My Pregnancy Journey: Trimester by Trimester
WOW. I can’t believe how quick these past 9+ months have flown by. It doesn’t feel long ago that I shared my pregnancy announcement and it feels surreal that this journey is now coming to an end.
As I’m writing this, I am currently 39 weeks pregnant and am feeling VERY uncomfortable. I’ve been experiencing some early labor symptoms, which means that baby can come at any moment! But, before he does, I wanted to do a recap of my pregnancy journey and go over each trimester in detail. I wanted to share my honest experience, so I’ll be categorizing each trimester by:
Ups: favorite moments and highlights
Downs: the negative side & symptoms
Reflections: general thoughts and overall experience
Please keep in mind, this is my personal experience with my first pregnancy. Every woman is different and each pregnancy is unique so please don’t compare, judge, or criticize. If you’re cool with that, than keep on reading!
PS. I do realize that week 14 is technically 2nd trimester. I just needed a third photo ;)
First Trimester
Ups
Finding out we were pregnant: This is an obvious HIGHLIGHT but my husband and I were super excited the day we found out we were pregnant! Well, if I’m being totally honest, we were shocked at first and didn’t have much of a reaction until about an hour later. When the news finally settled in, we cried, hugged and jumped up and down. It was such a special moment and thinking about it now makes me emotional again. We share more in-depth about this day on my Youtube.
Telling our family: We kept the news to ourselves for about 5 days. Honestly, I could’ve gone even longer but my mom and sister had planned on moving into our home that same weekend. So the day they moved in, I made a welcome poster that read ”Welcome Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Lubina” (in Korean.) Upon seeing it, my sister screamed, my mom clapped and my dad sobbed. It was the sweetest! We also broke the news to Patrick’s parents by gifting them with a onesie that said “Baby Gundo 2020.” We recorded both of the reactions, which you can see in this video.
Downs
Nausea: I didn’t experience morning sickness to the point of throwing up but I felt nauseous ALL the time. I would say it was the worst during the evening and when I had an empty stomach. The only thing that helped my nausea was to eat something (hard boiled eggs were great) or to suck on preggie pops. Because eating was the only thing that cured me of nausea, I began associating food with the feeling of being nauseous. I didn’t enjoy food and eating became a chore.
Mental Health: One thing I had not anticipated was feeling anxious. Especially during the earlier weeks, I didn’t see any physical changes or experience any symptoms so I had no idea if I was still pregnant. I would constantly worry about the health of the baby, which took a toll on my mental health. I felt withdrawn, unsociable, and cautious - all which made me feel “not like myself.”
Keeping a secret: At first, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought due to feeling so anxious all the time. It felt natural to keep it a secret and process it before inviting others into it. The sucky part was not being able to be fully honest with my close friends and hiding the fact that I was feeling physically crappy.
Reflection
First trimester was tough both physically, mentally, and emotionally. Although I couldn’t see many physical changes, my body and mind felt different and I often felt overwhelmed by the newness of it all. It was absolutely draining and I totally feel for those who are in their first trimester. Hang in there!
Second Trimester
Ups
Feeling like myself again: The first week of second trimester was an instant relief! I gained my energy back, I felt more social again and my nausea completely disappeared. It was the first time I felt like myself again which was SO nice after months of being miserable. We also got to share with our friends and made a public pregnancy announcement at week 15.
Finding out the gender: Okay so funny story - we had a bit of a mix up during our ultrasound at week 12. The technician initially thought that the baby was a girl but later, realized that it was actually a boy. She forgot to erase the first “guess” so we received two copies - one that read, “it’s a girl!” and the other said, “it’s a boy!” When we saw that there were two sonograms, we thought it was absolutely hilarious (see our honest reaction here.) When we went back for our second ultrasound at week 18, the technician confirmed - it’s a boy!
Pregnancy glow: I had been experiencing really bad acne for about a year before I got pregnant so I was pleasantly surprised that my skin cleared up! I also noticed that my hair was shinier and that my nails were stronger. Call it a pregnancy glow or the benefits of taking prenatal vitamins - either way, I’ll take it!
Downs
Leg cramps: I downloaded an app called Ovia Pregnancy that gave me weekly alerts on baby’s developments and mom’s symptoms. On week 18, I got an alert that one of the symptoms could be leg cramps aka “Charlie’s Horse.” Literally that night, I woke up to a painful cramp on my right calf! To combat it, I started taking Calm Magnesium powder and drank a lot of water before going to bed. This seemed to solve my Charlie Horse problem as well as sciatica cramping.
Weight Gain: For me, I experienced the most physical changes during second trimester. Between weeks 13-28, I gained over 20lbs (crazy right?!) Luckily, the weight gain slowed down a ton during third trimester but it was pretty shocking during those few months. Yoga pants, dresses and rompers became my closet staples ;)
Reflection
Second trimester was definitely the best trimester! I felt energetic, worked out regularly and finally had a cute pregnancy bump! My favorite part was feeling the baby’s kicks, which I experienced at week 23. Most women seem to feel this earlier but I have an anterior placenta, which means the placenta is positioned between belly and baby. That made it harder for me to feel but when I finally did, it was truly the best feeling in the world! The closest resemblance I have is feeling butterflies in your tummy :)
Third Trimester
Ups
Getting to know the baby: Even though baby is still in the womb, I feel like I started to get to know him since we’ve been spending so much time together! I would memorize his patterns and behaviors, mostly by his activity level. For example, baby would start kicking a lot more whenever Patrick was in the same room and whenever my dog Rylie was cuddling with me on the couch. The baby is also way more active during the night and whenever I ate something sweet. I guess he’s going to be a daddy’s boy with a sweet tooth!
Becoming excited for motherhood: In all honesty, I’ve never been much of a “baby person.” Don’t get me wrong, I love kids and children but when it comes to having my own, I had a lot of initial fears and doubts. I would have thoughts like,
Do I have what it takes to be a good mother?
Is it selfish that I want to continue to work?
Am I going to completely lose my sense of self?
I truly believe this is why women are pregnant for 9 months. It’s not only to grow a healthy baby. You need that time to process all of these thoughts and mentally prepare for becoming a mom! Throughout pregnancy, I’ve talked to incredible women and mothers, which helped me better visualize what motherhood will look like. I’m sure there will be challenging moments but overall, I am SO excited to become a mama!
Downs
Feeling Blah: The first half of third trimester felt similar to first trimester. I felt nauseous and exhausted all the time! It wasn’t as bad as first trimester but I had not anticipated to feel that again. Luckily, those symptoms started to go away around week 30.
Heaviness: As the baby starts to grow, your body will definitely start to feel heavier. To help carry the extra load, I got a maternity belt to support my belly and back. I also did prenatal yoga and light pilates on a weekly basis. I know it sounds counterintuitive but staying active was the only way I felt good physically.
Lightning Crotch: You should google this but it is exactly what it sounds like lol!
Reflection
I felt physically heavy and uncomfortable all throughout but outside of those symptoms, I’ve really enjoyed third trimester! Patrick and I have been doing a ton of house work and nesting to prep for baby. We’ve also been talking and processing through what it would be like if certain scenarios were to happen. It feels like we’ve entered a new level in our relationship during this season! I’ve also been crossing things off my to-do list to prep for maternity leave, which I’ll share in a future blog post.
Overall, this whole pregnancy journey has been a rollercoaster but the ups far outweigh the downs. We are so excited for baby E to join us!
Whether you are pregnant right now or are planning for it in the future, I hope this blog post was helpful. If you’d like more resources, visit by Preggo highlights on Instagram :) Til next time!