8 Essential Things to Do During Your First Trimester

Trish: [00:00:00] Hey there, so today's episode is a recording of a teaching topic that I did on Instagram. We do a teaching topic every Thursday at 1pm Central Standard Time. This one was all about the first trimester and I answered some of the top questions that I get on Instagram from the many thousands of women who hang out with me over there. 


So I hope you enjoy this. And then we did a little Q& A at the end that we thought we would leave on here for you guys so you could listen and hear some of the questions that they were asking me during this live. So listen and enjoy. 


So what I'm going to do is I'm going to answer a couple questions that you guys asked me about first trimester. I wrote them down. Got myself very [00:01:00] organized so that I stay on topic and then I will take some Questions. Deal? Does that sound good? Okay, so we're gonna talk about the first trimester of Pregnancy and I think the first thing we're gonna talk about is eight things that I recommend that you do in the first trimester of pregnancy. 


I had a lot of people ask me I don't even know when to do what or what I should be doing. And one of the very first things I recommend is to find a doctor so that you can go to your first doctor's appointment. And I really want to encourage you guys and those of my mamas who hang out with me who are farther along, I think you would agree with me that This is one of the most important decisions you can make in your pregnancy is choosing a doctor. 


So choosing a [00:02:00] doctor is powerful because you want your provider to align with you in so many different ways than just personality. You need to choose a doctor that fits with what you're planning. For your birth. So a lot of people ask me like how soon is it or what is too soon to take a birth class? I 100% recommend that you take a birth class sooner than later and make sure that your birth class is one like mine that includes pregnancy. 


So we don't just have labor and delivery. We have everything from the get go from that first positive sign all the way to postpartum and baby. Because we want to walk through that with our students you guys know that our classes include a virtual labor nurse, moi, and a doula. So our classes are a little different than other classes, but we start you out in the very first beginning of your [00:03:00] pregnancy. 


And if you join one of my classes in the beginning of your pregnancy, you also get my membership free for 30 days, and then it's 19 a month and you have us. All the way until postpartum, so that you have a labor nurse and a doula to ask questions, including picking out your doctor, what type of doctor I should look for, warning signs that maybe your doctor isn't a good fit. 


A lot of my students switch their providers because they're just not aligning. With you, and one of the things I'm going to do when I get off of this is I'm going to link to my provider questionnaire, and it's a list of questions that we put together. It's, we also have a VBAC questionnaire, choosing a VBAC doctor, completely a different Different ballgame. 


You want to make sure they're VBAC friendly and we teach you how to figure that out in the VBAC lab. But we have a list of questions for you to [00:04:00] ask your provider. And what I like about our questions is some of the things you might be like. I don't even know what that is or if it's important to me, and that's going to lead you to doing some research before you choose a doctor. 


And I always recommend that you choose a doctor by going and sitting down with them, You can have a consult with the doctor where you're not laying down with your butt in the air and naked and you're talking to them across from a desk. I think that's a good idea. And you interview them because you are hiring your provider. 


You're hiring them. So this is really important and I wanted to start this out. I know I have a lot of people on here who are listening to me who are farther in their pregnancy and I know you guys would agree with me that choosing the right doctor is everything. They should be respecting you. 


Their [00:05:00] staff, their front office staff should be respecting you. I went to a doctor and their front office staff was horrible. It literally gave me anxiety every single appointment. I do not wish that on you. So if the office staff is being difficult, let your provider know. Maybe no one's telling them. I did not. 


I worked with my provider. I should have told her. Anyway, so choosing a doctor and then having your first doctor visit. This is really important too. This is going to allow them to monitor your health, the growth of the baby. They're going to figure out all the things and in just a minute, I'm going to talk about what to expect at that first prenatal appointment. 


Another thing that I want you to do as soon as you get a positive sign is start taking prenatal vitamins. Now, coming from one mama to another who was very sick in the beginning of pregnancy, I know this can be a lot [00:06:00] easier said than done if you're sick, but Almost every birth professional, pregnancy professional, will recommend that you take something. 


So if it has to be Flintstones, gummies, do it. But the better quality vitamin, the better. So once you go to your doctor's appointment and you can talk to them about their preferences, but you have so many ways to research to find a good vitamin and just try out different ones. If they make you sick, just keep trying until you find one that works for you. 


