20/04/2010

It's a hard time.

I think the first trimester is really difficult, not only has it been put on par with the third trimester for how annoying and tiresome it can be, you also can't really reap the benefits of being pregnant.
For my own reasons I won't tell any of my friends of my pregnancy until I have passed 12 weeks. We are all different, but, without an obvious bump on show and bags under the eyes it can just be such a drag. My friends are suspicious that I have been 'ill' for sometime.I think my housemate is already in the know as I have been vomiting and avoiding contact with the kitchen (I cant stand the smell of even the blandest of foods) for about 3/4 weeks now.

Some tips then:
Probably best not to blame it on a made up hangover. Something I did at first. Although the symptoms are in a way similar you dont want to give the wrong impression when you do give your good news.
Take as much time as you want in bed. The rest is good for your and your mood, also it is scientifically proven fatigue makes morning sickness worse. Don't make a difficult time worse out of guilt.

If you are sensitive to smells suggest a safe place to meet friends and the like, mine is the Chinese resturant, for some reason I find the soups and starters ease off the nausea. Something like an Italian or pub would make me gag and probably be sick, in front of my unsuspecting friends. Make a mental note of places that make you feel normal(ish).
Don't eat rich healthy foods out of guilt, you wont keep it down and you will tire and dehydrate yourself from vomiting.

If you are lucky enough to have a partner or pet, enjoy this time to snuggle and watch films you didn't have the time for before. Below is a couple of pics of our cat Moloko (sadly no longer with us.)



Use this time to plan your new hairstyle as you will have lovely new locks to play with. As hair is growing, fast!
Pampering is a great way to elevate nausea. I add 4 drops of Patchouli oil in the bath as I have found it really helps me out. (Or try another essential oil to your preference but do be careful, some oils are harmful when pregnant. There are numerous articles and guides about this topic, do check them out. Aromatherapy can help with lots of smallish health problems.)

I carry peppermint oil when I am going to have a long day working, it helps with the weighty feeling in my ankles and it feels really refreshing. I guess I will be doing this a lot more when summer hits!

Sip water every 15-20 minutes if you can't keep lots down, find a fluid which is right for you. Mine is plain sparkling water, probably not the best thing for gas and tummy aches but it does make me feel a wee bit better.

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Consider telling a trusted member of staff about your morning sickness if it is bad, I did this when I worked in a cinema as the nacho cheese made me gag. They kept it a secret and I got to help out away from the food working with little children. Score.

If vomiting is more than you are keeping down go to a walk in clinic or emergency gynaecology unit, if your doctor says something along the lines of 'you aren't ill, you are pregnant' seek advice else where. Make sure you get the correct urine and blood tests if you are worried you are unable to keep any nutrients.

Next time, a write up about bowels. Yaay!

13/04/2010

Morning sickness eats and treats.

I know that morning sickness, cravings and aversions vary from women to women, but there are also some foods that many groups of pregnant women seem to swear by.
Here are a few things that I have found helpful.
Some of these are not good for you, the morning sickness foods suggested in magazines I find are always a bit too rich or just made out of things I wouldn't possibly be able to keep down.
Eating rich foods that you can't keep down out of guilt is not going going to work, it is not a sustainable method of coping, don't be really hard on yourself, try to do your best, but if you know that organic 3 of your 5 a day will probably come back up try and buy something a bit more bland. Being realistic is more healthy for you and baby.

Some bits and bobs:
Apple Nutigrain bars, have a far of these in my handbag, strawberry ones make me feel queasy but the apple ones hit the spot.

Bananas, eat slowly as they can be quite rich, I pull them apart so that I eat them in smaller chunks. Another good handbag fix also low release sugars to help with fatigue.

Honey on toast, no butter a thin layer of runny honey, this helps with the gurgling, bubbling sensations in your tummy. Dry toast with a little bit of anything can save the day.


Pineapple chunks, from a tin preferred, I went out and purchased some from a deli part in a supermarket and it tasted really strongly of chemicals and the texture was really hard. Pineapple from a tin is easy to eat and soft, not to mention cheap to buy and store. If you mix it up with another1 or 2 fruits you feel you can keep down you could have a cheap fruit salad for you and the family (or for your friends).

