Really awesome pregnancy advice from the mommies in my life

Ashley and I at Trinity!

I want to give a shout out to some women who offered me really great advice during my first trimester: Lara, Ashley and Diane.

First of all, I got morning sickness right as I hit week 6. So far I have not actually vomited, which I guess I’m very happy about. What I experience is that feeling you get when you’ve been reading in the backseat of a car for too long, that painful twist in your stomach. And I was feeling that way all the time! The other thing that hit me super hard was the fatigue. I felt like I had the flu without the fever. More accurately – I felt like I’d been hit by a mac truck. It was ridiculous – I could literally sleep ALL DAY LONG! I’m a ridiculously active person and I was completely derailed by the fatigue. You think you know what fatigue means... but unless you've been pregnant I'm pretty sure you don't. 

So here is advice that the lovely experienced mothers in my life gave me (in no particular order):

Favorite Website/Reading Materials: 

 My cousin Ashley told me about www.babycenter.com. This has turned out to be an amazing site. I get weekly updates on all of the wonderful developments my baby is going through. Plus there are forums, advice articles, what to do and not to do highlights.  I highly recommend this site!

Lara, her mom and I celebrating
St. Patty's day!

Lara gave me book, called "Your Pregnancy Week by Week", Glade B. Curtis. Its similar to Babycenter.com in that it gives weekly updates, but I can sit and read it in the evenings. It gives tips, advice and tips for dads as well! Lara also gave me "The Birth Book" by William and Martha Sears, and and awesome (though somewhat appalling) video called "The Business of Being Born". Both of those I'll talk about more when I discuss my whole "Birth Plan"... which I now know I need to have!

Diane is the only one of my close mommy friends who is a working mom. While I wish that I could be a stay at home mommy - that is just not going to be an option in the beginning. I have to strike it rich first! (Keep sharing this blog - maybe I can turn it into a book and sell millions of copies!) Diane has helped me answering questions about how disability works for maternity leave for both CA Maternity Leave (http://pregnancy.lovetoknow.com/wiki/California_Maternity_Leave) and Paid Family Leave (http://www.paidfamilyleave.org/learn/basics.html). We've also talked candidly about how it was to go back to work, how nursing versus bottle feeding was balanced and how weird it can be to pump at work! Its definitely helpful to have someone walk me through how this worked for them.

Best Eating Advice: 

Diane and I at her
wedding!

My friend Diane told me that to combat her morning sickness she just ate a little bit all the time. She tried never to be hungry and never to be super full. I now arm myself with a constant supply of a variety of snacks (because I never knew what I’d be craving). This actually worked very well. My favorite snacks: apples, plums, nectarines,  cheez-its, string cheese, edamame, fiber one bars, and pretzels.

My cousin Ashley gave me awesome advice – she said in your first trimester when you're feeling sick you just eat what you want. Ok, ok, everyone says that. But Ashley is a marathon runner and very active.  But she described going to the grocery store in the morning and thinking “I’ll get an apple.” And then her body overriding that decision, and so she thought, “Ok, I’ll get a bagel.” And finally giving in… “Ok, fine I’ll get a donut.”

This made me laugh so hard. You think you can control these cravings – BUT YOU CAN’T! It’s so weird. Just being given permission helped me. (My love was Easy Mac n Cheese… and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches!) Ashley said in the second trimester you can start eating more healthy (and you can - its easier!), but you'll lose the battle in the first.

Awesome Morning Sickness Tricks: 

My friend Lara told me ice water and peppermint helped her first thing in the morning. It helps me all the time! I love this drink. I’m lazy and never got peppermint oil, so I suck on an Altoid and drink really cold water. It helps!

Lara also told me about Preggy Pops. They are fun flavored candy drops or suckers. She even dropped off a box for me! These do help… and they taste awesome! And Lara gave me ginger chews. These actually do help, but after eating half the bag over a few days, my taste buds changed and apparently I no longer like ginger. They do work though!

These are yummy and work great!

Trust me- I got much more advice than this. There will be more advice posts to follow.

Above all - these ladies told me I was normal – even when I felt like I wasn’t myself anymore. They offer love and encouragement. They’re such good mommies – I cannot wait to keep getting more advice from them as I continue on this amazing journey...  and sharing that advice with you!

Thank you ladies! Love you always!