Disclaimer: I definitely don’t have this whole pregnancy thing figured out. In fact, I keep telling my friends: “I’m overthinking everything, I don’t know what I’m doing, I’ve never done this before.” What I do know is that the Lord has blessed me beyond belief and is caring for me and coating me with His presence on a daily basis. I’m learning something new everyday–about my body, about baby, and about our family. It’s kind of nerve-racking, but oh-so-exciting at the same time. But before I move on, can we just take a minute to really acknowledge the amazing thing that is pregnancy?! It didn’t really hit me until I became pregnant myself buttttttt, why don’t we freak out about this more and really discuss the miracle/reality of what is going on? A human is growing inside of your body… Only God could orchestrate something so complex and beautiful!

How I Felt During the First Trimester:

Overall, really good and not a whole lot different! I almost feel guilty to talk about it because I know my situation is not the case for so many other mamas-to-be out there. All praise be to Jesus, but I did not feel nauseous or get sick one single time during the whole first trimester! I did struggle with sleeping soundly and feeling rested when I woke up in the morning earlier than expected, but we bought a new mattress, which helped a ton. So I’m not actually sure how much of that was pregnancy related vs. I hated our old bed ha.

Cravings/Aversions/Food:

I went through about a two-week period where all I wanted was Doritos and Ramen noodles (so random). I mean, I was coming home with party-size bags of Doritos from the grocery store. We had a super bowl party at our house, and while everyone else was munching on Tostitos, cheese dip, and chicken wing appetizers, I was off to the side shoveling Doritos in my mouth… that’s a lovely mental image, isn’t it? Luckily, that phase was short lived because, uh, CALORIES ha.

From about 7 weeks through the present, I’ve wanted all the cold fruit. I really enjoy fruit anyways, but this has been like an “I need a cold, juicy apple or hunk of pineapple RIGHT NOW”. I’m not too worried about this one though… If I’m going to have a strong craving for something, I figure fruit is a pretty good thing to want.

Okay, the big aversion (pained my soul): COFFEE. If you know me, you’re probably thinking, “what the heck? No chance this is Karis talking.” But, it’s true… or it was true. I went through about a 7-8 week period where I wanted nothing to do with coffee. When I found out I was pregnant, I switched straight over to decaf. (I actually just enjoy coffee for the smell and flavors…the energy boost is nice, but not what drives me to drink it in the morning.) I got to the point where I would not drink more than about 3 sips and think, “yuck… I can’t do this anymore.” So I stopped. I was upset. It hurt my heart. I kept whining to Luke that I was nervous my love for coffee was gone forever and would never come back. How could I go on with my life? #dramatic. I’m not a morning person at all, and coffee has always been the one thing that I look forward to each day when I wake up. Great news–I started slowly wanting it again around 12-13 weeks and am now mostly back on track. Hallelujah! Although I will say, I prefer iced coffee and from places outside of my house… Starbucks, Dunkin, McDonalds, and of course a Chick-Fil-A frozen coffee.

Overall, my eating habits haven’t changed a whole lot. I eat pretty healthy all things considered, but still enjoy sweet treats here and there.

Body Changes:

Dry skin. I have always dealt with having drier skin than most, but I feel like it’s definitely been worse since being pregnant. I definitely don’t’ feel like I’m sporting that “pregnancy glow,” but here’s to hoping that changes.

Breakouts. A couple here and there. Weeks 7-8 were probably the worst. Not terrible, not constant, but annoying when they show up.

Bloating. Not fun, but apparently this is par for the course. Flat belly every morning when I would wake up, but by the evening… woof.

Changes I Made to Daily Life:

The biggest change I’ve made is switching over to clean/safe/toxin-free beauty and skincare products. Granted, I was starting to switch over before I found out I was pregnant, but I’ve kicked it into overdrive. I had tested and switched over to BeautyCounter for skincare back in December and fell in love, so my skincare routine was already on the right track. But since getting that positive pregnancy test, I’ve almost completely cut out any products that have parabens, phlafates, etc. This includes lotions, shampoo/conditioner, foundation, etc. I’m all about “natural” based and derived right now.

The biggest natural product jump I made was to deodorant. The ingredients that are in most deodorants, especially aluminum, were just things I didn’t want going into my body while carrying a baby (and honestly, now that I’ve done some research, I don’t want that stuff going in my body regardless). I don’t claim to know that much about it, but Amy Beth Campbell is a boss when it comes to natural products and has an awesome post with lots of information on natural deodorant that is super helpful if you’re thinking about switching. Find it here.

Purchases:

Not a whole lot in the first trimester (other than all the belly butter and oils because my attempt at stretch-mark prevention is in full swing). All of my normal clothes still fit me, and we still don’t know the gender so there haven’t been tons of purchases and certainly nothing major. We’ve bought some gender-neutral onesies and things like that because #canthelpmyself, but that’s about the extent of it. I’ve stalked plenty of items I’m excited for; it just hasn’t been necessary to purchase any of them yet.

Here are a few things that I have purchased or I’m eyeing right now for baby and me that are not gender-specific:

Any of you mamas out there have any must-have products for you and/or baby? What’s your best pregnancy advice? I’d love to hear. xoxo.