Goodbye First Trimester

people say that the first trimester is the worst and from my experience, it sure lived up to it's name. wowee, it isn't fun feeling like death all the time and sleeping for 12 hours, only to wake up and still feel tired.  it's also emotionally exhausting. there is so much to wrap your head around, to give up, and to accept.

some emotional moments: nearly crying at Sea World when Shamu came out. for some reason, i couldn't believe how beautiful those huge whales were and i just kept thinking how COOL was God! luckily i was wearing my sunglasses so Dave didn't notice how ridiculous i was being. another emotional moment: crying the week of my birthday when i was beyond tired of feeling sick all the time, feeling like i would never feel better, and pissed that i couldn't do any of the cool spa treatments at Glen Ivy- where Dave was sending me for my birthday.

had to give up: WINE AND BEER! no, i'm not a lush, but holy cow what goes better with pizza than an ice cold beer? not root beer my friends....; hot baths with bubble baths- i literally take a bath EVERY night. well i used to. but since i don't want to hard boil my baby (to borrow Jenny McCarthy's words) and i don't want another yeast infection (sorry, TMI. but you should know that you're more susceptible for such things when you use fragranced soap in the tub), i had to say goodbye to baths. caffeine: i didn't give this up for the whole first trimester but went without completely for 8 weeks. wowzers. i didn't like it. not because i needed the caffeine but because i missed the taste of some tasty treats: coca-cola, coffee... yum; and finally- i had to give up my prescription face cream. this was probably the worst out of everything. i have been struggling with acne since my teens and after 3 years with my dermatologist, we finally figured out what worked. only now i had to give everything up! i was terrified that Little Wood would take away my clear face and laden me with blemishes galore. while i have broken out a bit, it's not has bad as i thought it would be. and at my last appointment, my dr. said i could use one of the creams. Hallelujah!

had to accept: the future- it was going to be drastically and amazingly different, no matter what. eventually there would be lounging around with just the hubby and I- and it made me terribly sad at first; my pants were no longer fitting- probably a first in my life. i've been pretty much the same size for much of my adult life and i liked my pants, just the way they were.

Here are some of the must-haves from my first trimester, which i would recommend to anyone else going through their 1T:

Mustela Double Action Stretch Mark cream: this was my first official purchase as a pregnant woman. i've yet to see the power of this cream, but figured i would start using it early to prevent those unsightly marks. i know it's genetic, but i just have a bad feeling my skin isn't super durable. luckily my mother doesn't have a blemish on her from pregnancy, and i can only hope i follow in her footsteps. anyways this is a great smelling cream and a little goes a long way. though, that doesn't stop me from using a lot! it's around $38 a tube, and i'm nearly on to my 2nd bottle. i don't care about the price though, because i will do whatever it takes to keep those stretch marks away from me!

Preggie Pop Drops: DO NOT confuse these with Preggie Pops- the lollipop version. those suckers (quite literally) come in an array of disgusting flavors like lavender and ginger- two things that do not need to be anymore a nauseous, pregnant women's mouth.  i unknowingly stuck a ginger one in my mouth and almost yacked at the taste. i then proceeded to throw it out the car window.  anyways, Preggie Pop Drops are a must have for MS and traveling. i don't know about anyone else, but being in the car made my MS even worse, especially when my dear husband was driving. i figured out that i needed to be a driver and consume mass amounts of preggie pop drops to combat any length of car ride. but it worked! these are awesome sour candies that you can buy on Amazon or Babies r Us. I recommend Babies r Us because when you need these, you can't wait. and it was about $5 for a pack of 20 or so. money well spent.

CitraNatal Harmony prenatal vitamins: these are prescription prenatals that changed my life. as i mentioned before, my Nature Made vitamins were making me queasy and tasted disgusting.  I mentioned this fact to my doctor, and the fact that i was getting a little "backed up," if you will, from all the iron in my vitamins, so she gave me a sample of these vitamins. They are gel caps, vanilla-scented, and have a stool softener. you can laugh now, but when it's your turn, you will take whatever you can get to get you to go. and these work. don't get me wrong, it's not like ex-lax, but it makes everything a little easier. and i never get sick from them. amazing! it's a prescription so it takes a bit of planning to make sure i don't run out, and it's also a little more expensive then purchasing a large bottle of regular prenatals from Costco. but it still only costs me $9 at the pharmacy and that is money i will gladly play to not vomit up my vitamins.

BeBand- this is the Target version of the belly band which means it's the same product as the $50 one, but only costs $16.99! i've mainly used this to bridge the gap between not being able to snap my work pants and buying maternity pants that i'm still too small to fit in to. i've heard people say they used these for the entire pregnancy and never bought maternity pants and frankly- i think they are liars. this is great to just get you by, but eventually it won't cover up the fact that your pants aren't zipped, that your butt is saggy from ill-fitting pants, and that you have extra bulge in your mid-section that's attributed to 12 piece of fabric (pants, under shirt, belly band, shirt, etc.). it just doesn't look right, but i'm using it as long as possible to make the best use out of my suit pants.

all that being said, i was more than happy to bid farewell to my first trimester and walk into the warm, energizing arms of the second trimester.  i've heard nothing but great things about you second trimester, so lay it on me!