Luckily for me, the first trimester wasn’t too difficult. It started off with aversions to certain foods like oatmeal, milk and fish. Then it went to strange cravings like bean and cheese burritos and limes. For the longest, I didn’t FEEL pregnant. I knew from the ultrasounds and my never-ending need to sleep that a person was growing, but I didn’t really see my stomach getting any bigger.

I’ve just hit four months and am now feeling it. I’ve had to swap my favorite skinny jeans for some elastic joggers. My new wardrobe is now filled with flowy tops, dresses and leggings. Looking back on those first three months, being pregnant was a bigger change than I thought. So I made up a few guidelines to get myself through it.

Be patient. There are so many crazy things happening to your body all at once that it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Be patient with your emotional fluctuations, food aversions and even morning sickness. Hopefully, your body will balance out and you’ll start to feel like yourself again.

Don’t compare your pregnancy. We’ve all heard it. Every pregnancy and body is not the same. Still, it didn’t stop me from over analyzing my symptoms or weight gain. I was lucky enough to not suffer from terrible morning sickness like many other women. Yes, many foods did make me feel sick. Overall though, I could function pretty normally.

It’s okay to rest. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t know when to sit down. Being pregnant has forced me to slow down and relax. The hardest part for me was changing my workouts or accepting that some days my body needed sleep more than power yoga.

If you’re like me, sleeping 12 hours a day is ideal. The whole first trimester I was fighting to stay awake past 8PM. Even now I find myself wanting a midday cat nap at work. But it’s okay. Sometimes I just have to say no to going out and doing things because my body says rest.

Pregnancy is definitely an awesome experience. I get so excited every time I go to the doctor (which is a lot, just warning you) and get to see my baby on the ultrasound screen. It’s such a surreal experience to be blessed with this tiny miracle.

“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.” PSALM 127:3