Coping With Your First 12 Weeks of Pregnancy: The ‘Tough To Tell No One’ Trimester

If you’ve ever been through a pregnancy you’ll know: those first 12 weeks can be impossibly hard. Not only is your body changing at a rapid rate, increasing the risk of challenging pregnancy side-effects like morning sickness. But, because the embryo is in a comparatively vulnerable state during these 3 months, it’s likely you’ll have made the choice to keep schtum about what’s going on, apart from with your partner. The result? Feeling, whether at work, or during the day-to-day, as if you have no choice but to suffer – and to do so in silence until you hit Trimester 2.

Weeks 1-12: the toughest trimester?

We’re nicknaming this first trimester – which spans a timeframe beginning on the first day of your last period, until the end of your twelfth week – the ‘Tough To Tell No One’ Trimester. Being bloated and achey, feeling nauseous, unpredictable changes in appetite and mood; they’re all hard enough to go through as it is, without feeling able to confide in co-workers, friends and family. Added to that the sense that you aren’t able to feel your baby yet; aren’t able to cuddle your bump, or feel your little one move around – well, labor day can feel agonisingly distant. But there are things out there which might help you get through this early patch, and feel less alone.

Ideas for coping with your first trimester:

We’ve pulled together a handful of ideas that other moms-to-be have found helpful for getting through the worst. How many of them have you tried?

Confide in a mom you trust

Whether it’s a cousin, a sister, a best friend, your own mother, or even a stranger you know you’ll never see again. If you’re able to connect with one person who’s been through the first trimester themselves, it may bring you relief. The truth is you’re never alone in pregnancy. At any one time, millions of women around the world may well be experiencing similar things to you. Just remember: every pregnancy is different, so what happened to your mom, for example, may not be true for you. Of course, if you ever have cause for concern, don’t hesitate to contact your doctor.

Visit a specialist forum for mothers-to-be

Can’t find the right person to talk to face-to-face? You can always log into a forum and discover the breadth of experiences out there. Search until you find the forum that resonates for you. You can also check through the pregnancy section of nausearelief.com, where you’ll find new blog posts continuously updated, from a community keen to address, and reduce, the anxiety surrounding pregnancy.

Try out natural remedies for morning sickness

There is a range of discrete anti-nausea remedies out there, designed to give you a helping hand through those hard early weeks of morning sickness (a period that is different for every mom-to-be). Our specialist pregnancy acupressure band, Sea-Band Mama, is completely drug-free, and stimulates the P6 acupressure point for effective morning sickness relief that can easily be hidden under cuffs, shirt sleeves and bangles.

Read up on your baby’s progress

If you feel like the first trimester is taking a lifetime, you’re not the only one. It’s a time that never seems to end – but it will. Remind yourself that your baby is growing, and in truly amazing ways. You may not be able to feel them yet, but by 6 weeks (baked bean size) its limbs are already forming. By 12 weeks (triple grape size) it has internal organs, sex organs, and its own detectable heartbeat. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: you’re not alone and help is always out there. So be kind to yourself during your first trimester, confide to others if you need to, and concentrate on the end result: the gorgeous baby you’ll meet in a few months’ time. For more pregnancy articles check this out and check out the Sea-Band range pf products here