first trimester | Parenting In the Loop

First Trimester (in a nutshell) by Adrienne Lavine

I had no nausea and no morning sickness but I was rid with anxiety with a touch of depression. Living half way across the country from my family and the bitter cold winter with a snowstorm every other day did not help.

I taught yoga through my first trimester. However, not having a regular 9-5 job, not having family nearby and not having as many friends around is very hard, especially while pregnant. All I wanted to do was to go home and be with my family. My husband was annoying me but when he wasn’t around, I wanted him to be home. I couldn’t win and neither could he.

In addition to the homesickness, boredom and loneliness during my first trimester, I was also experiencing panic attacks. I decided that I needed to go and be with my family so I traveled to Chicago at the end of February. It was supposed to only be for a week but ended up to be a three weeks.

I spent a lot of time with my mom. She took me shopping and bought me some new bras that I desperately needed and some brightly colored maternity clothing that cheered me up. My mom is also an incredible cook and made sure that I had good food and enough of it! I even relaxed to the point of being able to take a nap and sleep through the night for the first time in weeks. Trust me that was a big deal.

Having family nearby has so many benefits, although my husband doesn’t fully understand why I want my mom so badly. I am close with my family and tell my mom everything (she jokes sometimes that I probably tell her too much). The amount that I wish to spend more time with my mom will never change and certainly won’t during pregnancy.

The day before I was supposed to return to Rhode Island was week 13. My mom and I thought it would be nice to be able to get an ultrasound done so that she could experience something special with me. We decided to go and have my husband on Face Time. The tech asked if my husband and I wanted to know what we were having… Absolutely! She knew that it was on the early side and was pretty sure it was a boy. My dad walked in the room and it was like he had a reaction. “Oh. It’s a boy!”

Very excited with the news of finally adding a male to the family, we all waited for the tech to bring the DVD of the ultrasound. It was such a happy experience to be able to share with everyone special to me. Plus, I could stop referring to the baby as an “it”.

When I got back to my parents’ house I called Rich to talk. I was supposed to fly home late Tuesday night and would have arrived after midnight. He was going to leave work early on Friday to go on a snowboarding trip to Vermont. I decided to stay in Chicago for an extra week. There was no point in going back to Rhode Island just to be alone for the whole weekend.

The following Tuesday rolled around and my new flight was in the afternoon. I was nervous just at the thought of going back. I was also nervous of flying alone and being alone all of the time.

My mom was driving me to the airport. We were approaching Midway when I had a panic attack. My mom drove the car into one of the garages and parked. After I had calmed down we called my dad. We canceled my flight and booked another for a week later. Then we called Rich. I was still very upset so my mom told him what had happened. He was very understanding and just wanted me to feel better. We ended up flying Rich to Chicago on Saturday so that he could fly back with me on Tuesday. We made it to Rhode Island with a minimal amount of anxiety.

First trimester was full of emotional and physical changes…looking forward to what’s next.

Your pregnancy at 12 weeks:

The end of the first trimester of your pregnancy is near. You should be feeling better if you experience nausea during the early weeks of being pregnant and your breasts may not be so sensitive at this stage.

What is happening inside your uterus is dramatic.

Baby at 12 Weeks is the Size of a Lime

Baby’s fingers are starting to open and close

Baby may now have sucking reflexes to suck his thumb

He may be able to curl his toes

He will move around if you prod you abdomen

His kidneys will begin to excrete urine

You also may be considering an amniocentesis, which is a somewhat invasive test, done to check on your baby, and whether or not he has any hereditary disorders or Down Syndrome.

Amniocentesis (also referred to as amniotic fluid test or AFT) is a medical procedure[1] used in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal abnormalities and fetal infections,[2] and also used for sex determination in which a small amount of amniotic fluid, which contains fetal tissues, is sampled from the amniotic sac surrounding a developing fetus, and the fetal DNA is examined for genetic abnormalities. The most common reason to have an “amnio” is to determine whether a baby has certain genetic disorders or a chromosomal abnormality, such as Down syndrome. Amniocentesis (or another procedure, called chorionic villus sampling (CVS)) can diagnose these problems in the womb. Amniocentesis is usually done when a woman is between 14 and 16 weeks pregnant. Women who choose to have this test are primarily those at increased risk for genetic and chromosomal problems, in part because the test is invasive and carries a small risk of miscarriage. This process can be used for prenatal sex discernment and hence this procedure has legal restrictions in some countries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amniocentesis

Quick Clicks From Baby Center
Sex during pregnancy: An overview
What activities should I avoid ?
A BabyCenter tour for expectant dads
Girl or boy?

Now is the time to be thinking about baby “must haves”. Some items such as car seats are quite expensive and if you are considering a “used” one, it is important to know that car seats expire due to wear and tear and the temperatures they are exposed to in cars.

In the weeks to come, I will be giving you a list of my favorite people and their websites to help you decide on what baby gear is right for you and your little one.

If you are expecting, I hope your pregnancy is going well.