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Caring for Myself in My First Trimester

Aside from the actual delivery. First Trimester is by far my least favorite part of pregnancy. I have morning sickness – really all day sickness – from about 4 weeks until week 13. And with 3 kids, homeschooling, and a small business, keeping up while I’m sick is a challenge to say the least.

This is my 4th pregnancy, and if there’s anything that I’ve learned about my first trimester it’s to give myself permission to just take it easy.

Here’s just a few ways I take care of myself – and of course the new little baby – during my first trimester.

  1. Extra Sleep – Something about the hormones, I’m way more tired than normal. As in 10 hours of sleep at night and a nap tired. Of course, the more tired I am, the more sick I feel, so if I want to get anything done, I do actually need to sleep. And, technically, I’m sleeping for me and the baby, and everyone knows that babies need lots of sleep.
  2. Special Snacks – Another fun thing about the first trimester. I’m hungry all the time. Because I get less sick if I perpetually snack (rather than eat all my food in 3 meals a day) I do go ahead and purchase snacks that I’m craving. This pregnancy I’m craving oranges and avocados (eaten separately), both snacks that are definitely good for me. I’m not actually craving any unhealthy snacks this time around (one pregnancy it was krispy kreme doughnuts) so I’m pretty much allowing myself to snack as much as I want on what I want. I do limit the unhealthy snacking to my normal snacking limits. It’s important to eat well.
  3. Frequent Snacking – I feel better if I snack frequently. So I keep nuts and/or granola bars in the car for when I need a snack while on the go. What I have depends on how many of my snacks my kids “stole”. My kids just love all this extra snacking! Normally, I don’t do this, but, in the interest of feeling well, it’s good for me to do.
  4. Relaxing – I like to be on the go and I like to be busy. I also really want to rearrange the kids bedrooms. But all that stuff is going to have to wait until the second trimester when I have the energy to do it. I do manage to keep the house picked up – most of the time – which I think is pretty good with 3 kids. I constantly have to remind myself that it’s perfectly ok to take a break and finish the laundry tomorrow (guess what I didn’t finish today). A lot of times relaxing just means that I’m sitting down working on my blog, catching up on e-mails, or reading a book. Just something that lets my body rest.
  5. Vitamins – For some reason I don’t handle multivitamins very well. They make me sick. So, combine morning sickness with prenatal vitamins making me sick, and well, let’s just say that every pregnancy so far I’ve just given up on the vitamins. Whenever I discover a new prenatal vitamin I try it out for a week (even when I’m not pregnant) just to see how I handle it, and it never goes well. This time around I found a brand called Premama that actually works for me. Horray. It does actually help some with the morning sickness and energy. So I’m finally able to get those extra vitamins that I’m supposed to have without making myself sick.
  6. Pregnancy Brain – So I explained the concept of pregnancy brain to my 8 and 5 year old. I was having a really bad day forgetting things. And now, I’ve basically been given a pass to forget any and everything the entire time I’m pregnant. If you have kids, I highly recommend you do this. It’s honestly a great way to get away with things and have them be ok with it.

So, Mommas, tell me in the comments below, what are some special things you’ve done for yourself during your pregnancy? Or tell me about your favorite food craving?

This #BloggersTalkingAbout series features amazing bloggers writing from the heart. Continue reading more by following these links. Loving Yourself by Joanne | Loving Yourself This Valentine’s Day by Traci | New Routine & New Doctor by Karen | Care For Yourself By Reducing Anxiety & Worry by Karen | Permission To Cry by Brandy | Caring For Myself In My First Trimester by Jenny. If you’re a mom/female blogger, join us in our group, Bodacious Bloggers

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H is for Why Homeschool?

For me, the decision to homeschool was easy. I and my husband were both homeschooled and both greatly benefited from being educated this way. So the decision to homeschool our children was easy, or, assumed. There was no discussion, I just had to figure out which umbrella school, what curriculums, state requirements, etc.

A couple years in and I love homeschooling my children. So, why homeschool? Or, why continue homeschooling? Here’s some benefits I’m already seeing.

