Being pregnant is one of the most exciting times of your life. Whether you are pregnant or your partner is. Being one of the most exciting times does not make it any less scary though. There is a lot that can potentially go wrong especially within the first trimester. For me, I feel like my second pregnancy I was more nervous in the 1st trimester than I was in my 1st pregnancy. Why? I honestly have no idea. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had more symptoms during my second pregnancy than I did for my first. These are some of the things that scared me, and hopefully reading this will help you or someone you love feel a bit easier during their first trimester also too.
One of the major things I was worried and scared about was a miscarriage. I had never been pregnant before but for some reason it really scared me. It also didn’t help that I was using a fertility app where there was a bunch of people symptom spotting and nearly everyone was searching for their rainbow baby. This is when they have had a miscarriage and the next baby is the rainbow baby. I dont even think anyone in my family had a miscarriage either. One thing I did find comfort in if you can even find that, was researching that if there is a miscarriage chances are it was something to do with the chromosomes. It made me feel a little better knowing if something did happen that the chances are it was at such a cellular level that there was nothing that could be done to prevent it. It also helped to stop looking at the app and reading all of these stories because it certainly did not help me not panic about it or become paranoid.
Another thing that barely happened with my 1st pregnancy and happened a bigger time with my second was spotting. No spotting in pregnancy is ever considered normal. But spotting is a common thing that happens to people. With my first it was such a small amount that it was not a big deal. It scared me but I talked to a friend and it was alright. This second pregnancy I had wiped once and it was a pink color and that scared me. I booked an emergency appointment. They said it was my cervix and booked an early ultrasound about 7 weeks. Everything was fine!
Another scare that I had with both pregnancy’s was morning sickness. You always panic and worry when you hear the horror stories. People who can barely get out of bed or barely eat and what not. With my 1st pregnancy I was very luck in terms of morning sickness. If I was sick I would go to bed. Or if I was tired I would nap too. With my second pregnancy I felt more nauseous and would try to nap more when my son napped. Or where there is covid and some reduced hours in work places my boyfriend would be home early and I would nap when he was home. I still feel extremely lucky when it comes too morning sickness. Most of my yucky feelings was in the evenings when my son would be going to bed or already in bed. When it came to combating this I would have little candies to help suck on. Some instant breakfasts that helped to drink something so I wasn’t feeling so empty when I woke up. I would have ginger cookies around to munch on if I needed it also too. And ginger ale also was used. All these little things helped when it came to feeling icky and trying to make it through the day easier without feeling like I was dragging my butt along.
And finally, not so much a scary thing, kind of exciting but also something to worry about, when do you tell people! We ended up telling my boyfriends parents early with my 1st pregnancy due to the fact that we went to visit them. And I told a few friends who I was close with who also had kids early in their lives. That way I had some folks to talk to about it with. Then we waited to tell my family til we went home which was about 10 weeks. With our second one we told people publicly about 10 weeks because we were buying a home and were frustrated with how the housing market was and figured why not share some great news with our friends and family. With our family though we told them a lot sooner, maybe like 6 or 7 weeks and just kept it quiet til we told everyone after. A lot of people suggest waiting til after 12 weeks because thay is nearly out of the first trimester. That is in case something were to happen. Really, I think it is a personal choice. Whenever you want to tell family or friends that is your choice to do so.
As you can see, even with one of the happiest and exciting times of your life, there can still be some scary things happening. For me, I tried not to dwell on what scared me and I tried to wait til I knew for sure. Thinking about what-ifs can be very taxing and stressful. And as time progresses during pregnancy you lose some of this fear and the excitement gains more control than being scared. Or your fears change, or evolve too. I know it is harder to say than do, bur don’t let your fear overshadow the miracle of bearing a child and creating a family!
Have you or someone you know been pregnant, and did they or you have the same things that scared you also?
Was there anything different that you had to deal with that you were fearful in the 1st trimester of pregnancy?
Let me know in the comments below! Maybe others or even myself have had the same fears.
