Some Personal News: I'm pregnant!

And what that's been like so far!

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In some personal news:  I’m pregnant!

Yup.  Just about 14 weeks along now!

I have this pregnancy app that tells you how big the baby is by comparing it to sizes of various fruits. So, we’ve been referring to the baby as the fruit name each week… this week, we have a lemon!

The Lemon is doing well so far!… tests have, thankfully, come back looking like everything is going well and the babe is healthy!

I’ve always wondered what the impacts of pregnancy might be for me, as I know they can be different person to person and pregnancy to pregnancy. And I’m happy to share how things have been going and how I’ve been feeling so far, and also remind everyone that this is my personal experience, and, again, pregnancies are different person to person!

So, how has being pregnant impacted my nutrition and fitness so far??

Here’s some standout noticings of my experiences over the last 14 weeks:

*First of all, I *felt* different almost right away… before a pregnancy test could even show up positive, I knew something was up.  If I wasn't pregnant, something was WRONG!  Maybe some of it was more mental than actually physical, but I just didn’t feel fully myself almost right away.

*Oh gosh… Food has been interesting… There were about 7-8 weeks there when eating anything was TOUGH.  I was nauseous all the time, but also hungry, so that made for a difficult balance.  I did the best I could, trying to prioritize healthy foods, but also simply eating whatever I was able to to make sure I was getting calories (hello, grilled cheese sandwiches!).  Thankfully, that has toned down over the last two weeks or so and I’m back to eating a pretty typical food plan for me!

*Now, I’m more focused on making sure I’m eating enough overall calories and specifically protein, as I still get full really easily, so portion sizes I used to normally have don’t go down as easily. So, I’m having more snacks during the day to try to make up for smaller meals and spread out intake more.

*At this point, treats are far less appetizing than they used to be… I think this is more to do with feeling incredibly full after meals that fitting in a treat just doesn’t seem possible.  I still enjoy something sweet or salty every once in a while, just less, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! I could also see this shifting over time, but so far, wayyyy fewer treats than my norm.

*It’s also been difficult to drink a lot of water. Nausea definitely played a role in that for a while, but now it’s more the fullness piece. Like, not feeling like I can fit it. But I’m making the effort and staying at it. Plus, adding some electrolytes here and there too to help with overall hydration.

*Fitness has stayed much the same.  I still workout 5x per week (or at least move… sometimes a walk is more appealing than a workout).  I do, however, make more adjustments to intensity, weights, and movements depending on how I’m feeling. I’ve cut back on running and traditional ab work. I’m still doing core focused movements here and there, but more stability work that’s pregnancy-friendly! I’ll continue to adjust as needed moving forward, but plan to continue to get my movement in a best as possible!

*Not drinking hasn’t been hard, which is nice!  However, not eating things like deli meats, bacon, and other things you’re not supposed to have when pregnant has been more challenging… specifically, trying to come up with alternative lunch options—that still seem appetizing/edible—has been tough! 

*My weight has stayed relatively consistent, so far, which is surprising… but I also know that will change soon!  The day I found out I was pregnant I weighed 146 and today I weighed 143.4. I wasn’t lying when I said eating was tough for a while there! However, now that I’m starting to feel better I’ve been tracking food here and there to make sure I’m getting enough. I’ve probably lost a little muscle mass too, which might actually contribute more to my current weight. Despite weight not changing a lot, clothes are definitely getting tighter!

Left: The day I found out I was pregnant. Right: 13-14 weeks. Both: messy room.

*What is surprising is just how big my boobs have gotten (for me!) already!  Like they’re probably each gained a pound! haha! Who knew this change would happen so early! I’ll be honest though, I don’t really mind it, especially now that they don’t hurt as much anymore!

*Dude… they are not lying when they say increased fatigue is a symptom of pregnancy. The TIRED is REAL! Luckily, I am able to sneak in a nap every once in while.

*And that brings me to my next point… sleep. Which has not been awesome. At first, falling asleep was really hard. Then it was having to pee so frequently and getting up a lot was the challenge. Now, I’m getting up once per night and then lay there for like 2 hours before I can fall asleep again… not awesome, but hoping it gets better for a few weeks in the second trimester, at least!

I think that’s it for now! If these kinds of updates every once in a while are things people find interesting, I’ll keep doing them. But if you come here for other nutrition news and updates and could care less about my pregnancy experiences, then I’m surprised you got this far to read this, but also let me know in the comments and I’ll put these updates elsewhere! No offense taken ; )

As always, thank you for reading!
xoxo,
Sara