I describe pregnancy as the gift that keeps on giving. You wake up every day not knowing what you're going to get. For about 2 weeks after I found out I was pregnant, I felt normal. I remember being on the phone with one of my best friends, Kosi, who just had a baby going on smugly about how every pregnancy on TV, was often announced with a puking woman and I had not even puked once. She told me she had puked just 4 times in the entire course of her pregnancy so we laughed and made fun of the cliche that was Nollywood. Little did I know that the joke was about to be on me.

My first trimester was one of the toughest periods of my life. I was thoroughly unprepared for that roller coaster. I was completely clueless and if I'm honest, this period is what inspired this entire blog in the first place. I would look at my husband from time to time crying and asking why nobody spoke more about the many lows that women experience during this period. I felt so unprepared and was terrified that my baby would feel all of the pain and anxiety I was going through. I just want to share some of the symptoms I went through.

Cramps

This was the very first pregnancy symptom I experienced. It was a bit of a shocker because I completely misinterpreted it. You see, stomach cramps and sore boobs are my monthly reminder that my period is about to start. So when I started feeling these two symptoms I thought nothing of it. I just went on with my life, waiting for my period to come. I however took a pregnancy test soon after because my husband looked at me one day and asked me if I was sure I wasn't pregnant. I had been feeling quite tired and sleepy for some time so we went ahead and took a test which came out positive.

The cramps went on for about the first month before stopping. I remember complaining to my doctor and she said it was quite normal, but that I should alert her immediately if it was accompanied by any bleeding. Luckily, that never happened and I was relieved when the cramps finally stopped.

Nausea

This was my biggest foe. Please whoever named this "morning sickness" needs to change it, because it lasts the entire day. I was puking 4 to 5 times every single day and it was just awful. People kept telling me to identify triggers and avoid them. I didn't know how to tell them that existing in itself was a trigger. I puked when I was hungry, when I was full, when something smelled good, when it smelled bad, when the weather was hot, when it was cold, etc.

I puked a lot in my first trimester and could not keep down the prenatal vitamins I was supposed to be taking. I went from weighing 62.3kg to 54kg. This frightened me and made me worry about my baby's health.  My skin got really dry and flaky from dehydration and eczemas started to pop up on my face. I slept for about 12 hours every day because I had no energy to do anything else.

It was a blur of nausea, sleep, crying, and praying. oh, how I prayed. I would wake up in pain and pray, open my bible, and declare God's word in my life and that of my baby because I was terrified. The fact that we were in the thick of a pandemic ensured that I had no inclination to get medical assistance, so I prayed and cried. I honestly do not know how I would have seen it through without my husband who held me when I cried, wiped my tears, cleaned my puke, and prayed with and for me. He had exhortations that kept me going and would recommend scripture verses for me to speak. He truly was a rock during this period and I recognize how blessed I am to have him.

Excessive Salivation

One of the most disgusting side effect of being pregnant. My mouth was constantly full of awful tasting saliva that compounded the nausea I was experiencing. I had to constantly spit out what was in my mouth, and it was endless. This particular symptom prevented me from speaking and this was a bummer for me. I missed out on cracking endless jokes, teasing my husband, making snide comments, and laughing out loud. I'd just lie there, while a witty repertoire my brain had conjured died a slow painful death because my mouth was too full to speak and I had no energy to walk to the bathroom to spit it out. I tried to keep a spit cup, but the thought of all that stored up saliva only compounded my nausea and I gave it up for at least my first trimester. Unfortunately, this symptom has still not passed. As I type this, I have my spit cup beside me which I can now use because the nausea went away with my first trimester.

Food Cravings and Aversions

This part was just mind-boggling. The very first craving I was aware of was asun (spiced goat meat). I was at the office one day and I remember craving it so badly that in an almost trance-like state, I ordered a cab and found my way to The Place Restaurant close to my office. I bought village rice and asun and only after I had eaten a good portion of the food did I realize I had left work without telling anybody where I was going. The asun cravings lasted for a total of one week, after which the smell alone was enough to make me puke.

My husband really went through a lot this period. I recall going through a phase where I wanted only oranges and pineapples. He went all out and got me a whole basket of oranges as well as a number of pineapples that he would peel and feed me with every day. Unfortunately for him, the craving fast became an aversion and after a while, I couldn't stand the thought of eating even one orange and the whiff of pineapple was enough to make me puke. The entire batch of fruit ended up spoiling and going to waste.

Another such experience was when woke up one morning and decided that I wanted Farm Fresh vanilla yogurt. My husband went to the supermarket near us to get it and couldn't find any. I kept disturbing him until he finally found it at another store and ended up buying 8 big packs of it. I don't think I even drank more than one glass of it in total before it began to irritate me. And because the expiry date was so close, yogurt became an essential part of my husband's daily meal. He had a glass with every meal and by the time he finally went through the entire batch, he had put on quite a significant amount of weight.

Conclusion

Every woman's pregnancy journey is different. Some have it easy, others not so much. My first trimester was no piece of cake and I was relieved when it is finally ended. To anyone currently in that stage of pregnancy, please be patient with yourself, take things easy, and rely heavily on your support system. This isn't the time to try and prove to anyone that you can "do it all". Do the best you can and be proud of every bit of it.  An entire human being is growing within you. Taking care of yourself and your unborn child with all of the unpredictable symptoms that pop up during this period is a full-time job. You are doing amazing.