For my mamas who are farther along, keep taking your prenatal vitamins. If you have to set an alarm, what have you, but it's really important because your baby is going to deplete. So once you stop having babies, that's when you start having some problems. If you didn't take care of yourself while you were pregnant with your babies, because your baby will get what it needs, but your bones, your body will be left lacking. 


So take care of [00:07:00] yourself. Okay. One of the top questions I get all the time is how can I keep from tearing? How can I prepare for birth? The next tip that I'm going to have for my first trimester mamas is for all of you. For tearing, for birth, for stretch marks, for your body, for your aches and pains, and that is to eat a healthy diet. 


And I know it's so rote and so like practical, but it is so practical. You need to be eating a healthy diet. I want you guys to really sit back and think. You are building a person, like a real factual human being. That is a lot. And eating a healthy diet is essential during pregnancy so that you can give your baby everything your baby needs to have the best start in [00:08:00] life. 


So make sure you're getting fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, dairy products, all of it. So if you eat a special diet, you have to be especially careful to make sure that you're getting all those food groups, because even if you don't eat those food groups, your baby needs them to grow properly. 


So think about things that come from the ground, animal products, things like that try to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. We really don't know what's in some of those. So the, and I'm not this like super holistic healthy eater, but the better that you avoid processed foods, the better you're going to feel. 


And this will affect your labor and your delivery. For heaven's sake, it will affect your postpartum recovery. So visit your doctor, start taking your prenatal vitamins, eat a healthy diet. Now the [00:09:00] next one is one that I struggle with as a mom and a business owner. And when I was pregnant because I was so sick and tired and we're going to talk about being tired because one of you guys asked me like tips for pregnancy exhaustion, and that is like for real, a difficult situation to be pregnancy exhausted. 


There's nothing else like it. Maybe postpartum exhausted. That's Pretty bad too. Okay. So my next tip is going to help with that exhaustion. It's going to help with your morning sickness or all day sickness. It's going to help with everything and that is getting active. Now I tell my girls inside of my membership and my classes all the time. 


I'm not talking about a HIIT routine. I ain't that girl. I am not the person who's obsessed with working out. Like one of my team members, Mackenzie, who is so in shape. She's such an inspiration. I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to that. Not very athletic, but [00:10:00] I do know about getting active. And so I would really encourage you from the beginning of pregnancy, even when you're tired, And you don't feel well, get up and get active because that can reduce a lot of the problems that you're going to face during your pregnancy, like being super exhausted. 


Pregnancy fatigue is the real thing. Morning sickness and all those aches and pains that come as your uterus grows and your baby gets bigger and puts more weight on your body and your pelvic floor. Insider tip for you guys. One of the best things you can do to prep your body for birth is to sit in a deep yoga squat. 


You can use yoga blocks, whatever, but practice deep yoga squats. This will build up a lot of muscles for birth. Okay, we're not getting into that right now though. Getting plenty of rest. This can be a joke when you're pregnant, because in the first trimester, you're super sick. The second trimester, you're peeing all the [00:11:00] time. 


And the third trimester, you can't get comfortable. When I say get plenty of rest, I understand that. I've been pregnant a lot. I have six children I've given birth to. Three that I've lost. So I've been pregnant nine times. So I know that getting plenty of rest is very difficult when you're pregnant, but getting enough rest is so important because it keeps your stress levels down and it allows your body to recover from the physical demands of growing said human. 


Because you are growing a little person and that is a lot of work I love the memes that like where it's like the partner comes home is like what'd you do all day? And you say something like I built eyeballs today What'd you do? The truth of the matter is you're building a person and all the little person parts So you really need to take care of you. 


You are So darn important. And I want you to carry that into postpartum. We really [00:12:00] encourage our moms once they initiate their labor bat signal, which is like a DM virtual labor support we offer with me and my doula and my student, one of the things we do in, along with prepping for birth is we encourage our mamas to practice self care. 


We want that to be something you guys initiate from the get go in your parenting journey, because you are so important. Part of self care is getting as much sleep as possible. Try to get seven to eight hours of sleep at night and take naps when you can during the day. One of the top ways I knew I was pregnant, one of the ways was that I could not stay awake for anything. 


