, cookies and cream ice cream, pizza, tomatoes/mozzarella/cucumbers later on!

Aversions…

Bacon, burgers, steak, french fries around week 16

Surprised about…

How much I miss alcohol. Not being able to drink a glass of wine at the end of the night, or a beer with a burger, or a fun mixed drink by the pool is KILLING. ME. SLOWLY. Which sounds totally dramatic and slightly alcoholic-ish, but I think since it’s one of the real things I’ve been missing, it’s fair. 😉

All About my First Trimester (+ Second Trimester so far...) - Pregnancy Update from Coming Up Roses

My bump as of this morning!

SECOND TRIMESTER THOUGHTS SO FAR:

Weeks 13-16:

  • Nothing really new to report! We made it out of the first trimester and crossed the “biggest concern” bridge, but it still didn’t really sink in that we were pregnant since I felt nothing really different.

Week 16:

  • Started cocoa-buttering like CRAY. One of my besties had a baby a few months ago and said to just cocoa butter errrr’thaaaaang (to prevent stretch marks). So, bring on the buttah!
  • Had a Bachelorette Party Weekend – definitely different when you’re the actual mom of the group. Ha! But it was still so fun – and I still got to *taste* a few things at our big wine tasting event. 🙂

Week 17:

  • I think this was around the time I started gaining weight more noticeably + started to get a bit more uncomfortable! I was pretty much the same weight more or less for YEARS and was very used to/comfortable with my body, so to have obvious changes all of a sudden was a bit harder at first for me to wrap my head around. And they’re things that are TOTALLY NORMAL slash common slash all AOK – especially when you’re growing a human, geesh – but were just adjustments in weird, silly ways, if that makes sense. Things like chafing between my thighs or sweat between my boobs – heck, I never even HAD boobs, so to now have to accommodate them was a whole new world. Ha!
  • One of my best girlfriends is getting married this upcoming weekend (woohoo!). And I’m a bridesmaid (woooooooohoo!). And I bought my dress on clearance at ASOS before knowing I was pregnant. SO. Needless to say, had a few issues when I tried it on again. BUT, they weren’t even issues I was expecting (lesson I’ve learned so far in pregnancy: always expect the unexpected). I figured it might not fit my boobs or – oh I dunno – my belly. But no. It doesn’t fit MY RIB CAGE. No one tells you your RIBS expand when you get pregnant. So there’s that. I had gone to Nordstrom in the hopes of getting it altered since I had some alterations credit there to use, and the alterations lady I was dealing with must’ve not had her coffee yet because she had ALL the sassy comments for me. Like, “Why didn’t you just buy a bigger dress?” …BECAUSE I DIDN’T KNOW I WOULD BE PREGNANT DANGIT. She said it would just be too much work and she didn’t want to do it. Note: I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with Nordstrom alterations beyond that, so I really just think she was a bit spicy for the job – nothing against Nordy at all. Y’all know I’ve got lovelovelove for them. SO, had to buy a new dress on the fly and pray to the sweet Lord Baby Jesus that timing would work out with getting IT altered so that I fit something for this wedding and don’t have to wear a trash bag. HA.
  • Lesson learned: Bridesmaid dress shopping around this time SUCKS.
  • Around this time, I also woke up feeling like I LOOK more pregnant every day.
  • Still haven’t felt anything movement-wise…they say it can be super hard to detect, especially when you’re not used to it (ie: first-time mama in da house), because it’s as faint as butterfly wings and/or can be confused with gas. So that’s cool. I might’ve felt my baby move and just felt like I had to fart.

 

Week 18:

  • Constipation Station! Whoa baby. I knew constipation was a thing in pregnancy, but I didn’t know it would feel as if you cannot actually move lest your entire body explode like a whale balloon. I had one real bad bout of it while on vacation with my fam, and I didn’t realize it was constipation at first. It just felt hard to BREATHE, and everything gets tight + uncomfy AF. Not the best feels.
  • I would think this was when I “popped,” if I did. (TBH, still not 100% sure what the heck “popping” means…). But I really started to Look + feel pregnant around this time, and my bump looked more like a baby than too many tacos.
  • My legs got achier. Also something I didn’t know was a side effect of growing a human! But with your uterus growing, it can put pressure on your blood vessels and decrease/lessen circulation, making your legs feel more tired/generally achey. I’d go up one flight of stairs and feel like I just ran a friggin’ MARATHON. So I’ve been trying (read: *trying*) to force myself to sit down more to elevate my legs and all that jazz.
  • Craving: lemonade, tomato/mozzarella, watermelon, FRESH things! More obvious cravings started happening around this time too, I’d say! Besides fresh things, I’ve been on a sweet kick. Give me all the cookies + cream ice cream. And chocolate. And Sour Patch anything. Pleaseandthankyou. 😉

The Secret's Out! Philadelphia lifestyle blogger, Erica of Coming Up Roses, shares their first pregnancy announcement on the blog.

