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This post is intended for general information only. Please do not take it as professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Dear Mama-to-be,

Congratulations! Whether this is your first baby, second or third, finding out you’re pregnant is one of the most emotional days in your life. It is a life-changing event that you should take seriously, but not overly stressed about.

Trimester one is all about maintaining a fine balance between looking after yourself and being sensible with precautions.

It is also the best time to start prepping for your new life, taking the time to improve on personal growth and relationship bonding.

Whether your pregnancy is planned or unplanned, you’re probably experiencing an overwhelming mix of emotions rushing through your head:

• Excitement
• Anxiety
• Doubts
• Happiness
• Disbelieve
• Joy
• Confusion
• Fear

…followed by a million questions:

• Is this real?
• How will my partner react?
• How will this change my life?
• Is it a boy or a girl?
• How am I going to afford this?
• How do I tell my family?

Firstly, please know that it’s completely normal to be overwhelmed and you’re going to be ok. “But I’m not ready for this yet”, you say? Truth is, you’ll never be ‘ready’, so now is the best time to get ready.

In this post, you’ll find my top 10 tips to help you get through trimester one mentally and physically.

I’ll be sharing some honest truth about trimester one, as well as the best of my tips that I wish I knew before I was pregnant with my first.

1. Give yourself time to digest

If this is your first baby, the transformation from a woman to a mother is quite a bridge to cross. Acknowledge that you’re overwhelmed with emotions and give yourself time to process them at the beginning of trimester one.

Soak in a bath, lie on the beach or do something relaxing to help you digest the news.

Your life will be very different 40 weeks from now, so take some time off before making any decisions.

Remember to give yourself the benefit of doubt and double-check your result with a blood test at the medical centre, just in case.

2. Seek advice from healthcare professional

This may seem like a no brainer thing to do, but finding a good healthcare professional who respects your decisions, culture, and lifestyle is hard to find.

Your midwife will be one of the most important people in your pregnancy journey, so make sure she’s qualified and respects your way of thinking.

Don’t be afraid to keep looking until you find the one that you click with.

If you’re not a regular at the local medical centre, the number of hospital visits during trimester one might surprise you. The long waits, short sessions and a range of tests will soon become a routine in your life.

However, these hospital visits will become rather enjoyable once you get to the second trimester where tests become measurements of your baby’s growth.

Listening to your baby’s heartbeat for the very first time will be one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll have.

This alone makes all the hospital visits worthwhile!

3. Start a healthy diet

If you haven’t started taking folic acid already, it’s one of the most recommended supplements for the first trimester.

However, as much as I believe in Science, I’m not big on over-the-counter supplements. Folic acid pills have contributed to my constipation and I strongly believe in the power of Nature.

So for those reasons, I chose to get my nutrients from food. Initially, I cut out all the ‘bad’ food and caffeine, and increased my intake on recommended meat, fish, fruits and vegetables to meet my perceived nutritional demands.

This change of diet quickly backfired on me, as my body started to eject anything that was in excess of my normal diet. Morning sickness and food cravings were shifting my diet towards cakes, pastries, and coke, none of which were my favourites before I was pregnant.

So here’s my personal take…

Since you fell pregnant on your regular diet, as long as you have no underlying health conditions, there’s no reason why you have to change your diet drastically.

Simply eat healthy on your terms, be mindful of high-risk food, and eat everything in moderation.

4. Set your expectations

Physical Transformation

Your body is going through a heck of a lot baking a mini-you in trimester one.

You might feel tenderness in your breasts, your heart beats faster, your legs swell up and you want to nap all day long.

Give yourself a break from your normal routine and allow plenty of rest.

These symptoms will fade as the pregnancy progresses for most women, so keep smiling.

We’re not done yet. Ready to hear some brutal truth?

You might find the rapid weight gain silently dampening your confidence and self-esteem.

Very soon, you’ll have to pack away those sexy outfits in your wardrobe and replace them with maternity dresses that are two size up.

Stilettos, hair dyes and nail polishes will soon become a memory. And don’t even mention about hair loss and saggy skin.

When these thoughts are creeping in, just remember you’re creating a life. A beautiful soul that will become the biggest achievement of your life.

A part of you will live on for another generation.

Your mind and body will soon learn to love your growing belly. It is also comforting to know that you can indulge in a cake or two in trimester one and blame the bloating on pregnancy.

So as you’re gradually becoming a Superwoman Transformer, remember to set realistic expectations, think positively and look after yourself and your baby.

Emotional Transformation

Mood swings will almost inevitably affect every mum-to-be in trimester one.

Just like physical changes, every woman experiences different emotions and responds differently.

What’s important though, is to be aware of the emotional changes you’re going through.

Know that it is normal to be hyper one moment and ball your eyes out the next. Stay in the moment and try not to take it out on the closest people around you.

