First Trimester Favorites

So long, first trimester!

I think most women are happy to see the first twelve weeks of pregnancy behind them. Fatigue, nausea, and a host of other unsavory side effects traditionally plague this magical time. While there is a baby forming and developing at an incredible rate inside, to the rest of the world you might look the same as you always did. It can be a hard time to get through, and I wanted to share some of my favorites from my first trimester this time around in case it could be useful to anyone else. Every woman and pregnancy is different, so I really recommend trying all sorts of things to help your symptoms, but this is what worked for me!

Annie’s Cinnamon Bunny Grahams – I had these lying around for my kids and ended up hoarding them for myself. They were a lifesaver during my early nausea days. I would snack on a few as soon as I got out of bed to ward off that empty tummy nausea, and any time that I felt like I needed just a little something in my stomach but couldn’t bring myself to cook or really eat anything. I would not have expected cinnamon to be a pleasant flavor at that time, but it totally was!

Chocolove Dark Chocolate with Crystalized Ginger – Ginger is often recommended for nausea, and I tried a whole lot of ginger products during my first trimester. I gave up on ginger ale long ago (too much sugar), but I did try some ginger snaps and even ginger lotion (not for eating) to no avail. One thing that did sit right was this chocolate bar. One little square was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth and the ginger had just the right texture and flavor. I’m still sneaking a bite of this almost daily and can’t even bring myself to try their other flavors even though they’re probably equally delicious.

Lemon Essential Oil – I’m not an essential oil person, but I have this one and a couple others lying around. When I was about seven weeks pregnant I came down with the stomach flu. Paired with morning sickness (which for me is really just all day nausea) I never thought I was going to make it to the other side. I first tried sniffing peppermint oil because I had heard that was good for nausea, but it didn’t do much for me. I knew citrus to be good for morning sickness as well and after sniffing the lemon oil I decided that was a much better fit for me. It was still a battle to recover, but I would waft the open bottle under my nose any time I would walk past it and the crisp, clean scent refreshed me for a bit.

Rainbow Light Prenatal One – I have taken all sorts of prenatal vitamins over the years, but I recently tried this one and really like it. There are no artificial dyes and it’s full of good things like probiotics. They haven’t made me nauseous or caused other, ahem, digestive issues like some of the other vitamins I’ve tried.

The Chopped Podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, and Professor Blastoff – Podcasts! Kind of a weird pregnancy love. But. I’ve been trying really hard to stay active and keep up my fitness with this pregnancy, and having podcasts to listen to while I exercise has been totally motivating. I usually go for a 30 minute walk/run a few days a week while listening to these favorites. They’re all over 30 minutes long, so I get really excited to exercise the next day and finish whichever one I was listening to.

Water – Obviously a pregnant woman should be drinking a lot of water, but let me tell you I have been craving it! When I was nauseous it felt good to sip a cold drink. Especially when I was getting over being sick I couldn’t eat a lot but would still just sip water all day long to stay hydrated and it really helped my energy.

Sleep – Another freebie! If you can get it. My husband rocks and would get up with the kids in the morning so I could grab an extra hour of sleep. I found it really helped my morning nausea if I wasn’t waking up super tired. There were a few mornings where I had to get up early with the kids and I ended up on the couch until long after I would have otherwise gotten out of bed.

Bella Band – I had one of these sitting around from previous pregnancies, and thank goodness. My belly popped out almost immediately after getting pregnant and continued to expand at a slightly alarming and embarrassing rate. Despite my belly’s size, maternity pants and shirts just weren’t working yet. This band fits over your (unbuttoned! unzipped even!) jeans and holds them up so you can live in comfort.

Pizza – My food aversions were off the charts this time around, but there was about a week where pizza sounded amazing. With the exception of breakfast I ate it exclusively, in various forms, for about four days in a row. It must have been the savory carb and cheese combo that made it so palatable. That and the fact that pizza is awesome any time.

I already have a few things I’m loving in my second trimester and am looking forward to sharing those with you! Do you have any first (or second!) trimester favorites? Share them in the comments!

I am not associated with any of the brands above, nor have I been compensated. There are a few affiliate links above, but, as always, all opinions are my own.