I can distinctly remember the day I found out I was pregnant. It was a cool evening in April and I was home alone. I had just got out of the sauna and had a “what do I have to lose” attitude about doing another test. For anyone trying to conceive, they’ll know what I mean when I say I was obsessively and prematurely testing to see that “special little line” for about a week prior.
When it finally showed up, I was almost in shock. Literally, I had to squat when I saw the line because I thought I was going to pass out. I told my husband that night when he came home from basketball and, well, thank the Lord he was sitting down. We both couldn’t believe it and I’m pretty sure it took a couple of days to officially register in our brains.
But, testing positive was the easy part, relatively speaking.
In the days that followed, I had a SWARM of questions like, “what do I do now?”, “What kind of doctor do I see?”, “Do I need a blood test to confirm?”, “What do I need to stop doing?”, “What is labor like?”, “Do I want an epidural?”.
And OH. MY. GOD. There is so much information. You see, pregnancy is one of those crazy things that you literally have no reason to take interest in unless you’re: A.) In the profession; or B. PREGNANT!!!!!! And since I hadn’t fallen in any of those categories for the previous 30-something years of my life, I had no reason to know this information.
I sort of had a moment of anger towards the education system for not teaching me these things (or taxes, investing, gardening, composting, etc.) except for handing me a crying baby for a week during 8th-grade sex ed. That just taught me for 20 years that I didn’t want a baby, not how to actually take care of it or how to nurture your body during pregnancy.
But, in my first few weeks of pregnancy, there were a few things I was so happy I stumbled upon early:
- Mama Natural’s Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth by Genevieve Howland: This book walks you through each week of pregnancy with a heap of information about you, your baby, what to expect, and information you should be prepared to know from a natural perspective. This is a must-have for us newb moms who don’t have a single clue what to expect in pregnancy. I found myself reading ahead often just to anticipate how I might feel.
- Expecting Better by Emily Oster: Another book that takes a research-based approach to dispel the common (and sometimes outdated) “pregnancy myths” that have been passed down through generations. This relieved some of my major concerns and obsessions I had out the gate such as what foods to eat and whether or not I could drink coffee.
- A pregnancy journal: This really pumped me and my hubby UP for the little bean. We got to write a sweet little message, document our first appointments, and start taking bump photos with a polaroid starting at week 6, every 2 weeks. Although there’s not much exciting happening in the first trimester, this was something we felt that we could do together as a way to celebrate and get excited about our growing addition (or as Brian would have said “additions” since he was dead set that we were having twins HAHA!). HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Beyond getting those items very early on, I started reading a ton and felt like a sponge. The most important thing to me was learning how to support this pregnancy by taking care of my body and mind naturally. I really tied what I was learning with my existing natural healthcare approach. I want to share a few of those critical items with you that I think really made a difference in how I felt. Some are a little obvious, while others might surprise you:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables – I remember telling my husband that meat was straight-up putrid and offensive. Luckily, I didn’t have too much morning sickness, but I did have some food aversions. The only food I really had an appetite for was fruits (tons of fruit!), mashed potatoes, broth, reishi tea, and occasionally Chipotle. Since it was late spring/early summer, I was able to take advantage of all kinds of seasonal fruits and vegetables (some from our garden or our neighbor’s garden). This helped me so much in making sure the bean and I were still getting nourishment, even when I didn’t want to even look at food. Plus, it was really cool to just listen to my body. I swear there was a reason I was turned off by meat and craving watermelon.
- TummyDrops and Ginger Chews – When nausea did strike, it was nice to be able to have something to help take the edge off. Luckily I found TummyDrops and Ginger Chews on Amazon, which were great because they are gluten-free, vegan, and low-sugar, which means I could enjoy them and feel good about what I was putting in my body without risking a SIBO flare-up or gastrointestinal discomfort. They’re so delicious too!
- Magnesium – Magnesium is such a powerhouse. It helps perform over 300 functions in the body and can help with anything from restful sleep, to muscle cramps, headaches, and anxiety – and pregnant women need more of it too. Due to changes in cultivation practices, we are finding less and less of it naturally in our food. The good news is that supplementation has been found to help women with morning sickness and it certainly helped me! I felt particularly nauseous in the mornings where I didn’t take magnesium the night before. Plus, I’m sure it helped loads of other enzymatic functions while it was at it! Check out all these ways to get some magnesium, including pills, drinks, lotions, and baths.
- Food-based prenatal vitamins – Especially during pregnancy, you don’t want anything synthetic going in your body and that should include vitamins and minerals. Food-based is always best because your body knows how to use it and process it. I was so happy to have an amazing food-based vitamin in my arsenal before the nausea set it – that way, I knew baby and I were getting the essential vitamins and nutrients we needed, even if I didn’t have an appetite. Because apparently I am some overachiever, I also used a women’s multivitamin tincture several times a day for added benefits.