As easy as this sounds, being pregnant was one of the hardest emotional battles I had to fight with. Apart from drowning myself in meaningless tears, the voices in my head had never tug-o-wared this hard in my life.

The emotional roller coaster comes in waves and normally fades within a day or so before the next wave.

Unfortunately for the dads-to-be, they are usually the first victims of our extreme PMS being the closest people to us.

During this time, make sure you communicate efficiently with each other and be extra kind to one another.

It’s natural for men to try and solve ‘problems’, so let them know that more often than not, there isn’t a problem to be solved.

Emotional transformation is a process that women go through during pregnancy and all we need, is their presence, love and care.

Last but not least, please remember that not all women have smooth pregnancies.

Brutal, yes, but it’s something to keep in the back of your mind and remember to stay positive no matter what happens, most will have second chances if the first one doesn’t go well (*knock on wood*).

5. Exercise and keep moving

Being active will become more and more of a challenge as you progress in your pregnancy.

If you’re active in a particular sport, it may be time to reduce your activity level and pick up low impact activities like yoga, walking and swimming (mums’ picks).

Keeping yourself active in moderation helps you stay energised throughout pregnancy. Moderate exercises will also help with labour and postpartum recovery.

If you love travelling, this year will seem extra slow.

Although you can go on road trips, short weekend trips and fly to nearby destinations, travelling will not be the same when you’re pregnant.

However, if you can take the time to slow things down and go on a babymoon, travelling will help you stay active and take your mind off of some of the symptoms experienced in trimester one.

Lacking inspirations? Scroll through these posts »

6. Start a journal

If you don’t keep a journal, start today!

Jot down what’s on your mind, how you’re feeling and the things you’d like to say to your baby.

It’s such an emotional time when things are happening so fast that it’s hard to keep up.

It may seem chaotic and stressful at times, but soon, your thoughts and memories from trimester one will become a blur, thanks to your hormones.

As time flies, one of the most heart-melting things to do in the future is reminiscing about the progress of your pregnancy and the transformation you’ve been through. Especially in trimester one where everything is new and exciting.

If you need an app to guide you, I used the BabyCenter app, which can be downloaded from the app store for free.

It’s not too late to start taking bumpies if you haven’t already!

7. Are you financially free yet?

If you ask me what could I have done better during my pregnancy to make my motherhood easier today?

They are the two biggest investments you can make before your baby arrives!

Motherhood is the hardest job on Earth, period.

Nothing else can compare. I won’t go into details as to why, it’s not all gloom and doom, but you’ll find motherhood a lot easier if you prepare yourself financially, NOW.

One of the areas of life that will affect you the most is finance. As you look after your young, you’re stripped away from a comfortable salary which ultimately affects your status quo in today’s society.

Unless you already have a steady passive stream of income, now is the best time to either start a business that can be automated or make wise investments that outruns inflation.

8. Don’t buy the whole baby shop now

I know, as tempting as it is, I wish I didn’t jump into buying the whole baby shop during this stage of the pregnancy.

I had no idea what motherhood was about or what babies needed, I spent a lot on things that were never used.

For now, hold your thoughts on the perfect nursery furniture set, hot mama prams that are in the thousands and simply browse through baby magazines or do some research before buying anything in trimester one.

9. Spend quality time with your partner

You’ve heard this one a hundred times. “Your relationship will never be the same again”.

Yes, verified.

If you have fundamental conflicts now, this is the time to resolve them. Everything in a relationship will magnify when your baby arrives, both the good and the bad.

Don’t just sip a glass of wine, cuddle up and watch movies. Talk about your relationship, your differences, boundaries and expectations.

Get to know one another on a deeper level and work on the things that are unresolved.

Spending quality time with your partner now will strengthen your relationship for the challenge ahead.

Sleep deprivation and the overwhelming demands from new parents will really push everyone to their boundaries.

I never knew I had such a dark side before I experienced sleep deprivation.

Bond with your partner now, so you can conquer as a team later.

10. Don’t listen to horror stories

Last but not least, you’ll almost inevitably come across social media and other parents passionately sharing the horror stories about their pregnancies.

Although they may have good intentions, these horror stories are probably either highly exaggerated or have lost the majority of truth in them altogether.

Yes, some women have complications at some stage and others are blessed with the perfect labour.

Everyone is different, but most comes out fine with a beautiful baby and a tale to tell.

Either way, it’s out of your control and it’s so much better to live in the moment and deal with issues positively as they arise.

Our mind is going through a lot already and there’s really no need to take on more stress by listening to other people’s stories.

Next time when a kind stranger tells you their bloody story, do yourself a favour, nod along and move on.

Last Notes

I hope these 10 tips on surviving trimester one of your pregnancy are helpful to you one way or another.

You’re on a beautiful journey and you have a whole new life ahead.

I know it sounds cliche to say ‘enjoy this moment because you’ll miss it’, but at the least, stay positive, expect changes and look after yourself.

You CAN do it! 🌷

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