Pregnancy Simplified – A Guide to help you in the First Trimester

You probably discovered your pregnancy between weeks 4-6.  Excitement sets in and you set your first Dr. appointment.  At week 7 your baby is the size of a grape and by week 12 your baby is the size of a lime!

Pregnancy & First Trimester, What to expect

During your pregnancy you will have a total of 3 Sonograms.  

• Between weeks 10-12
• Between weeks 18-22
• Between weeks 28-40

During your pregnancy you will have unique tests.

• Initial blood work and pap smear
• If you are 35+ they encourage a Maternity 21 Blood test between weeks 10-11.  This test will look for chromosome abnormalities and also determine the sex of your baby prior to 18 weeks!  The results take about 10 business days!
• Glucose Screening for pregnancy diabetes. This was no joke and if you have to go back for the secondary test in case the first one is close to – prepare to be there for a few hours!  

Expect to see your Doctor every 4 weeks.

Routine visits include urine tests, weight, heartbeat and measurements.  The doctor visits will increase as the weeks go by… After awhile they get exhausting and I tried to convince them it wasn’t necessary at one point.  My pregnancy tantrum was quite humorous to them and now to me looking back.  I think between the blood-work and glucose tests I was at the doctor every week and by the 4th visit I had enough!  

Pregnancy hormones and emotions are no joke! How to survive Pregnancy Hormones…..

Symptoms typically start showing around week 6.  Some of these might be early signs of pregnancy too!

• Exhaustion
• Nausea – Otherwise referred to as Morning Sickness – How to Survive Morning Sickness
• Dehydration – Chapstick was my best friend!
• Baby Brain – This is a real thing.  It wasn’t until after my pregnancy that I learned Baby Brain is an actual physical change due to the hormones now producing in your body.  Drink lots of water, add some lemon where you can to help with this.

Fun things to do:

Sign up for what to expect

You can see week by week progress and videos on your baby’s growth and development!

Start week by week belly photos

A popular baby photo application that has the weekly stickers even past pregnancy is Baby Milestones Live.  Its highly rated by Moms!

Plan your Gender Reveal Party!  

Is it a boy or girl?  You’ll know around week 13 if you have the blood-work and around week 18 if the gender is revealed during a sonogram.

Start Planning for your baby

Shopping for your baby is absolutely exciting!  It’s a little more difficult to start shopping when you don’t know if you’re having a boy or a girl yet.  You can however start planning for all the gear and newborn essentials you are going to need!

Following these 4 steps will not only make sure you’ve covered everything but it gives you an idea for a budget.  

Step 1 – Start a Registry “wish list” – Here’s a Comprehensive Newborn Essentials Guide

Step 2 – Send the list to 2 of your closest friends or family and ask for suggestions

Step 3 – Revise your list based on suggestions

Step 4 – Make 2 separate registries, 1 for yourself and 1 for the baby shower

An inclusive Newborn Essentials list can be found here.  I can’t begin to tell you how many things I didn’t realize you needed.

My ALL TIME favorite products can be found here.

The latest products I can’t wait to use for Baby #2 can be found here.  THEY ARE SO AWESOME!

Determine your Maternity Leave benefit at work

This will help you budget for any non-paid time off you will need to take.  Suggested maternity leave is between 6-8 weeks depending on the type of birth.  Every mom is different, I wish I had taken 3 months off!

When you are budgeting, don’t break the bank!

Here is how I pulled off my nursery, found an affordable glider and crib!

Nursery Essentials on Amazon for under $500

Affordable Nursery Gliders that Moms Love