First trimester- low energy and nausea/sickness

[bluemonday2020]

Hello lovely ladies. I am week 8+4 and still struggling with pregnancy sickness and nausea. I try to manage it most days by eating small amounts of food throughout the day so end up only being nauseous or sick 2/3 times per day. Unfortunately the food I can eat that doesn’t make me sick is limited to bread, pasta and generally anything beige and bland that contains carbs. I normally have low blood pressure and used to love having a coffee a day to keep my energy up. As I can’t stand coffee now and eat limited amounts, I have been exhausted recently. Getting out of bed, walking up the stairs and going outside for a walk are so much effort. Is there anything I can do to get more energy? Should I be getting a blood test at my gp to check that I am not missing any vital vitamins? My first physical nhs appointment is in 4 weeks so I hope that they will also do a blood test then. Thank you in advance!

The first trimester is hugely exhausting! It's very normal. You need to take it easy as much as you can, baby is doing a lot of growing at this point.

First trimester is awful. I was exactly like this until about week 11 when it gradually started to get a bit better but I still remember it well.
Some days I couldn't stomach anything other than salted crisps and fizzy sweets! I took pregnancy multivitamins as I was so concerned baby wasn't getting the right nutrients. I was sick or nauseus constantly, always tired and had awful headaches too.
It's horrible but it does pass.

By about 14 weeks my appetite was back with a vengeance,I had more energy and I could have my morning coffee again!

I'm nearly 30 weeks now and third trimester brings with it it's own horrible symptoms but so far it's not nearly as bad as the first trimester.

This is all very normal. Unfortunately this may go on til week 14ish. I understand how that isnt what you want to hear. I am 18 weeks and struggled through it all. Being sick or constantly tired doesnt mean you are lacking in any vitamins. It's simply what it is to be pregnant.

My advice is simply eat what you can when you can, drink water especially in this heat, take your folic acid and vitamin D, try take a multivitamin but if you cant handle it dont worry, rest when you can, dont expect much of yourself and just survive it. I feel for you. I really do. I have said to so many people I would do 10 labours over morning sickness any day.

Fatigue is pretty standard during the first trimester, it's pretty demanding making the placenta.

There wasn't much that helped my first trimester fatigue but it did get a little better in the second trimester - still tired but not bone achingly tired I had before.

Your midwife should take some blood tests at your booking appointment (or at your scan if your booking appointment is ove the phone). It terms of vitamins - there are some pregnancy specific ones out there... The key things to look for are vitamin d and folic acid. You can take these separately or as part of a pregnancy vitamin. You need to be careful with regular multivitamins as pregnant women can't take vitamin a and some don't contain the required amount of vitamin d and folic acid in pregnancy.

Don't worry too much about your diet early on, my gp told me to focus on eating what I can when I can. If you are struggling to keep food /fluids down your gp can prescribe some anti nausea medication.

One weekend during my first trimester I went to the supermarket at 10 am Saturday, that took all of my weekend energy and spent the rest of the weekend napping on the sofa. I had to really readjust my expectations during those first few weeks!

Don't worry it will get easier and your gp is always there if you need reassurance or things checked over.

God yeah I remember the first trimester well, sounds normal to me. it was absolutely exhausting and horrendous. Never threw up but felt like I was going to almost 24/7 from 5 weeks till about 13.

Now 37+4 and very uncomfortable but would take this over the first trimester any day.

I found eating cereal helped, ate a lot of cheddars and ice pops. Freezing lemonade ice cubes and sucking on them gave me some relief for a short while as well as using the sea sickness pressure bands. I found ice lollies a good way to stay hydrated, get a bit if sugar in me and the cold helped the nausea.

It's just one of the joys of pregnancy I imagine, but most definitely worth it in the end :) good luck.

Thank you for your kind words, it is reassuring to know that others have gone through the same ordeal.

I'm 11 + 6 and I hear you!

When you look at how much the baby grows in a relatively short space of time, it makes sense in a way. I was so, so tired between weeks 5-10 - it's slightly better now.

The nausea is still horrible, worse than the sickness. And yes, you worry the baby isn't getting the nutrition it needs and you don't even get much sympathy as you aren't obviously pregnant!

Let's all look eagerly onto tri 2!

Horribly horribly normal. I’m so sorry for you. I’m 13 weeks and just coming out the other side. Sending sympathy x

Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragements

First trimester is tough. I'm 13 weeks now, and just starting to get better. Try and rest whenever you can (easier said than done I know) and don't worry if you're eating mostly crap - my DD is perfectly healthy and I spent most of the first 3 months only able to eat hula hoops! Currently attempting to grow twins on a diet of mostly bread sticks . If you were taking pregnancy vits before conception, you should have had decent stores of folic acid etc, and your baby will be fine - they will take what they need, and you feel like crap but you catch up later! Look after yourself as much as you can. You will be able to eat healthy food later on, but right now, carbs are fine!