After a 13 year break, I am in my first trimester of pregnancy with my second child. While I have heard “you’ve done this before…you know what to expect,” the reality is that it feels like my first pregnancy as I do not recall so much of this nor do I remember all of the information I have learned so far. This is either a result of severe poor memory, my post-partum after my first child, or new research and information learned about pregnancy since then. It is likely a combination of all three. Regardless, I wanted to help out other women who may be embarking on pregnancy for the first time or find them in my situation where they “feel” like it is the first time. Here is some of the information I have learned first-hand through my first trimester that may assist you as you continue your 9 month journey. (I will try to update in my second and third trimester later.)

Vitamins and Supplements

I was slightly delayed in seeing my OBGYN for my initial appointment; but, after friends and family reminded me over and over that I needed to start taking prenatal vitamins, I picked up some gummy prenatal vitamins from my local grocery store. Being the frugal person I am, I really did not want to spend the $12.00 knowing the doctor was probably going to tell me to take his/her prescribed prenatal vitamins. I spent the money anyways, though, wanting to make sure the baby was receiving the necessary nutrients. First, the gummy style of vitamins helped tremendously as the thought of getting giant pills down my throat did nothing for my morning sickness. (The two gummy vitamins were actually tasty.) I brought the bottle of gummy prenatal vitamins to my first OBGYN appointment and was pleasantly surprised when the midwife said those were perfectly fine. They contained Folic Acid, one nutrient that seems to get a lot of attention as it is important that the baby receive it during the pregnancy. The morale of the story here is that if you have not yet seen your OBGYN, or are having trouble taking hard pills, this may work for you. Just make sure to get the okay from your doctor as I can only speak first-hand from what mine told me.

Besides prenatal vitamins, I am also taking DHA which is naturally found in fish and believed to help the baby develop fatty acids during brain development. Some research suggests it increases the IQ. The father of my child is extremely intelligent. In fact, he and his siblings all seem to be. He is originally from Trinidad where fish is a common main course from what I understand. His family ate a lot of fish. Putting this together, I personally concluded that it was something in the fish (DHA) that helped with a child’s IQ. Now, this is not directly from my doctor or midwife. This is some reading on my own and observation; yet it is something you may want to speak with your doctor further about to make sure you are giving your baby everything it needs to get a jumpstart on development.Getting Massages while Pregnant

I occasionally spoil myself with a massage, mostly due to my high-stress job. I scheduled a massage appointment as usual, not mentioning I was pregnant until I got into the room. That was too late, although I got lucky that time. Be sure to mention on the phone when scheduling that you are pregnant as not all massage therapists have prenatal certification. The therapist I spoke with informed me that she, without her prenatal certification, could provide my massage that day because I was not yet 12 weeks along but that I would need to have a therapist with prenatal certification after that time. She went onto explain that there is, apparently, a certain trigger point around the ankle that can cause a woman to go into preterm labor. I imagine there are other considerations also that a prenatal certified therapist would be aware of, but I found that piece of information to be very interesting—and it scared me enough to make sure I inform them upon scheduling the appointment to make sure I get the best therapist. Also, once you start showing your belly bump, you would obviously need some adjustments with the table set-up to accommodate your physical changes.

Foods to Avoid

This was a surprising area for me to learn about because, honestly, I do not remember any of this with my first child. I just remember eating everything in sight with no concern of what to avoid. This time around, I have so far learned to avoid the following foods:

Soft Cheeses (e.g. brie, gorgonzola, camembert, some cheese dips like queso blanco unless they state they are made from pasteurized milk)

High Mercury Fish (e.g. shark, tilefish, king mackerel, swordfish, some fish used in sushi)

Other fish to avoid due to contaminated lakes/rivers (e.g. salmon, pile, trout, bluefish, walleye)

Raw Shellfish (e.g. oysters, clams, mussels, etc.)

Cold Deli Meats – if you want to eat them, make sure you reheat the meat until it is steaming

Raw Meat (e.g. uncooked seafood, undercooked chicken or beef, etc.)

Raw Egg (e.g. cookie dough, salad dressings with raw egg, etc.)

Unpasteurized Milk

This list is not exhaustive, so be sure to talk to your doctor for instruction on what to eat and not to eat. However, these were some of the items I felt like I was learning for the first time and have had to work toward not consuming (the cookie dough in particular!)