With my first pregnancy, I wasn’t super sick but I was tired all the time. Luckily, it was just Jared and I so I could take a nap in the middle of the day or after work whenever I wanted. I remember wondering how in the world women did this first trimester thing when they had other kids to take care of–well now that I’m living in that reality I have a few solutions to those of you also struggling with staying sane while pregnant and chasing after a toddler all day! Here is a list of my must haves for surviving the first trimester with a toddler.
- Lots of snacks/easy to make meals – The last thing I wanted to do most days was look at or smell food that was going to make me sick. Reagan is a super picky eater too so meal times tend to drag on while we try to find something that she will eat. I found that having lots of snacks close-by helped curb her hunger while I mentally geared up for the task of preparing a meal. I bagged some pretzels, crackers and raisins, and had bananas, applesauce, and yogurt within easy reach so I could toss her one without having to move very far (sounds lazy, but this was my reality). The other thing that helped was having easy to make meals planned out and ready to go so I didn’t have to exert a lot of effort to get dinner made. I’d also make a ton of food so we could eat leftovers for a couple days and I wouldn’t have to cook again so soon. Some of my favorites were chili, crockpot french dips, chicken noodle soup, and Cafe Rio Pork.
- Comfy clothes – I know I’ve talked about these leggings from Simple Addiction a few times but they were so handy these last several weeks! It was a miracle if I was able to change out of my pajamas on any given day and when I did manage to get dressed, I wore these leggings 99% of the time. They’re super soft and stretchy so they accommodate a growing belly, and the wide waistband helps you feel comfortable and like you can breathe normally. I highly recommend stocking up on these leggings while they’re on sale, some options are as low as $4.97!!
- Kidloland App – Another thing I couldn’t have survived without is the kids app Kidloland. I did a full review of it here, but I have to give it another shout out because of how much I’ve relied on it lately. The app is for kids age 0-5 and has tons of songs, stories, and games for littles to play. Reagan loves the nursery rhymes and has started singing along and making hand motions to her favorite ones. She loves Old Macdonald and makes all the animal noises as the song plays. And she loves doing the hand motions to the itsy bitsy spider, it’s seriously adorable. On those days when I really needed to just sit on the couch and do nothing, I would hand Reagan my phone and she would open up her app and go straight to her favorite songs. This would give me those 10 minutes to relax and regroup knowing that Reagan was safe and not getting into anything she shouldn’t be, and then I could go back to being a mom.
- A tribe – Lastly, the thing that saved me was having my tribe of mom friends and my parents who flew out here multiple times to help me out. I had two wonderful women bring us dinner during a particularly bad week when I was so sick I couldn’t move. My parents came out two different times and literally took over all my responsibilities for an entire weekend. And the awesome moms I’ve met here were always texting me to see how I was doing and offering to take Reagan so I could get a break when I needed it. We are so incredibly blessed to have such amazing people surrounding us, and I really don’t know what I would have done without all their help!
I know every pregnancy is different, based on your experiences, what would you add to this list? I love talking pregnancy and getting new ideas for when we go through this again eventually!