- Sunshine and being outside – Once upon a time I was afraid of the sun. I had previously been diagnosed with skin cancer diagnosis which kept me inside and using sunscreen like it was my job. But once I got my vitamin D levels checked at my doctors (which I highly recommend), I realized how deficient I was and how many negative implications that had for my health. But being outside, in general, had multiple added benefits, as well, including getting away from EMFs, grounding, taking a break from work, and bird watching (my favorite!).
- Regular exercise – Movement was already a huge part of my life, and honestly, I didn’t have to adapt much during my first trimester of pregnancy. For that, I am so thankful. To add, I felt really lucky and supported from the get-go because I’m a part of a women-centered gym called Burn Boot Camp that caters to mamas and mamas to be. As my belly grew, they helped me adapt some of my workouts to keep me and baby safe. That being said, staying active with regular exercise gave me loads more energy, kept my body limber and strong, allowed me to sleep better, and boosted my mood. Plus, it allowed me to stay connected with friends and like-minded people.
- Limiting technology and being “tech safe” – There is a growing body of research supporting the connection between health issues and EMFs, and I can feel when my body has had enough and try to limit myself daily before I even get to that point. And frankly, if I didn’t want to expose myself to large amounts of EMFs, I most certainly did not want to expose my baby. This was difficult because I have two jobs that require me to be on the computer (I am a writer, afterall) 🙂 To combat the times when I couldn’t reduce screen time, I purchased a few EMF-reducing or eliminating products such as the DefenderShield Belly Band, Shungite, black tourmaline, and a copper necklace and bracelet.
- Keeping it a secret – I also want to note that we kept our pregnancy a secret for a long (-er than normal) time. It was so sacred to us – like our own special piece of information that no one could take away. I guess this goes more along the lines of mental health. Putting my mental health first by keeping it a secret made me feel better physically because I wasn’t stressing about other people’s perspectives. We also knew that once we started sharing, we would get heaps of unsolicited advice and comments from well-intended people that would just take away our simplicity and privacy. Plus, because we didn’t share right away with everyone, no one was asking the questions that we hadn’t even thought of yet. So, for those reasons, I can’t recommend this approach enough. We were allowed to digest the pregnancy and research without unnecessary commentary, as loving as it may have been.
- Therapy – Let me first say that my therapist holds a very special place in my heart. I swear I should write an entire blog post just on my therapy experience alone – it’s that transformative. She was one of the few people I told right away and I’m so glad I did. She had been working with me for the past couple of months before pregnancy, so I felt like I was already primed with several tools to manage anything that came up such as breathwork, hypnosis, and sound therapy. These tools helped me deal with the unknowns, the fears, and the changes happening in my body. She’s also been helping me release past traumas so I can become the best parent and wife I can be. She told me several times that I’m doing such a huge favor to my baby by doing my own work, and I truly believe that.
- Accepting that there’s always going to be information I don’t know – This was difficult for me. “Reducing uncertainties” is something I always strive to do to make sure I’m well-informed with any decision I make. For pregnancy, that became overwhelming at times, especially in the beginning. While I was trying to figure out how to change my lifestyle and adapt to pregnancy, I was also making sure to research information on EMFs, the dangers of routine ultrasounds, vaccine risks, whether to circumcise if we have a boy, what kind of tests I will be receiving, what tests are necessary, where I was going to give birth, what kind of provider I wanted, whether I wanted a doula, how to breastfeed, non-toxic baby products…and the list goes on. I had to get to a point where I just accepted the fact that I didn’t (and wouldn’t) know everything all at once, and that I didn’t have to try. I also reduced the expectation that I had to be perfect. I had this fear that I wouldn’t know something until it was too late, and then I would have regrets. But I had to remind myself that all of this information is literally like learning a new subject, a new language, and I’m learning as much as I can with the time and resources I’m given. This released me to accept where I was in the journey and forgive myself for not knowing better if something did come up.
Beyond that, here is also a list of some things I immediately stopped when I found out I was pregnant:
- Using aluminum foil
- Using plastic containers to store my leftovers
- Doing coffee enemas
- Using the sauna
- Taking CBD
- Eating high-mercury fish
- Using my nano-current facial device
- Retinol
- AHA, BHA, Salicylic Acid and other chemical exfoliants
- Sugar scrubs or other manual exfoliants
Those deserve an entire blog post. I previously also didn’t use fragrance, toxic household products, or toxic body care products, so even though those aren’t on the list, I think they’re especially important to highlight as things to remove at least during pregnancy, if not permanently. Many ingredients in our beauty products, body washes, and home cleaners are endocrine disruptors and are not meant to be inside the human body and exposed to our growing babies. When in doubt, check the app Think Dirty or the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website.
I know how it feels to be totally and completely lost during your pregnancy as a first-time mom, but especially a health-conscious first-time mom. What can you do? What can you eat? How do you navigate all these options? How do you feel better during the first trimester? With these tips, I hope you now have a few added resources to make that first trimester a little easier!
What natural tips do you have for the first trimester of pregnancy?
