First Trimester Q&A + a Bumpdate!

Hello friends! Almost to 15 and a half weeks, Everly is now the size of a Naval Orange 😍🍊.

If you hadn’t noticed up until our announcement that we are expecting our first little babe, things had been radio silent on social media for me. That was because I was definitely in the pit known as the first trimester of pregnancy 😂. Although I am so thrilled to be pregnant with our little girl and feel so incredibly blessed, the first trimester is difficult for so many women, even the ones who are ecstatic to be pregnant and realize what a blessing it is. But now that I’m pretty much past all of the not so fun symptoms that come with those first weeks, I’ve been eager to update you guys and answer any questions you had for me! I let y’all ask on my insta stories, and here’s the round up of what you asked:

• Did you have morning sickness?

So, for the first five weeks I felt great! Right around week 6 was when all the symptoms hit me like a ton of bricks. The constant nausea, always feeling exhausted, food and smell aversion times ten, dizziness, you get the idea. What a lot of people don’t tell you is that the nausea and sickness isn’t exclusive to just the morning, it can be all day and all night haha. Fortunately, I found something that worked to manage my nausea for the most part to where I only got sick a few times during the first trimester, which I am very grateful for! The gagging was real though, I told Derick I felt like the wind could blow and I would gag 😂. But all in all, I feel very fortunate that I was able to manage my symptoms well because there are many women I know who have really difficult pregnancies and some even get sick every single day in every trimester, which I can’t even imagine!

• What are your first trimester must-haves?

No lie, ginger ale and a combination of vitamin B-6 and Unisom 😂. And CARBS! Oh the carbs. Seriously though, the B-6 and Unisom was a life-saver because when combined they make a bootleg version of a very expensive anti-morning sickness prescription. It is 100% pregnancy safe and costs about $20 to supply yourself for the first trimester. My doctor told me to take 50mg of B-6 and a quarter of a unisom sleep tab at breakfast, lunch, and then 50mg of B-6 and half a unisom tab at bedtime. Not only would it make you sleep great at bedtime, but after a few days of starting it, it took my nausea from crippling to bearable so that I could function for work and make myself eat food more regularly. So if you are struggling I would highly recommend trying it, just of course check with your doctor first! And make sure to give it a few days as it took 3-4 for it to take effect for me. As for the carbs, they were pretty much the only thing I could be tempted to eat. So, keeping things like frozen waffles and easy carb-y snacks and meals on hand was a huge thing for me because I couldn’t bring myself to cook for awhile. And as many preggos will tell you, keeping something on your stomach can usually help the nausea although it’s kinda a double edged sword! You’re nauseous because you can’t eat and you can’t eat because you’re nauseous 😉. I also ordered my pregnancy pillow super early and that just made sleeping and finding a comfortable position much easier! You don’t have to wait till you are big to get one, they are fantastic even if you’re not pregnant honestly!

• What has the best/worst thing been?

Best- hands down has been that I’ve been movement/kicks the past few days for the first time! That is a feeling I can’t even describe and makes feeling not so great for the past couple months 100% worth it! And finding out we are having a girl has been an amazing feeling too, I knew it all along but having it confirmed was amazing 😉.

Worst- definitely not feeling like myself for awhile, not enjoying food I normally love, and just being too tired to be active or fun haha. Derick can confirm this as I have been dead weight for the past 7 weeks pretty much.

• Any weird food cravings?

I wouldn’t say weird, but definitely random! My love for pickles hasn’t changed, thank goodness! The only form of chicken I can be tempted to eat is fried. One of the weeks I was really nauseous donuts sounded good every morning for like 3 days until I got sick eating some with coffee, then they were a no go for awhile haha! This past week I really wanted sushi and when I got my fix it was heavennnnnn *insert praise hands*. Until this week I’ve had no taste for chocolate/sweets except for candy which is odd for me (was loving skittles, jolly ranchers, sour and tart candies of all kinds!) But no pickles and ice cream (yet 😉).

•How did you pick your baby girl’s name? Also, what name did you pick for a boy?

Before I was pregnant, I had a few girl names jotted down in my phone that I just liked the sound of, one of them was Everly ☺️. I had mentioned them to Derick prior to us expecting, he liked the names I liked as well, and when we found out we were expecting we settled on Everly for if the baby was a girl! There isn’t a family tie to the name, and we just tried middle names with Everly until we found one we liked! We both agreed we loved Rae since it was unique and flowed well as a whole! We look forward to calling her Evie (“eh-vie”) and Evie Rae for her nicknames ❤️. As for a boy, we were having a tougher time deciding and never settled on a name, so I’m glad we kicked the can a little further down the road on that one 😂. But we have some namesake ideas that, should we have a boy in the future, we may use!

• Would you consider starting a YouTube channel to document your pregnancy and life with the baby?

I have actually been asked about doing a YouTube channel several times! 😂 I have never really envisioned myself as a YouTuber, but I’d be open to the idea and like the idea of having videos to look back on. My thing is that I currently don’t own a laptop or high quality camera for filming, and don’t know the first thing about video editing haha. But if you can point me in the direction of good resources to teach me on that I’d be very open to learning and looking into it!

• Is pregnancy at all like you expected? Better? Worse?

Good question! I would say for the most part better, but I don’t think I could have expected any of it even though you hear about some of the typical struggles such as fatigue and morning sickness. It is hard to mentally prepare for and imagine the emotions and hormonal changes that you’ve never had before, as well as not feeling like yourself/icky at times for months. But, I have had a history of a very sensitive stomach and getting stomach bugs frequently that would rarely stop without medical intervention, so I was terrified that in pregnancy I would have non-stop vomiting and nausea. Thankfully that has not been the case for me, and I have been able to manage what I have had and am now coming off the anti-nausea medicine, which has been better than I could’ve imagined and a huge blessing! Having the love and support from my husband and our families along with their excitement has made all of this really special as well, although that was no surprise to us. And, as I mentioned above, the kicks are like nothing I’ve felt before and are such a sweet reminder that I’m carrying another little life within me and that has been better than I could have ever imagined ❤️.

Now, onto some maternity style! While I will still be wearing non-maternity as well, I just stocked up this past week on some great maternity basics that I’m looking forward to styling throughout my pregnancy, so you may see some repeat items throughout the style posts along with some non-maternity mixed in ☺️.

Sweater: Old Navy (use code MORE today to get up to 30% off!), Jeans: Target (today only, 30% off!), Blanket Scarf: Old Navy (sold out in this particular color), Boots: Target (old clearance buy, similar here.)

Not much to write about this outfit, but you all know how big on comfort I’ve always been, and pregnancy only magnifies that need haha! These maternity jeans from Target are fantastic quality and comfort and are 30% off today, and this sweater is so festive and comfortable and 20% off today as well!

Hope you enjoy this beautiful December weekend,

Konnor with a K