  1. Child lead learning – I love my curriculum and it’s important for my children to be at least at grade level, but, their learning is tailored to their needs. My 2nd grader loves science, so she does lots of science. Extra science classes at the local museum, etc. She also loves to grow things, so this spring I told her she can have her own garden, choose what goes in it, and be responsible (with some help from me) for taking care of it. And for reading this month, my 2nd grader has selected a Nancy Drew. As the kids get older, they’ll have more say about what curriculum we’re using and what subjects or direction we want to go with which subjects (like do they want to learn algebra or geometry first).
  2. I can “sneak” in extra learning – My 2nd grader just realized the other day that when she helps me in the kitchen I’m making her do math. She’s struggling with understanding fractions so I was walking her through combining 2 1/2 cups to equal 1 cup. She loves to cook and really wants to read and follow her own recipe without assistance, but getting all her measurements right is still a bit tricky. When she realized she was doing math she wasn’t all upset about it, it was more the realization that some math is super useful and that she needs it to be able to accomplish something fun (like making her own batch of banana muffins). Guess who’s suddenly more interested in fractions!
  3. I know what needs more work – With reading, she’s a good reader, but often drops connecting words or skips lines. And when reading out loud she tends to be very quiet and hard to hear. I’ve been teaching her to read recipes to me in the kitchen and she’s realizing the importance of every line on the page. She doesn’t realize it, but it’s definitely helping with focusing on every word. (I know, back to cooking, but she loves cooking, and there’s so many other skills I can slip in while we’re at it) Also, she’s able to read devotions to us in the evenings instead of me doing all the reading. She thinks it’s awesome and I think it’s great to hear her read aloud. She wanted me to record her reading the other day so I told her that she had to talk really loud so the camera could pick up her voice. I’ve been wanting to work on presentation when reading but finding a way to emphasize it has been a challenge. Telling her to “read louder” just doesn’t work. It was her best reading yet, because who doesn’t love to be on camera!
  4. More Free time – We have time to spend all day browsing a museum, do a crafting day, or not start school until 10. When we’re done for the day, we’re done. No homework in the evening. The weather has been beautiful this week (finally warming up a bit) so lots of time has been spent outside. Our neighbor friend doesn’t get home from school until 3 or so and my kids are usually well into their outside play by that time.
  5. More Flexible Schedule – We vacation in the off season, meaning we get the beach to ourselves! We do school through snow days and get out early in the spring when the weather is just gorgeous! Some holidays we take and some we don’t, but we’ll throw in a bonus free day whenever we want to do something fun. It lets us have our schedule the way that works best for our family.
  6. More Sleep – My kids usually get up around 8. On those rare mornings when we have to be somewhere before then, I see all the kids waiting on the corner for the school bus to pick them up. I really can’t imagine waking my kids up before the sun every morning to get them to school. You shouldn’t have to do that until you get your first job. As a result, my kids get up fully rested and we have the flexibility to stay up late a night or two a week and do something fun as a family. Very rarely are my kids short on sleep and I think that their attitudes and mental ability is better because they’re getting enough rest.

For my family, homeschooling is just awesome, and we love it. If you homeschool I’d love to hear about some things that benefit your family.

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Sleep

So, what is the definition of a good night’s sleep? Seems like it changes every few years. I was reading an old health book the other day and it said 12 hrs a night was needed for an adult. I thought it was 8? And is 8 hours of interrupted sleep enough or does it have to be uninterrupted. As the mother of an infant, I’m definitely getting interrupted. What I considered a good night’s sleep before kids is way different than what I consider a good night now.

Someone posted an article the other day on how nursing a baby at night is so good for your baby. That’s nice, but how about some sleep for me? (actually, I sleep while I nurse at night). I saw this awesome nursing timer for using in the middle of the night, it lets you know when it’s time to switch sides so you know how long the baby’s been eating. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up over an hour after I started nursing and found the baby sound asleep in my lap. (no worries, I know this happens so I make sure my arm is well supported with a pillow and the baby can’t go anywhere when I fall asleep)

The advice to “sleep when your baby sleeps” is great advice, but I’m not sure how I’m supposed to do that with two other little kids as well. I’ve tried it, and the house turns into a disaster zone while I’m snoozing. Or, better yet, they decide to join me in bed. I’m remarkably good at sleeping through things like i-pad games, dvds, and spilled beverages. (in the days before kids I also slept through tornado alarms, fire alarms, alarm clocks, and who knows what else).

So, what is a good night’s sleep? For me these days, it’s getting at least 8 hours and only getting interrupted once. And somehow, my day seems normal after a night like that. Even having to get up twice to take care of kids in the middle of the night isn’t too bad…

I compare this to my days before kids when I was getting 9 to 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep and if something woke me up I was so tired and grumpy the next day.

I remember as a teenager calling my mom in the middle of the night (1 am, 2 am, something like that) and talking for over an hour because I’d just had a really bad day. For some reason, mom never seemed to mind. I never understood, how was she not totally irritated that I’d woken her up?

As a mother with 3 little ones I finally understand, if my kids need me, I’m there for them. It’s ok that it takes me 3 cups of coffee to wake up in the morning. I still prefer my full night sleep, and 1 cup of coffee in the morning. But I know, there’s just those days when I’m needed, and when I need to be there, I’ll be available. And the truth is, I really don’t mind. (like these last couple of nights when the baby is teething, or last week when the girls were up sick, I know they need me and it’s all ok).

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Goals

So, now that the baby is 5 moths old I feel that I should be getting back into the swing of things. By “swing of things” I mean adding more things to my schedule. On the list of goals,

1. At least one blog post a week

2. Creating at least 12 websites a year (for paying customers)

3. Whittling down my supply of fabric (this is proving really hard to do since people keep giving me fabric)

4. Teaching my oldest child to read, sing, add, and subtract

5. Increasing my music skills

6. Scrubbing my showers

7. Mopping my floors

8. Getting a full night’s sleep

I’m not being at all unrealistic here am I? 🙂