Yeah…That’s the real one. Sorry, but I don’t have a cute “baby bump” photo yet!
…..Which doesn’t fully explain why I haven’t written or shared in a few months, but it will definitely explain why my blog will suddenly have a bunch of baby posts. Truth is, I’ve just been locked in my Christmas factory for a few months.
The funny/annoying thing about being pregnant is that you wait so long to tell everyone that you have to suffer through the crappy beginning alone. Once you feel safe making the big announcement, you are in your second trimester (or in my pal, Ernessa’s case, 24 weeks) and probably feeling a lot better, so you no longer need help or advice on things like how to sneak vegetables into your meals so you don’t know they are there.
After the jump is my personal first trimester round-up for those of you still in it or for those of you who will go again in the future:
1. Morning sickness. Don’t hate me, but I didn’t really have it. I felt a little woozy a few days but Preggie Pop Drops and Ginger Honey Crystals in hot water helped a lot. I was also extremely proactive about keeping something in my stomach at all times which is the best way to keep nausea at bay. I ate 2-3 saltines religiously before bed, before getting out of bed, and between meals if it had been 2 hours or more since I ate. SO…I ate a lot of saltines, but I also never threw up!
2. Food Aversions or Cravings. I couldn’t even look at a vegetable until last week and if you put a jug of orange juice in front of me (even now), it would be gone in seconds. The aversions were hard for me because I often struggle with my weight so I am very aware of what I put into my body. I like to keep things colorful and varied so my cells (or brain) want for nothing. Let me tell you, for 14 weeks, my body wanted for A LOT, but making eating a game with my husband somehow helped. We used the list of nutrients your baby needs from What to Expect When You’re Expecting as a source for our grocery lists, making sure I was getting most of what the little bugger needed. Jeff would read down the list of possible foods to fulfill a particular nutrient, and if one of them didn’t make me gag, we added it to the grocery list. This was generally how we planned meals….backwards! Here’s one of my favorite gag-free recipes:
Pregnancy Super Food Breakfast Burritos
(Makes 2 burritos)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup liquid egg whites
- 1/2 medium tomato, seeded removed and chopped
- 1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 slice turkey bacon (no nitrites added) chopped
- 1/2 avocado, cubed
- 2 whole wheat tortillas, warmed
- hot sauce (if you can stand it)
- Salt and pepper
Cook the turkey bacon until crisp in a non-stick skillet over medium to medium high heat. In the meantime, whisk the egg, egg whites, tomato and black beans together with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. When the turkey bacon is done, spray the pan with some non-stick cooking spray (or butter if you are skinny…) and add the egg mixture to the bacon. Scramble everything until well cooked and divide between the 2 tortillas. Top each with half of the avocado cubes and some hot sauce. Wrap up and eat!
3. Lifestyle Changes. This may not be something you even notice, but a few things were quite difficult for me. My doctor recommended that I stop my workout regime because of how extreme it was (HELLO P90X), and to switch to prenatal workouts instead. I had a miscarriage earlier in the year, so I was eager to play it safe this time around, but the change was definitely drastic. I don’t really have any solutions for this if you are told to slow it down like me and you really need to do a lot of cardio or weight training to maintain weight. The only thing I could do was switch to prenatal yoga and prenatal Pilates instead, put down the weights over 3 pounds, and start seeing my plump body as a baby-making-machine rather than a source of stress. I stopped counting calories. I bought maternity pants early so I didn’t have to freak out when my non-elastic ones didn’t fit. I try to stay positive, but I’d lie if didn’t say I struggle everyday to embrace the inevitable weight gain and distinct possibility of one day weighing more than my tall, skinny husband.
4. The Anti-Glow. I did not get the glow. Oh no. I got teenage-worthy acne, mostly in places I have never broken out before (girl?). The problem with the anti-glow is that you can’t use any teenage-worthy products anymore to fix it because you could hurt the baby. After much research, a few products have literally saved my life and I fully plan on using them post-baby as well. In the morning, I wash my face with Kiehl’s Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleanser (this has a little salicylic acid in it, but since I rinse it off well, I’m not sweating it), then I use Mario Badescu Healing Cream instead of a moisturizer (if I’m outside at all, I do throw on an oil free SPF as well), and I finish with my usual makeup and my favorite concealer, Makeup Forever Full Cover Concealer. At night, I remove my makeup and wash my face again. I finish off with my absolute favorite new product specifically formulated for cystic acne (the most common during pregnancy), Mario Badescu Buffering Lotion. Twice a week, I also use the Mario Badescu Silver Powder and the Mario Badescu Drying Mask as additional treatments. If this looks like an ad for Mario Badescu, I assure you, I’m not getting paid, but effective products that don’t have retinol, salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide are tough to come by!
5. Peeing and Sleeping A Lot. Yeah. Nothing helps this. Just keep sleeping, drinking lots of fluids and get used to the bathroom.
I hope this helps anyone out there with the same issues as myself, and I promise to do a cute DIY nursery post very soon!
delia-hauser.com 
Congratulations! 😀