Week 16: First trimester reflection

Full disclosure: I’m still not 100 percent sure when the second trimester starts. Is it the day you become 13 weeks or at the beginning of the 14^th week? I’ve heard different theories, and I just don’t know.  Now that I’m going into week 16, I can most assuredly say that I’m in my second trimester. For the past few months, I’ve been in survival mode, trying to make it through each day without forgetting to take the prenatal vitamins, show up to work or vomiting in public. This past week, I have noticed a small difference in my energy level, in that I’m not going to sleep right after work (this is progress). I’m excited for better days to come.
As I reflect upon the last three months of my life—which feels like years, to be honest—I realize I have slacked on almost all of my responsibilities. As the fog is starting to clear, I’m realizing there have been many things that I have failed to accomplish lately. The first trimester is hard, so I’m not beating myself up, but instead I hope that sharing my shortcomings with you will help you lower your expectations of yourself during the challenging first trimester!
10 Things That Don’t Happen During First Trimester (That You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About)

1. Cleaning. You can’t really notice that our house hasn’t been thoroughly Pledged for a couple of months. A quick sweep of the hand across the coffee table between Netflix episodes is all you need. House is clean.
2. Getting the mail. Why make a time-consuming stop at the mailbox after work when you could just continue through the front door, immediately flop on your bed and cuddle up with your Snoogle? (I adore my Snoogle, and I recommend you get one to love, too.)
3. Cooking dinner. You know what I’ve discovered? The frozen food section! Why have I been cooking all these years when they sell everything ready to eat after 5-10 minutes in the microwave?
4. Getting your hair highlighted. You can blame that on the harmful toxins, though, and not your sheer laziness on a Saturday afternoon.
5. Making Pinterest crafts. I used to enjoy a casual trip to Michael’s for craft supplies or even just a trip down the candy aisle at the grocery store during holidays. That has definitely not happened, and it’s not looking good for Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas with a newborn!
6. Feeling skinny. Whether you’re like me and were in maternity pants by 10 weeks, or you’re one of those women who haven’t gained a pound yet but feel bloated, I have yet to meet a pregnant woman who has said anything along the lines of “I feel so thin!”
7. Wearing eye makeup. Wait, let’s be honest. Wearing any makeup. That’s 10 more minutes I can sleep in the morning. Sleep is the priority here.
8. Having “intimate time” with the husband. Between the narcoleptic tendencies I’ve developed, heightened nausea and giant pregnancy pillow in the bed, I forget how we even created this baby in the first place?
9. Checking personal email. I just don’t have the mental capacity to think about anything outside my work responsibilities and what frozen meal I’m going to eat next. Sorry, but RSVP-ing to your Thirty-One party is currently at the bottom of my to-do list, under “make nachos.”
10. The hardest one of all: thinking about anything other than your baby. Good luck caring about anything except for when your next doctor’s appointment is, how big baby is this week and anxiously awaiting those first kicks … during the first trimester, everything else fades into the background!