First time pregnant

[Kerryl36]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here, first time posting and also in very early pregnancy with my first. I'm really just hoping for some help, advice and maybe even some reassurance.

I am only just over 6 weeks pregnant, but this is my first and a lot of changes are happening and I have no idea how to deal with a lot of it. Last week, I was rushed to hospital because of the amount of pain i was in. An ectopic pregnancy was suspected but eventually, thankfully, ruled out. The pain disappeared and was put down to severe indigestion and growing pains.

Unfortunately, this has left me so insecure and so on edge that i can never settle enough to get good enough sleep. I always used to favour sleeping on my stomach but can't any more. My morning sickness recently started too (oh joy!), and the nausea is constant.

I am frankly, terrified of doing something wrong, eating something wrong and even sitting or sleeping in the wrong position that i feel whatever i do, it's wrong in some way.

So, I am trying to eat right, but a lot of the time, just the thought of any food makes me feel sick. I am drinking lots, and trying to rest when not at work- i am a bus driver with odd hours. I am taking Pregnacare Max every day, but I have so little energy and can't be on my feet for long before getting tired. My partner is great, but i know he feels as helpless as i do.

I know every pregnancy is different, but can I ask about your experiences and how you dealt with the changes, and any recommendations you may have?

Ok, the constant sickness and weird pains are (usually) totally normal. Don't drink, don't smoke, don't take drugs (including ibuprofen later in pregnancy, paracetamol is ok). Those are the big things!

For food, anything beige and dry with help a little with the sickness. Don't worry too much about a healthy diet - just eat what you can at this stage. By 14 weeks you'll be feeling a lot better and able to eat a wider variety. Go to work, come home, snack and go to bed. Exhaustion is normal for the first trimester.

For sleeping, you can sleep how you like at the moment. It's only from mid pregnancy once the baby is bigger and presses on your blood vessels that you don't want to sleep on your back. And sleeping on your front with a bump isn't possible anyway. So for now don't stress about that.

For me an early scan at eight weeks was really reassuring. Once a heartbeat has been seen the chances of miscarriage are much lower, so I found that helped.

Best of luck with your pregnancy!

Oh lovely I'm sorry you're feeling like this. I felt very similar and it really does get better.

The first trimester I was exhausted. Falling asleep in my driveway tired. I hardly functioned! I ended up with hyperemesis but the nausea was what got to me the most. I had some antisickness tablets from the Gp which really helped.

Sleep wise I slept on my stomach until I was around 24 weeks. I had a small bump and actually first felt my baby moving when I was laying on my stomach! You only need to adjust sleeping positions when you're too big to comfortably lay on your stomach or baby is bigger and you shouldn't lay on your back.

For now, the only advice I have is that it can be brutal and just take it one day at a time. This will pass and while it feels forever away, it really does go by at a decent rate eventually. Soon enough you'll be in your 2nd trimester and feeling, hopefully, a lot better!!

Just having the reduced sickness helped with energy levels and I finally started enjoying the pregnancy.

Do what you need to do to get through these weeks. Entirely beige food is fine. Anything is fine. In fact, when I had the severe sickness my GP suggested I didn't bother eating at all and just concentrated on tiny sips of water. Baby will get what they need and you'll feel crappy but will soon be up to eating a little more.

Dry crackers can definitely help. I used to stash them in my bedside table so I could get one or two in before I even moved in the mornings!

Good luck with your pregnancy and try not to be so hard on yourself.

Congrats on your pregnancy! My DD is 10 weeks now. The first trimester is hard I really feel for you.
Weeks 8-14 were worst for me, I had a subchorionic hematoma so I bled and had lots of weird pains which made me anxious until I started feeling her move. Are you able to get a private scan to reassure yourself? I found fruity chewy sweets worked for my sickness, I couldn’t stand dry plain crackers or anything ginger. The fatigue is difficult but try and sleep whenever you can. Just know you won’t feel like this forever it will pass!

Thank you for the replies,

It's good to know that what seems extreme for me in tiredness and sickness does seem to be normal.

I have a pregnancy pillow arriving today which I'm hoping will help with sleep.

I'm trying different foods to see what i can manage and what doesn't work for me. Toast seems to offer some temporary relief, but not enough. 😞

Since my scare last week, i have had two internal ultrasound scans. This was the only way to see exactly where the yolk sac was positioned. As it's still so early, there is not yet any heartbeat, but i was told in the week between those scans, the growth has been incredible. We have another on Monday 6th and we expect a heartbeat then as i will be into week 8. I think this waiting maybe adds to my anxiety and general well-being so doesn't help my current symptoms, is that possible?

I do hope for a healthy baby, but i do also hope these symptoms ease in time.

Sounds like everything is progressing well! Hopefully seeing a heartbeat next time will help. Certainly being anxious is exhausting in itself. For the sickness, I varied between feeling horribly hungover and slightly sea sick. It never completely went and was 24/7, not just in the morning. Glad the toast helped, mini cheddars were also good for me!

Have you had your booking in appointment with a community midwife? I’m not sure of your location but I had mine around week 7 and I ended up with the same community midwife throughout my pregnancy and she was great with answering any queries or worries I had. At this appointment I also got a bunch of info sheets (I’m in Scotland) which were helpful with the current NHS guidance of what’s safe to do/eat and what’s not.

I get your anxiety waiting for the next scan, I was the same but sounds like your scans have been reassuring. Fingers crossed you see a heartbeat at your next scan!

I'm in West Midlands, our first midwife appointment is on 15th May- we thought i would be at week 9 by then and this is when they apparently like to start here. We weren't sure on exact gestation until recently though, so by the time the appointment comes, i will actually be in week 10.

I'm sure my worry will become much less as long as we hear the heartbeat next week.

Thank you so much for your responses though, as a first time pregnant woman, everything is new and I wasn't sure in what is considered 'normal' and what might be cause for concern.