An overview of my first trimester.... Nausea ideas and more

As I'm coming closer to my second trimester, I think it'd be a good idea to go over some highlights (and lows) about my first trimester. I've already explained how we found out I was pregnant in a previous blog. Since this is my second pregnancy, I thought I knew how everything was going to be.... Boy was I wrong! Everything, and I do mean everything, has been more intense this time around. With my first pregnancy, I was only slightly (but constantly) nauseous until it was suggested to me to take my prenatal vitamin at night right before bed. So around eight weeks my nausea ended. This time around, I knew the trick with the vitamin and expected everything to be perfect.... Not! I have been so sick that I actually lost 10 lbs. I bought the exact same prenatal vitamins I took last time, and only took them at night. However, I would wake up in the middle of the night miserably nauseous, and when I did finally fall back to sleep, I'd wake up in the morning just as sick. When I went to my general practitioner around my 4 week mark, she prescribed me some zofran for my sickness. The only problem with that was my insurance only allowed so much (like 10 pills). Luckily, my doctor was smart and prescribe a dosage that I could cut the pill in half and have more longer. When I got really bad, I would take one. Within about 20 minutes, I'd be feeling much better but not 100% back to normal. Since I'm working, I had to find a way to make it though work. I tried about every suggestion out there....

-Crackers in the morning were ok, but made me thirsty and most any drink made me nauseous (sprite and seltzer water were my friend).

-I don't really have the ability at work to eat "smaller more frequent meals."

-Preggie Pop Drops actually worked decently well.

-Regular mints helped me some as well.

-I tired taking B6 to help my nausea, I didn't see much improvement when taking it.

-I would occasionally have a cup of peppermint tea, that seemed to help relax and soothe my stomach some.

-Sprite, plain or lemon seltzer water, or ginger ale were just about the only drinks I could handle (not even regular water).

Finally, I visited my OB around 9 weeks, which by that point I mostly only became nauseous after I ate instead of waking up that way. I told him how bad I've been feeling, and prescribe me a different nausea medicine, Phenergan (promethazine). He and the pharmacy warned me it can make you extremely tired. It only makes me slightly tired at times when I take it. Now that I've made it to 11 weeks, I hardly am nauseous at all. Occasionally, when I eat, I get nauseous still. I'm definitely looking forward to my second trimester for all of the nausea (and hopefully the tiredness that comes with the first trimester) to end. One thing I have noticed, I'm already starting to show. I've lost weight, but feel like I look like I've gained weight. My stomach now is already "pooching" some, and is looking more like a "pregnant" stomach. I didn't feel like I was showing last pregnancy until around 18-20 weeks. Showing this time, is much quicker than I had expected. 

      I definitely look forward to going though my pregnancy with all of you, and hopefully some of this information can help other future moms out there. 

                                              Image from: www.swansonvitamins.com