Surviving The First Trimester With 2 Kids: 13 Essential Tips

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I'm currently pregnant with my third child and I'm realizing there's so many things that I have learned throughout my second and third pregnancy that I wish I would have known when I had my first, but I just didn't know. Ya learn as ya go. So, I wanted to share those with you all. I have 13 tips for surviving the first trimester, especially when you already have other children.

The first trimester

Okay, first of all, I need to acknowledge how brutal the first trimester of pregnancy is. You are just exhausted. All. the. time.

When I had my first, I could take naps on the couch and sleep in when I need to, it was great. Since I work for myself, I kind of get to determine my own schedule so I had the flexibility to sleep when I was tired and seriously couldn't even fathom if I had to go to an office or something because I felt terrible.

And man, when I got pregnant with my second I realized how much I took that for granted because when you already have a toddler while pregnant, you're like oh my gosshhh I still have to take care of another human and feed them, bathe them, and entertain them while I feel like trash.

Well, now I'm pregnant with my third and MAN! I might not have another child just because I don't want to endure another first trimester. Like seriously, how do some people have like 10 kids??!? Kudos.

1. Nausea bands

These were very helpful for me during my first and second pregnancy. I didn't need them as much during this pregnancy, but it's just an acupressure point. I wore these religiously with my first because I literally felt car sick 24/7. Super helpful!

2. Small snacks

Small snacks that are probably carbs. Every morning, I needed a little peanut butter toast when I woke up and then I felt way better. Sometimes I tried to do eggs but I couldn't always do that.

But, cereal makes ya feel good, bread makes ya feel good – small doses of carbs just really did the trick for me when I was in my first trimester. It was the only thing that made me feel good.

Besides carbs, the only other thing I wanted was salad. Like your super basic side house salad. I think it was just because it was not very offensive. It was just a basic, mild, light thing to eat.

3. Keep your kids healthy

You gotta keep your kids healthy during the first trimester because if you feel awful and then they get sick it's just awful.

I'm truly obsessed with Hiya vitamins. I talk about them all the time so if you're kid's over 2 years old, highly recommend.

Why do I love them? There's zero sugar in their vitamins, it's a tablet (not a Flintstone gummy), they have 12 fruits and veggies in them, and it pretty much covers all your bases. Before we started Hiya vitamins, I was giving them Vitamin D, Zinc, Vitamin C, etc. and now I literally just give them one tablet because I looked at the ingredients list of Hiya and it has all of those immune boosting vitamins in it.

If you use the code HeyShayla or follow this link, you'll get 50% off your first order, a refillable container that comes with a bunch of stickers, and every month they send an eco-friendly refill of the vitamins that you can pour into that container. It's super simple, my kids love them, and they don't get sick nearly as much as they used to so if you need a multivitamin for your kid over 2, look no further.

4. Sleep

Like I said, with my first, I had the freedom to nap whenever. With this pregnancy, I've started tracking my own sleep using the same app I use to track my kids' sleep and it told me I'm getting an average of like 10 hours of sleep per night. And, I've been able to do that because I try to sleep whenever my kids are sleeping. When I lay down to put the girls to bed at night, I've just been falling asleep with them and not fighting it. I was just sleeping with them and sleeping for a long time. It was great.

During my second pregnancy, when I put my first down for a nap, I would also nap. This third time, I can't do that because when I put our younger daughter down, I still have to go hang out with the older toddler. But, if you just have one, nap when they nap.

5. Screen time

Click here for my free low stim screen time guide

As somebody that has always felt a tremendous amount of guilt about screen time, it can totally be your saving grace during the first trimester.

During this third pregnancy, my first tri was right in the middle of winter so I tired, but I also had no desire to go out outside because it was cold and required a lot of bundling and prep.

I was definitely less sick with this pregnancy so I don't know if I've figured it out with all of these tips or if it's a boy this time because everything feels different. Although, with my second, I thought it was a boy too because it felt so different from my first pregnancy so maybe every opportunity is just really different. But either way, we've had an exuberant amount of screen time and it's just a couple of months so it's small time in their life AND I was in survival mode so this is what I felt like I had to do and that's okay.

I will say I did notice that my oldest was a little more tantrumy with more screen time which I did not think would happen but I think she just wasn't releasing her energy as much. And now, it's starting to get warmer and I'm starting to have more energy so we can start to get out more and dial back the screen time.

6. Supplements

Good golly do I think these have made a HUGE difference.

I will preface this by saying always do your own research/check with your doctor before adding supplements and things in because everybody is different. But these things have worked amazing for me.

Vitamin B helps with energy and can have some other benefits for privacy and I definitely feel like it has helped me.

The other massive one that I think a lot of people are efficient in and I know I am deficient in is magnesium (this is the one my midwife reccomended). Some people say magnesium energizes them, but for me I get drowsy and it helps me sleep. I take it before bed and get a better night of sleep and it lowers my stress. I would get nauseous at night and doing a protein and magnesium shake was the magic ticket to fixing that!

Vitamin D is also a mood booster. It hasn't been too sunny lately in Minnesota and I'm loving taking vitamin D.