From our Announcement post here!

A’ing your Q’s…

Do you have names picked out? – Mary

Yes, we do! BUT, we won’t be sharing names until Baby G is born. 🙂

How did you find out you were pregnant? Congrats again! Also baby names!?!? – Teresa

How did you know you were pregnant? Like what signs led you to think you WERE pregnant? – Britney

I first had suspicions when I just felt EXHAUSTED. Beyond drained for no apparent reason. And my boobs felt heavier/sore. And then I missed my period. Ha! So I felt pretty confident about needing a pregnancy test.

I picked one up but waited until J was home with me to take it; the first one I took was one that shows single or double pink lines. And it’s basically the longest 2-minute wait of your life. The second line was definitely there, albeit faint, so I believed it – but J was skeptical and made us go out that second to get another test that would just SAY “pregnant” or “not pregnant.” We were both giddy nervous, so for some weird reason I said we couldn’t just walk into Rite Aid and get a pregnancy test – we had to get something else, too, “like Skittles or something to not look weird.” (Again, I’m a weirdo). So J walks in and announces to THE WHOLE STORE, “I need a pregnancy test and Skittles for my wife!”

And then we couldn’t find the pregnancy test aisle.

So this cute little old lady was dying laughing at us making a scene, I was mortifed, but NO WORRIES, YO – we got the test.

And it said pregnant.

And here we are. 🙂

 

What was it like telling your mom and family?! – Ariana

Our original plan to tell our families got derailed a bit because turns out, I couldn’t wait NEARLY as long as we had thought I could. After a few days of knowing I was pregnant, I started feeling SO anxious – having that many new hormones surge through your body with new life was apparently A LOT, and I was just so overwhelmed and a hot friggin’ mess of tears. Ha! It was really just an “I need my mom” moment, so I called up my mom and said…”Mom…can you keep a secret??

And SHE DID.

She was so stoked but managed to not spill the beans for a few weeks, which I was *so impressed* with but also felt so bad about – ha! We told J’s family on the phone and on FaceTime to see their reactions then. And for my dad who drinks approximately 6 cups of coffee a day (no joke, the dude RUNS on coffee), we got him a mug that said “Just when you think your job as a parent is done, someone calls you grand.” When we went to visit them, I called from the kitchen, “Dad, want me to make you a coffee?”

When he of course said, “Sure!” and came in, I handed him the mug…he looked at it and goes, “OH Jesus.”

HAHA. So everyone’s reactions were different, but all good/funny/sweet. 🙂

 

Did you have morning (all day) sickness? How long did it last? – Lex

I got super lucky and had NO morning sickness. Zero. Zilch. Nada. I didn’t throw up one – I felt *slightly* nauseous on occasion, like I mentioned above, but only if/when it had been a few hours between eating. Having a snack/meal always did the trick!

 

And allllll the gender Q’s…ha!

Are you hoping for a boy or girl? And are you having a gender reveal? – Ana

Do y’all know what you’re having yetttt? I LOVE following y’all and can’t wait to find out! – Desiree

Are y’all hoping for a boy or girl first? – Cassie

We’re pretty much on the whole “so long as the baby is happy/healthy” train! I think if we HAD to pick, we’d pick girl, justbecause we both have *felt* like it’s a girl this whole time. But obvi there’s a 50/50 shot, so who the heck knows!

We find out gender TODAY OMG :EOGH:AEGOIJS”J:HGE

Yes, we’ll be doing a gender reveal! Although my fear is the tech accidentally thinking it’s the other gender – I’ve heard too many horror stories of that happening, where girls went the rest of their pregnancy thinking it’s one gender (and registering accordingly), and then it coming out the other gender. WHOOPS. Ha! Of course, not the biggest deal in the world by any means – I’m just someone who likes to plan *a lot*, so Planner Polly in me would freak the freak out a bit if that happened. But like anything in parenthood (AND LIFE, HELLO), we’re going to go with the flow and pray for the best for Baby G always!

Do you have any Q’s about first trimester or second trimester thus far?

Not like I’m an expert by ANY stretch of the imagination on anything mom-related, but if you’ve got a Q that I can A on our own journey especially, throw it out there!

Aaaaaand PHEW. If ya made it this far, you da real MVP. Pleasepleaseplease let me know if y’all have any Q’s about this journey!

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