Tuesday 31 January 2017

PREGNANCY #2: Tips for Surviving the First Trimester

The first trimester of pregnancy is hard, women often have morning sickness, sore boobs and tiredness to a whole new level! In your first pregnancy you can nap when you want to (work permitting of course), book in for relaxing pregnancy massages and generally look after yourself. However, second/third/fourth/fifth time you're pregnant those are often all luxuries of the past. This time around you have a child/ren to look after; one that doesn't sit still, always listen to instructions and is generally exhausting. Personally, I've found being pregnant second time around a lot harder as I'm not able to look after myself and other than the sickness I often forget I'm even pregnant.

Over the first four months of pregnancy I have learnt (often the hard way) some tips and tricks of how to survive the first trimester of subsequent pregnancies. Hopefully these will help someone else because lets face it, motherhood is all about sharing tricks to make life easier.

1) Scented wipes and nappy sacks - Usually we use fragrance free wipes with Isabella, though she doesn't have sensitive skin we prefer to stay on the side of caution. However, as soon as my morning sickness hit changing her nappy became a real challenge. The smell, anticipation and wriggling toddler made the whole experience pretty dreaded if I'm honest. I learnt that I could handle the baby powder smell of wipes and nappy sacks, so I came up with a little routine to make the experience much less dreaded. It went something like this...

Take a wipe
Smell it
Hold your breath
Undo the nappy
Wipe
Breathe out
Take another wipe
Smell it
Hold your breath
Wipe
Breathe out
Repeat until all clean
Put the nappy/wipes into a scented nappy sack
Hold breath
Tie nappy sack (this can send a burst of unpleasant smell your way)
Breathe normally again
Take nappy sack to the outside bin

2) Freeze child friendly meals ahead of time - If you're trying for a baby then it is really helpful to batch cook child friendly meals and pop them in the freezer. Morning sickness meant that our kitchen was off limits, I'd avoid it at all costs. I usually love cooking for Isabella, but simply couldn't during the first trimester. Our pre-cooked meals in the freezer have been a saviour, as I knew Isabella was still eating well and I didn't have to attempt to cook while being sick!

3) Pack snacks - Every parent of a toddler knows the importance of taking snacks everywhere you go! So when you're packing up their snacks make sure to make some for yourself too, you never know when the sickness is going to hit. I also found that I had to choose toddler friendly snacks for myself, as if I was needing to eat and Isabella wasn't she would get upset. We often shared cereal bars or fruit at the most random times of the day.

4) Nap when they nap - I know this is easier said than done, but there were many days where I simply couldn't function unless I slept when Isabella slept. Luckily she usually has a good two hour nap in the middle of the day, so I would pop her sleep then get straight into bed and have a nap myself. I knew that if I went back downstairs I'd get distracted by jobs or work and not sleep. Sometimes jobs around the house just have to wait and you have to be slightly selfish or look after yourself, as I see it.

5) Carry smints everywhere with you - You know that horrendous taste you get in your mouth as soon as you find out your pregnant? Well that taste would often make me sick, so I survived off smints. They are small enough to not make me gag, minty enough to get rid of the taste (if only temporarily), they mask some of the disgusting smells the world has to offer and the packet makes a great 'shaker' for toddler's that need distracting.

How did your survive your first trimester?

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)

Helen x


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13 comments

  1. I was done in with fatigue for the first trimester, literally slept all the time, I was so weak and exhausted. Some great tips here for surviving though! #Ablogginggoodtime

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  2. Great tips. In Holland they have cookies called Speculas. They have ginger spice and I always had a packet on my desk at work to starve off the morning sickness. Thank you for linking up to #ablogginggoodtime 🎉

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  3. Great advice. I suffered terrible sickness with both my girls, that lasted all day every day. I definitely had to make sure I had food with me at all times, as I felt that I had to eat little and often. And yes I napped when Alice napped, it was the only way I survived. Thank you for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove x

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  4. Oh man. I hated, hated, hated the first trimester. I was sick up to 20 weeks and nauseous for a good few weeks after that. The husband is keen to get on with baby no. 2 but I'm just still too traumatised from #1.

    Good luck with rest of pregnancy xxx #sharingthebloglove

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  5. Oh, I feel your pain on every single one of these. We've enjoyed many naps together - it's the first time I've ever managed to 'sleep when the baby sleeps' - when Max was a newborn he didn't sleep! We've quite often literally napped together in my bed, it's been lovely. The nappy changes have definitely been a struggle - I wish I'd known your baby wipe sniffing routine! Congratulations on making it well into the second trimester now! Thanks for joining us at #SharingtheBlogLove

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  6. Mine were both awful, but the second one was harder because I had a toddler to keep alive too. Good luck. As you know, it does pass.
    #sharingthebloglove

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  7. All good tips - as a mum-of-3 I had terrible sickness first time round - and was pregnant again when my first was 12 months old. She used to follow me into the bathroom whilst I was being sick and shut the toilet seat on my head!I found ice cubes helped and also the smell of lemons too. Sarah #sharingthebloglove

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  8. Being pregnant is so hard when you have other children! With my fifth baby I was really poorly and I had a 3 month old, a 12 month old and an 8 year old to look after! You can imagine how that went!! I found eating little and often helped with the nausea and lots of bribes the rest of the time! #sharingthebloglove

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  9. Great tips! There's a six year age gap between my daughter and the twins which did help a lot! Those that do it with toddlers are brave! #SharingtheBlogLove

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  10. I'm taking the baby wipe tip and noting that down! #SharingtheBlogLove

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  11. Oh this is a good post with good tips. I struggled so bad with sickness the first time around and I'm worried how I'll cope if we get pregnant again. I also used to have constant snacks and a selection of mints and chewing gum on me at all times! #SharingtheBlogLove

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  12. I'm sure I already commented on this... Baby brain at its best eh?! I wrote a similar post before Christmas however, it actually wasn't as I haven't felt sick this pregnancy... So my ideas were very different, I love how it shows that ever pregnancy is just so different! Great tip on the scented baby wipes! I really did wish H would nap just for 10 minutes 😂 Hope it's all going well X
    #sharingthebloglove

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  13. Hi there! I just found this post via Twitter!
    I am close to the end of my first pregnancy (38 weeks) and I remember the first trimester very well. Everything made me feel very queasy and nauseous. Oddly enough, I never actually got sick. I hope, if we are blessed with Baby #2, that I’ll be as lucky the second time around lol.
    I think you’ve shared some really great tips here! Definitely some things for me to keep in mind moving forward! 😊
    ~ Ray
    http://hartofblogging.com/

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