A first trimester guide to the early weeks of your pregnancy.
How you might be feeling during your first trimester…
Anything from sick, tired and emotional to scared, happy and worried and that can all be in one day! If you are feeling emotional and worried, talking it through and sharing your news could be helpful.
Morning sickness – this could be due to low blood sugar or tiredness. You may need to eat as soon as you wake up. Eating little and often throughout the day can ease the nausea and/or vomiting. If your vomiting is severe, talk to your midwife about it.
Fatigue – try to eat well, drink lots of water, rest and sleep when you can. It might feel like you fall into bed at 8pm but, if that is what you need, so be it! If you have an older child, don’t be surprised if you end up falling asleep during bedtime story time.
Pelvic pain – you may experience pain in your pubic bone or hips, especially if this is not your first pregnancy. Mention it to your midwife because seeing a physiotherapist could help with this.
By week 8: Your metabolism will speed up and your blood volume will start to increase, which can cause headaches.
By week 12: Your boobs and your waist may feel bigger and, as your uterus moves above your pubic bones, your bump may start to develop. After week 12, your energy levels might start to increase.
What’s happening in your body during your first trimester?
As soon as your egg is fertilised, cells multiply fast and that is why you can be so tired. Your body is working hard to grow a baby. By the time you have missed your period, your fertilized egg has become an embryo – a ball of cells developing all your baby’s the vital organs and systems.
By 7 weeks your baby is about 1.2cm long.
At 12 weeks your baby is about 5.5cm long and he is now fully formed. Your embryo is now a fetus.
Seeing your midwife
Contact your GP surgery to make an appointment to see a community midwife.
Your booking-in appointment will probably take place when you are about 10 weeks pregnant. This will be a long appointment to complete paperwork and your midwife will explain your pregnancy care to you.
You will be given your maternity notes and you will be asked to bring them with you to each midwife appointment. Many NHS trusts now have digital notes which are stored on an app on your phone – your midwife will give you all the details you need to access these.
First Trimester Experiences
“I didn’t know I was pregnant until I had missed two periods – I thought I was just stressed with my new job. And then morning sickness kicked in.”
“With my first and my second pregnancies, I just knew. I didn’t really have any symptoms, I just felt different.”
“I had no symptoms at all. We were trying but I didn’t think I was pregnant as I had nothing at all. I kept waiting for them to start. I only believed I was pregnant when I went for my first scan.”
“I had a dull, constant headache – thought I was just stressed or coming down with a cold.”
“The first time I was pregnant, I just knew as in I had a feeling – I did a test and there it was.”
“I felt hungover for weeks”
“I have never felt tiredness like it – I felt like I was crawling out of bed to go to work and then crawling back into bed after work.”
“Oh the tiredness, every cell in my body felt exhausted.”
“I was really emotional. Even though this was something we wanted, I felt trapped, as if my life had changed forever and that took a little while to adjust to even though I was also really happy.”
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