The other way is that my boobs would hurt right from the get go. This next one that I have on my list is funny because I laugh when people tell me this, but it is true. But it's hard and that is to reduce your stress levels So that's going to look different for all of us, but I want you guys to [00:13:00] really start thinking So this is for whether you're in your first second or third trimester or my postpartum mamas. 


I want you guys to start thinking boundaries. If you're uncomfortable with boundaries, highly recommend that you read some books, you listen to some podcasts, and you learn how to create boundaries because healthy boundaries are going to help you be a healthy mom. It's very important that you reduce your stress through boundaries. 


Boundaries are so important because when you're pregnant, people want to give you advice, tell you the worst stories, and all these different things while your body is doing all these changes. So One practical way that you can start reducing your stress is to create boundaries. So if there's people in your lives, there's things in your lives that you need to say no to, I'm giving you permission to say no. 


Do not overschedule. Take care of you. [00:14:00] Underschedule take some time on the weekend if you're working still if you're like me and you own your own business and you're a mama Schedule your time so that you have time for you to do things you love and to reduce your stress level It's really important when you're pregnant because your stress can directly affect your baby. 


In fact a baby's A fetus whose mother is under a lot of stress, their lungs develop faster because they're under such stress, which is a good thing and a bad thing because they've gone through this stressful period and it can definitely affect your health and baby's health. So please do something like meditation, mindfulness, yoga. 


I've started doing it's tapping. Is it EFT? I don't remember, but it's something I'm doing with my therapist. It's incredible. Therapy. Therapy. Therapy. I'm totally about therapy. It's amazing. I think everybody should do it. This next one, as a labor nurse, [00:15:00] I'm going to nail into your pregnancy brain. 


And that is staying hydrated. Staying hydrated is critical. So right now, if you just found out you're pregnant, if you're in your second trimester, if you're in your third trimester, I want you to get a special cup, a special water bottle, and I want you to purpose to staying hydrated. I was telling some of the girls we have a weekly hangout with our pregnancy or pregnant mamas. 


and a weekly hangout with our postpartum mamas. But I was telling my pregnant mamas that I can't tell you how many preterm labors I've admitted to triage that all they need is IV hydration. And I'll ask them like, Hey mama, what did it's 108 degrees out. What'd you drink today? And they're like, Oh, I had a can of Sprite this morning, but I've been busy. 


No, you need to stay on top of your fluid. Staying hydrated is essential during pregnancy for both you and your baby's bodies to [00:16:00] function properly and dehydration can cause a lot of problems during pregnancy. So please stay hydrated. The last thing I have on my list for a first trimester to do thing. 


And remember, I also have a free checklist bundle where you get a first try, second try, third try I think a baby shopping list and a postpartum checklist. We have a bundle for that. I don't remember the hashtag, but I'll try to find it and post it in my stories and your questionnaire for your provider. 


But the last thing I have is to join a community, join a pregnancy support group, find like minded people, no mom shame, no stress. An online community is a great. idea, which is why we have an online pregnancy and postpartum support community that includes education access to me. I'm a 16 year experienced labor and delivery nurse and my team doula, who's an [00:17:00] experienced doula with many years, and she's a mom of twins and four children. 


So she has a lot of experience. We have a baby care specialist or a newborn care specialist. We have a NICU nurse, we have a pelvic floor therapist, we have a breastfeeding guru who hangs out with us, we have everything you could want, and you get to hang out with us every Wednesday, face to face, to ask our questions, and we do not allow mom shaming, mom, any of that crap, because we truly feel that you educate yourself and make the decisions best for your family. 


That's how we run our show. Anyway, so that's my last tip for that. Okay, the next question that I got a few of, was what is an NIPT? An NIPT is a non invasive prenatal testing that is done in the first trimester. This is a relatively, I say new, because I have children who are Adults and I have my youngest who is [00:18:00] eight. 


I only did this with my eight year old. It was not a thing before him So during pregnancy a lot of people will opt out of this But the NIPT testing is done in the first I think it's around nine weeks Don't hold me on that but one of the ones the one I did was the panorama and it's a test that screens for chromosomal And it can also tell you the sex of the baby. 


