Wow! So, here I am and I’ve just found out that I’m pregnant.

Welcome to the very first installment of the pregnancy diaries. It might be worth noting that while Baby Barefoot is very much wanted, he or she wasn’t exactly planned. It wasn’t that Baby Barefoot was unplanned, just that we had left it all up to the hands of fate. We weren’t trying to get pregnant but we weren’t trying not to get pregnant. There was no tracking of cycles, taking of temperature, using ovulation sticks or having sex with my ankles by my ears (much to the husband’s disappointment…) We just stopped trying not to get pregnant and, here we are! 

It’s definitely different for every woman, and there is no right or wrong way to go about it, but I had never had that ‘I need to get pregnant now!’ feeling and so we had just decided to let nature take it’s course. 

Now that I am though, let’s have a look at some of the ways that my body is quickly making this pregnancy very apparent. This is going to be quite the whirlwind, I can already tell! 

Important note – none of this is intended as medical advice. This is an honest account of my experience, but every pregnancy is different. If you have any concerns please contact your doctor or medical professional. 

Mood swings –

I am not very nice to live with right now. I can’t tell if it’s hormones, the shock of finding out I was pregnant or the worry of how the hell we’re going to keep a baby alive once it gets here – or maybe a combination of all of the above, but I am pretty snappy and irritable at the moment. (Sorry!) 

I’m also irrationally emotional and weepy at the moment and prone to crying for no apparent reason. (Sorry again!) Apparently this should level out in a few weeks once the placenta starts helping to shoulder the hormonal load (and we are all looking forward to that). 

Abdominal cramps –

Stretching bloating feeling, weird twinges, cramps and pelvic pressure. Panicking about all of it. I have quite a few weird abdominal aches and pains going on at the moment. Sometimes I feel like I have a balloon being inflated in my belly and a generally bloated feeling. I guess this is my uterus expanding? But given that the baby is only the size of a poppy seed at the moment (or at least so Ovia tells me) it all seems pretty excessive! 

Back-ache –

Week 4 started with quite a bit of lower back pain, nothing serious just uncomfortable. Could easily have been confused with pre-menstrual cramps. Occasionally it also feels like it is radiating to my legs. Seems to be worse if I bend over or engage my lower back. 

Heightened sense of smell –

Fun fact: I first suspected I might be pregnant in Week 3. I was at my favourite happy hour spot enjoying a champagne cocktail (don’t judge me, how was I to know?) The guy next to me ordered a round of shots and as soon as they were placed on the bar the smell made my stomach turn and my mouth water (not in a good way). So weird.

That same heightened sense of smell is still prevalent a couple of weeks later but not making me nauseous these days (thankfully). 

Loss of appetite –

After an initial couple of hungry weeks (when I didn’t even know I was pregnant, could have been pregnancy related, could have been because I’m a greedy guts and we were enjoying lots of dinners out...) I have now somewhat lost my appetite! I’m not feeling sick (yay!) or suffering from any food aversions (just yet) I’m just not particularly hungry.

I am getting a real hankering for (I don’t think I can call it a craving, can you even get cravings yet?) spicy tomato salsa and olives. Who knows why? And I’m eating far more chocolate and sweet treats than usual. I am also very, very thirsty! Which is great, because I’m not usually very good at getting enough water and all the apps suggest that this is very important, so I am happily drinking lots of water! 

Peeing –

Peeing a lot and obsessively checking for spotting… none so far but that doesn’t seem to stop me panicking all the time (even more panicking). In fact, anxiety also seems to be a fairly predominant symptom. Anxiety about losing the baby and anxiety about what I’m going to do when the baby arrives. I guess I’m just a bit of a worrier…

Weirdly peeing frequently was something I thought happened later in pregnancy, when a baby larger than a peppercorn was maybe pressing on your bladder? The fact that it starts this early was a bit of a shock to me. Of course it could just be all that water… (see above). 

Exhaustion –

Sleeping is my super power – seriously I would sleep all day if you let me/I didn’t have a full-time job… indescribably exhausted! My husband didn’t even know it was possible for one person to spend so much time asleep! I start yawning at about 2pm and by the time I reach home at 7:30pm it’s something of a race to get some dinner down me and brush my teeth before I just pass out! I’ve also fallen asleep on the ferry home a couple of times… But then before the sun comes up (typically around 4:00 – 5:00am) I’m wide awake, googling random pregnancy symptoms (not recommended), writing blog notes and panicking (more panicking).

It’s also worth noting that this is a different kind of tired, not the general too many late nights tired. This tired is in a different league. It’s a so tired I can’t keep my eyes open, a tiredness that goes all the way to my bones. 

Insomnia –

Despite the exhaustion, if I wake up at about 4:00 am (mostly because I need to pee – damn all that water!) I then cannot get back to sleep! I lie awake with my mind racing – I scroll through baby items on Amazon and marvel at all the things everyone claims that I ‘need’, while diligently adding them all to my wish list (obvs). Worrying about random symptoms and obsessively googling them, I make notes for blog posts and I read (and then re-read) all the articles on Ovia. 

Switching out my meds –

Little known fact about me: I was diagnosed with hypertension at 15 years old. No, that’s not particularly common and it hasn’t been a particularly easy road finding the right cocktail of drugs to manage it over the years. I was taking 4 daily. Unfortunately none of them were suitable for pregnancy, so that had to change pretty damn quickly. New drugs means new side effects to get used to – fun! More on my experience of pregnancy with hypertension coming soon. 

Finding the husband hilarious!

Boy, if I thought I had some shocks coming that’s nothing compared to how the husband is feeling right now. I think he had sort of naively assumed that women stayed fairly normal, sane and lived their pregnant lives symptom-free – basically right up until they got really big/gave birth. So the mood swings, the marathon amount of sleeping and the niggling fear that his wife might have been possessed by some sort of pregnancy demon have all come as a bit of a surprise! 

Pregnancy Month One At A Glance – 

• Feeling: Anxious
• Craving: Spicy tomato salsa and olives, Twiglets and KitKats 
• Missing: Brie
• Struggling with: The exhaustion
• Enjoying: The huge secret we’re keeping
• Milestones: Positive test at 4w. First doctor’s appointment at 4w5d. (Quick check-up, weigh-in and chat).
• Baby is the size of a: Poppy seed 

Anyone else in the same boat as me? I’d love to connect with some more mamas, mamas-to-be and first-time mamas.

Comment below if you have any tips to help see me through these weeks to come! 

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY READING: The Pregnancy Diaries – Month Two

PINTEREST | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

Please note: Early pregnancy posts were written in real time, but not published in real time.

early pregnancy family first trimester pregnancy