First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your lovely messages about the baby – I feel so blessed!

I’m so excited to be finally be able to share this happy news with you all.  I’m now 14 weeks pregnant so this post is going to be a combined post of my pregnancy announcement and my first trimester update, since so much has happened already.

My pregnancy story so far

Although it still took me by surprise, this pregnancy is totally planned and a natural progression for us.  I’ve always been crap at tracking my periods as they have always been irregular, but it suddenly occurred to me at the beginning of last month that my period was late.  My boobs were sore and much larger, my lower back ached and I had a general feeling of being heavy.  A part of me had put this heavy feeling and larger boobs down to the Christmas excess, but in the back of my mind I just knew.  I relayed all this to Alfie who seemed to automatically know, being a doctor and all.  Without wanting to get our hopes up we remained calm and decided to buy a pregnancy test whilst doing the grocery shop.

Once we found out we shared the news with our family and friends at around 8 weeks pregnant, although still I felt apprehensive about doing so as I hadn’t reached the safety net of passing my first trimester or had my first scan yet.  At my first maternity appointment at 10 weeks pregnant with my midwife, where they put together your maternity file and take lots of blood, she explained that I’m in very good health to carry the baby, but I still felt nervous about telling people so soon.  Now that I’ve had my scan and heard and seen that little heart beat I do feel reassured that everything is progressing nicely and our little lentil is doing well.

Although the pregnancy test gave a positive indication that we were having a baby, apart of me still wasn’t convinced. The original pregnancy test was a fancy digital one that also tells you how many weeks you are – after a few days the reader faded like nothing had happened.  Also, I haven’t experienced any morning sickness, what I thought was a traditional symptom of pregnancy.  It turns out that 30-40% of women don’t experience the pleasure of sickness, I guess  I was one of the lucky ones.   As I said all my other symptoms could have just been down to Christmas excess.  After announcing the pregnancy to our families I remember chatting to my auntie and needed putting at ease, so I ended up buying another pregnancy test just be sure that I was actually carrying a baby.  I breathed a sigh of relief when it came back positive.   There was even a point when I was bugging Alfie about buying a fetal doppler so that I could feel reassured about hearing the babies heart beat, just to know that there was something there.  You have know idea how eager I have been to have my first scan.

It’s been killing me not being able to share this with you on the blog, but as I mentioned above we were determined to wait until we got the all clear. You may have noticed that I haven’t posted any OOTD posts recently, although I don’t have a bump yet my bra size increased almost overnight and my boobs are massive – a big giveaway I think.  Other indicators would have been my reduced exercise because of fatigue I just don’t have the energy to workout as much as I used to, my aversion to green smoothies and vegetables – well all greens really.  However, now that I am going into my second trimester most of these symptoms have subsided.

First trimester update – 14 weeks

Reaching such a milestone has been such a relief for me personally.  I think that I can finally relax and ease myself into this pregnancy and enjoy it a bit more, without the previous feelings of doubt, stress and anxiety.

Eating

Since finding out about the baby I have been taking my prenatal tablets to help support the babies growth.  It is recommended that folic acid is taken up to 12 weeks of pregnancy to help with the development of the baby’s nervous system,  however I have been taking a combined multi-vitamin which I will continue to take until birth.  Admittedly they are not the nicest tablets to digest, because they are packed full of nutrients they are pretty large. I think like all new mums I have been doing lots of research on nutrition during pregnancy and doing right by the baby.  Personally, one of my main priorities is wanting to be as healthy as possible throughout this pregnancy, food aversions and cravings included.

On the subject of eating, initially my appetite went through the roof.  I wanted to eat all of the time, of course technically I am eating for two now so it’s perfectly normal. I had developed a strange addiction to orange juice and an aversion to green smoothies and vegetables unless they are in some kind of sauce or with ketchup.  I just wanted to eat all of the carbs in the world!  There was pasta, potatoes, cake and chocolate galore, but now that I’m going into my second trimester these cravings have diminished and I’m trying to even things out a lot more.

Certain foods that I have been avoiding and tend to be a frowned upon in pregnancy are raw egg yolks, undercooked meat and fish, caffeine and unpasteurized cheese.  There are many risks associated with these foods mainly listeria and salmonella, which can cause miscarriage or still birth.  I know that there are some advice that says you can eat some of these foods, but I personally would rather not take the risk. There is also new research that states eating too many nuts can make your baby prone to nut allergies, so I’ve been limiting my intake of nuts and nut butters too.

Fitness

Becoming pregnant has had a massive impact on my fitness regime.  At first I was trying to carry on as normal, but quickly realised that this was impossible.  My initial reasoning was that ‘Paula Radcliffe was running whilst pregnant,’ unfortunately I’m not Paula Radcliffe, not even close.  My gym workouts have reduced and are generally a lot more gentler and I have been doing lots more yoga.  Activities such as walking, swimming, prenatal yoga and Pilates have been recommended to me and I will be looking into these over the next few weeks.

Body and symptoms

One major symptom for me has been the immense tiredness that I have been feeling – it’s actually how amazing how much of a blow your energy levels take so early on in pregnancy.  Taking naps in the afternoon have become the norm, similarly falling asleep on the sofa before 8.30 pm is also apparently the in thing.  I have been going with it though, mainly as I’ve had no choice.  Although,  as I enter my second trimester I have found that I have become more energised and the naps are less frequent.

A symptom that I haven’t had much of is nausea.  I think overall I’ve had probably 5 spells of nausea and no sickness, so I have been very lucky. The nausea was apparent early in the morning, but soon disappeared after eating.

Notable changes in my body have been the increase in boob size, geez they have grown!  Also, although I’m still without a bump (I just look like I’ve eaten a huge bowl of pasta)  I’m a lot thicker around the stomach and my clothes are getting more snug.  However, I’m yet to buy any maternity clothes, but have seen some really pretty stuff on ASOS and some bargain basics on Purpless, which may just tempt me.  Where maternity clothes are concerned friends and family in the know have advised to buy things as and when I may need them, maternity jeans are high on my list.

Since I treat my blog as a kind of journal and in typical blogging style I will be documenting my pregnancy on the blog.  Maybe not every week as I wouldn’t want to put you off, I appreciate that weekly bump updates aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I think that I will just cover poignant moments or a significant stage of my pregnancy, like the end of my trimesters.  These posts will cover a whole range of different aspects of pregnancy – basically whatever I fancy.  It’s going to be wonderful to look back at my pregnancy journey after the baby is born.

This precious gift has totally changed our lives forever and I can’t wait to meet our little cherub in September.  Our family and friends are completely overjoyed with the news and everyone has really come together to show there love and support.  My mum has turned into a soppy ball of mush and one of my aunties has started stocking up on newborn nappies already.  Alfie is being absolutely fantastic (as always) and cannot do enough for me, he has realised that I tire very easily nowadays.  We have even been baby shopping and we now have a baby small draw in our bedroom full of clothes – I feel a baby haul post coming on.  I can honestly say that I’ve never felt happier!

Are you pregnant or had a baby?  How did you find your first trimester?  Did you suffer from any any pregnancy paranoia?