It's very thorough, however, it only tells you if there might be a problem with the baby. If they find anything, they're going to need more tests to like, dive further. Further and you can talk to your provider about what they would do in the case of that. So the NIPT is a non invasive pregnancy testing, prenatal testing. 


Now when they do that, they do a simple blood draw and then you'll get your results and your results come back as no result, which means maybe there was a [00:19:00] problem or. Then they have a high risk and a low risk. Or no result means there's no problem, sorry. And then high risk means that there's a real likelihood and then a low risk. 


So again, I'm not an expert on that, but someone asked me what that was. We're going to talk about increasing energy during the first trimester, but really slash all of pregnancy. And again, this is going to touch on some of my tips for everyone. But again, getting adequate sleep, your sleep, and even napping during the day is going to boost your energy levels and your overall well being. 


Period. I could take a nap right now. I've been up since 4 30. If you guys pay attention to my stories, I've been getting up at 4 30 because I homeschool Grayson, and I run my business, and I'm pooped. So I do that so that I can have focused work and then I take the afternoon off, which is really nice. Okay, eating healthy foods, [00:20:00] exercising, taking your supplements, and reducing your stress. 


All the same things that I already recommended. So that's going to help you. All right, another question that I got several questions about was the first prenatal visit. So let's talk about the first prenatal visit. Here's what they're going to do. And this usually will happen anywhere from eight weeks to 12 weeks. 


They are seeming to take you a little later, but it just depends on your provider. So during the first test and, or first visit and subsequent. Visit they're going to check your urine. So you're always going to be given a urine sample, which is not hard when you're pregnant and The first one though, they're gonna confirm your pregnancy that you are pregnant They're gonna test your kidney function and check for things like protein in your urine they're also going to do a prenatal blood panel and They're going to check for I put a list here to make sure So they're going to check your iron, they're going to [00:21:00] check your blood count, they're going to check to see some of your titers for immunity to things like rubella they're going to check your hepatitis B they're going to check and see if you have a cystic fibrosis gene. 


They're going to check for things like sickle cell anemia, any other blood disorders that you might have. They're also going to check you for sexually transmitted diseases and infections. They're also going to do a type and screen to get your blood type. And then, they're also going to... either do a Doppler to check the baby's heart rate. 


But if you're too soon, they may not be able to use the Doppler. You might be too early. They might also do a transvaginal ultrasound, which is a real fun one. They didn't have that when I was pregnant with my older kids. They're going to check your vital stats, 24. every appointment. One of my tips that I have for my girls is if you're the type of person who gets nervous going to [00:22:00] the doctors, who has like white coat syndrome, I really recommend that you practice some deep breathing techniques and ask them to do your blood pressure after you've calmed down and you've been in the office for a little bit so it's not high. 


It's not high right away. They're also going to figure out your due date and they're going to come up with your prenatal care plan for future. That is, I think I answered all the questions that you, the most top questions that I got about the first trimester. I did get some questions about bleeding during the first trimester, but that is a whole topic on its own. 


There's some bleeding that is normal, but I always recommend if you have bright red bleeding. Or you have a bleeding that's making you feel concerned to always contact your provider. If you haven't chosen a provider yet, you can always go to a walk in clinic or to the ER. All right, that is my little to do about the first trimester. 


Make sure just to [00:23:00] recap that you are taking care of you. Be wise choosing a doctor. It's one of the most powerful decisions you can make. Start taking a prenatal vitamin. We have a list on our Amazon shop and I'll link to that as well. We've got some that we recommend. Eat a healthy diet. You can still have your cravings or whatever it is, but eat healthy foods. 


Exercise regularly, even if that's taking a little daily walk. That's good. Get up and get active. Get plenty of rest. The best you can. I say that and reduce your stress. So hopefully this helped you guys with some first trimester direction. And if you have any other questions, as always, we answer all of our dms here on Instagram and our emails. 


So shoot us an email [email protected]. 


Hey mama, I hope you enjoyed this little episode from an Instagram live that I did. [00:24:00] I wanted to talk about some important things that you can start doing as soon as you have a positive sign. Alright, make sure that you subscribe and leave us a review. We love it when you guys do. We really appreciate it. 


And as always, I will see you again next Friday. Bye for now!