I'm also a big believer in a good multivitamin. I like a whole food multivitamin (like this one), but again, check with you doctor to make sure you have the right combination of things because if you are taking a multivitamin and other vitamins/supplements at the same time, you can get too much of one vitamin. So, just make sure.

Another big thing for me during pregnancy is electrolytes. I have LMNT, which I love. I will say, it is salty, but when I am pregnant, my joints are creaky, my muscles get crampy, and I find my body like locking up. This was honestly a sign for me that I might be pregnant again. When I take electrolytes, I experience that a lot less. BUT, LMNT has magnesium in it so on the days I drink an LMNT, I have to take less magnesium that day.

7. Protein

MASSIVE thing for me. Makes me feel way better and baby needs lots of protein.

I can't do dairy, I like this vegan protein from 1st Phorm. I do a chocolate banana one or vanilla and whatever berries I have in the fridge in an effort to find other ways to sneak in more protein. So, find little easy protein snacks that are accessible and yummy to you. It'll make you feel a lot better.

8. Get a babysitter

Find some childcare. It allows you to nap, it lets you have less mom guilt because your babes are occupied and getting attention (and not on screens). Ask your mom/aunt/sister/friend/etc. to come play with them or if you don't have that kind of support, you might need to pay for babysitter.

During my first trimester, when I dropped my kids off at preschool, I would just nap. And I felt no shame. You're literally growing a HUMAN. You're also growing placenta and I find this so fascinating, but that placenta grows in the first trimester and then it starts to take over all of the hormones and that's why you start to feel better. You're growing a human, your growing a new organ (a placenta), you're growing all the organs inside that new human… your body is doing a lot. Give yourself grace. Do what works.

9. Move your body (OR don't)

It might feel good to move your body and it might not.

I remember with my first pregnancy, my husband kept trying to get me to go to the gym because he thought movement would make me feel better. I literally just laid on the floor the whole time. So, listen to your body.

Try going for a walk and if it helps, great. If you get half way down the block and feel worse, go back home.

Give yourself the first trimester. You'll likely feel better after the first trimester and then be more interested in movement. But, some people really don't feel better after the first trimester. If that's the case, give yourself the whole dang pregnancy. Your body is doing a lot and it's pretty incredible. This is a small portion of your life and your main responsibility is to build your baby. Don't worry so much about all the other stuff.

If/when you do feel well enough to move your body, I highly recommend Expecting and Empowered. Use Code: HEYSHAYLA for a discount It's exercises for pregnancy and postpartum that help strengthen the pelvic floor. Even if you're someone that already works out a lot, there's a big difference in a pregnancy safe workout and their guides are super easy to follow and customizable. If you don't workout, it's good for you, it's good for your sleep, it's good for your baby. I recently had the owners on my podcast and they said to just try it. Try it for 5 minutes. If it feels good, keep going. If it's miserable, quit for the day.

10. Give yourself grace

Most important thing here is to give yourself grace. Your body is doing some truly incredible things right now. And that goes for everything – screen time, working out, etc. you deserve grace for it all because it's a tough time.

And honestly, if you need or want to tell some people, do it! There's a “rule” on not telling people until 12 weeks, but do what feels right. Sometimes you're like I feel like I just crawled out of the dumpster but I have to pretend like I don't because nobody can know. But if you need support, I think it's totally okay to tell some of your close, core people “Hey, I'm pregnant and I wanted you to know and I also might need your support right now”. It can also have some benefits if you end up having a miscarriage. I had a miscarriage and having to tell people “I was pregnant and now I'm not” was really weird. So, to me, I say tell the people you would go to for support. I wished I had some people that I had already told about the pregnancy so I could just go to them and say “I had a miscarriage and I need you right now”. I feel like there's a big stigma on telling people early, but there doesn't have to be.

Again, the thing here is to give yourself grace and do what's right for you. You don't need to follow the “rules” if it doesn't feel like the best thing for you.

11. Take your vitamins with food

Taking your multivitamin/prenatals can make you feel even sicker. Find your thing that makes you feel better and take it with that.

For me, it's peanut butter toast. Some people do saltine crackers. Maybe you want to just take it with dinner instead of in the morning. Determine what works for you, but just take it with food/a meal.

12. Buy maternity clothes

With my first, I refused to buy maternity clothing. It wasn't until the third trimester that I was like okay maybe I need some maternity pants. I didn't want to do it, it felt silly to buy for 9 months. But dang, it's so much more comfortable.

Now that I'm on my third, I'm still buying maternity clothes and if I would have just bought enough with my first, I could have reworn it for my second and third pregnancies and gotten some good use out of it all.

13. Peppermint

Peppermint helps with taking away nausea too.

Peppermint gum, peppermint tea, and actual peppermints are all great options. If you do essential oils, peppermint oil can be great too. You can smell it, put it on your scalp, on your wrist, etc. and it can really help.

Alright, I hope this has been helpful. Here are the main things – keep you kids healthy, keep yourself healthy and full of all the right vitamins, and give your self a TON of grace. You're growing a freaking human and your body is doing some pretty crazy cool things. We deserve all the grace.