First Trimester Favorites

Hi friends!

I thought it would be fun to share some things that helped me get through the first trimester. I used to read {and save} posts like these from the blogs I follow, even before I got pregnant. Always the planner! Not included in the above collage however my biggest help and support during the first trimester {and beyond} was my Hubby! I am thankful to have such a wonderful man to experience pregnancy with as well as life in general. A lot of responsibility fell on him as I was experiencing a new level of tired that pregnancy brings with it. We were packing up our rental of 5+ years to move into our first home. We had ambitious goals for our new home including new flooring over more than 2000 sq ft and painting the entire interior of the home, including the ceilings. Thankfully, our family and friends stepped up to help Bri and the results are truly amazing. Just wait until I show you the after pictures. We still have work to do but the transformation is awesome. Here are some of the before pictures.

Bri, I hope you know how appreciative and grateful I am. Love you baby daddy! ;)

1. Apps
The first app I downloaded was BabyCenter My Pregnancy App. It tracks your pregnancy week by week and sends me alerts each Tuesday when I have reached a new week. I also downloaded the bump App and What to Expect App. It is so fun to read what baby is doing each week. There is a lot going on in there.

2. Prenatal Vitamins
To say we started preparing for baby way in advance is an understatement. I knew it was important to start taking prenatal vitamins a couple months before you start trying to conceive. I started taking up&up Prenatal Gummy Multivitamins in January 2013. I had some health issues and surgery that delayed baby for awhile. We were also really hoping to find a house first. Fast forward to July 2014, I was still faithfully taking these vitamins. They may have actually saved me from morning sickness as well. I read after I found out I was pregnant that taking the vitamins for an extended period of time (not sure how long) prior to pregnancy can help decrease morning sickness. Amazing! I do not want to jinx myself but while I have had some nausea, I have never gotten physically sick. I definitely felt blah a lot for weeks 6 - 9 but I will take blah over losing my cookies. mmm...cookies! Also, these gummies don't have iron which can cause constipation {keeping it real!} so my doctor is encouraging me to make sure I get iron through food like red meat and spinach.

3. Water
I am not a good water drinker. I had a hard time drinking enough water when I wasn't pregnant. Now it is more of a struggle since I need to be drinking even more water. I have been drinking La Croix for  years. It was nice to mixed this sparkling water in with regular bottled water. I also use a Camelbak water bottle which has a straw and seems to help me drink more water.

4. Bland Snacks
It definitely helped to have something in my stomach at all times. I noticed that I went from feeling just blah to a little hungry to feeling queasy pretty quickly. I started with saltine crackers but I found I needed to change up my snack of choice. For a week, I don't even know how many slices of plain potato bread I ate. I ate a lot of pretzels. My latest snacks du jour are animal crackers and Nilla Wafers. I still keep a snack in my purse most of the time because you never know when hunger will strike. One day I was driving from our townhouse to the house before we moved in and I had to make a grilled cheese to take in the car because I didn't think I could wait to eat when I got there. To be fair, it was a 30 minute drive! Even now in the second trimester, I had to open a package of almonds just to get through shopping at Target today because I started not feeling good because I was so hungry. A hungry pregnant lady is no joke. ;)

5. & 6. Lip Balm
I have noticed that my lips have become a lot dryer since I became pregnant. EOS Lip Balm and Honest Lip Balm are my favorites. Honest brand is nice because it has a plain lip balm which is nice when everything smells so strong or if you are have aversions to scents or feeling queazy.

7. & 8. Comfy Clothes
Before I found out I was pregnant, I had purchase some drawstring linen shorts from Old Navy in Aqua. They really came in handy when I didn't want something snug on my stomach. And living in Florida, I know I will get to use them as my bump grows into the fall season as it will still be insanely hot! I also broke down around week 10 when I felt like I was just starting to get a little bump and bought 4 maxi dresses on clearance at Target. I am so glad I bought them because I have been wearing them like crazy. It helps that I can wear them for work too. And for $14 each, I can wear them till they are worn out or stretched and not even feel bad about it.

And, since it is Tuesday...Happy 17 weeks Baby Kozell!!!

AMK