Pink and white wafers -Don't ask me how, but without these I wouldn't have been able to cope. Sweet and bland. Also, very cheap. Good if you are sick of eating dry crackers and rice-cakes.

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Lucozade, the sugar fix really helps with the fatigue, gives a much needed boost after vomiting.
Please try to combine this with drinking water, Lucozade alone isn't going to be good for you or baby.

Tuna sandwiches, again no butter and especially no mayo, even typing the word it is something me and my tummy are regretting. Corned beef and peanut butter can work too. Just keep it all separate ladies...

Cherry bake-wells, they are sweet enough to go down quite well, flavoursome to the pallet without being too rich and the crust dry to settle the stomach. I often have two for breakfast.


Petit Filous, lovely, healthy, cooling and not too rich. Yum.

Cottage pie, roast dinners, vegetable stews, etc. Okay, these foods appear to be quite rich, but I have found potatoes and carrots are quite successful in staying down. Most vegetables which are boiled or plainly baked seems to add a bit of weight to your meal making it harder to come back up. Just make sure your gravy isn't wine based or overtly saucy as it may undo the hard work. Make sure you cut the veg chunkier than usual, if you don't like your veg over cook it slightly. Bigger chunks of veg are better for you and they will be more likely to stay down.

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Best to avoid spreads sauces and milk when at all possible. This sadly includes tea, one of my big joys in life; I have switched to light herbal teas (or on a bad day just boiled water adding a little cinnamon to help with the digestion.)

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Also even with the blandest foods try and find the right antacid for you, the one you can stomach the most. They can potential save an evening's meal and subsequently an evening's energy.

11/04/2010

Book recommendation

After all the pregnancy diaries, magazines and trashy advice books I find this one to be the most appealing. 'Crib Notes: A random reference for the modern parent'.
It will not prepare you for birth or even through your pregnancy, but it will take your mind off your morning sickness and fatigue.
This book has nothing to do with pregnancy in that it is not an advice book, as a reference book it is quite unhelpful, although not useless and you will learn things in here that Miriam Stoppard would never come around to publishing.


It will propose questions such as 'How do the gestational periods of women compare to other mammals'? ( the Indian elephant beats every other creature on the list, with 624 days of pregnancy)... Y'ouch.
It will help you to decipher if your child is the Dali Lama or not, how to make a dog balloon and it will give you stage directions for insy weensy spider, whilst in between teaching you the basics of genetics. Lots of pictures and great spacing, not hard to read even with a pre-12 week migraine, a nice squishy babyish cover too.

I recently gave this book to my best friend who is training to be a midwife, I thought she could pass on all the strange facts on to her patients during the years to come. This book is unique in that it is for people of both sexes and it hardly matters if you are pregnant or not, the trivia alone is really interesting, we're not talking 'by week 7 your baby will have a heartbeat', no. We hear that stuff all the time, in this book you will learn more about the pop culture surrounding parenthood, such as the top toys of the twentieth century!

It helped me see the brighter side of pregnancy, do buy!

Introduction

My name is April and at this point I am 7.5 weeks pregnant.
I wanted to make a blog documenting the process (if not just for my own amusement) I want to have a place where I can bring all my research together, I hope to cut through all of the information given to pregnant women and caring partners bring just the facts ma'am, whilst hopefully and simultaneously discovering and highlighting tips on the way!

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I am 22 years old, me partner (Richard, 24) have never had a child, we live in Manchester, United Kingdom. Neither of us are in full-time work as I am an Art student in my final year and Richard is currently between two courses.

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For obvious reasons we are worried about what's lies ahead. Money woes, loss of a social life, discomfort, and then even the idea of bringing in our own little life; we worry about our own abilities of becoming parents whilst hoping to maintain a high quality of life for our new arrival.

Are all these horror stories about labour true? - Is it merely over exaggerated secondary source material that makes women like myself fearful...Probably not, eh ladies? But here's hoping that's the case!

I hope to find out more about each anxiety that pregnancy brings and offer the facts ma'am. Or rather, my interpretation of them.

I hope you enjoy, April (and Richard)