I’m Pregnant!! My 1st Trimester Journey

I’m finally 13 weeks and into my second trimester! This has been the hardest secret to keep because I’m so excited to begin this new chapter in life and just wanted to share the excitement immediately. The past 3 months have already been such an incredible journey. My skincare and beauty regimens have, YES, adjusted accordingly to be as safe as possible for the baby. But now that I can openly talk about my pregnancy, I wanted share my first trimester experience and introduce how I’ll be integrating my new role as mommy onto nataliekatari.com!

So here it goes… My husband, Sid and I had made the decision that we’d start trying after our September honeymoon, but we had a very relaxed mentality. We had no deadline or time period to work towards, other than we’d expect a baby sometime in 2019. A concern for many that I think could be a myth based on my experience, is whether being on birth control for so many years will effect your fertility. I’ve been on BC for over 15 years, and no it did not effect my fertility whatsoever ;)! I stopped BC in September and got pregnant in October, you can do the math haha. That being said, every woman is different and I think every concern and question is substantial enough to be researched and speak to a doctor about for all the answers that you need. I am aware that not every couple is as fortunate and lucky to get pregnant on the first try and I feel for those people deeply. I want all women to know that I am sensitive to that struggle, but in sharing my news, I wanted to be honest with my story and personal experience.

In anticipation of beginning to try, I ordered some home pregnancy tests to have on hand. I sure love Amazon Prime, and side note, make sure to order from smile.amazon.com as your purchases directly support a charity of your choosing. I chose the ASPCA. I also started to use the app called FLO to track my period and ovulation. I’ve been on BC for so long that I was more curious if I’d be regular without it more than the ovulation calculator. Sid and I were traveling so much for work that even though I was using the app, I didn’t pay too much attention to it. I didn’t want to put unnecessary stress on our already busy schedules. We had a work trip to Las Vegas which happened to overlap with our anniversary. I was feeling so sleepy all the time, which I thought was the jet lag since I operate on EST.

When we got home from the trip, my energy was still low, and Sid immediately left on another two day work trip to Dallas. An hour after he left for the airport, I oddly said to myself “let’s take a test for fun!” It was POSITIVE!!!!!! I was in complete disbelief, I was joyfully crying and immediately called my Mother. We talked and talked, and brain stormed a special way to tell Sid upon his return from Dallas. Sid’s work trip was only two days, but it was the longest two days of my life waiting to tell him this exciting news. But I just had to do it in person! When we went to the doctor for the first time, seeing the baby on the monitor and hearing it’s heartbeat was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I was feeling so many emotions at one time, extreme excitement, joyful laughter, bursting with love, and still some disbelief. Seeing Sid’s face and knowing he was experiencing the same thing was so incredibly special. I was so happy to make him so happy!

Being pregnant in November and December and the holiday season was so much fun, as we got to surprise the family with announcing during Thanksgiving and celebrating all together. BUT the first trimester was tough! I was constantly nauseas, exhausted and had horrible headaches. I was not vomiting but had a feeling of consistent dry-heaving. It was brutal, and many times I was hoping to just vomit and feel better. My energy level was at rock bottom. I could barely get off the couch, and thankfully had the time flexibility to take a lot of naps in between work. Also, I am used to working out/yoga 4 – 5 times a week, and was barely able to make it once a week. When I could eat, all I could stomach was a bagel and fruit. Now that I’m into my 2nd trimester, I still get some headaches, but I’m starting to feel better and my energy level is improving! Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to sharing more of my pregnancy journey with you.

Now that you know a bit more about me and my pregnancy story, I’d like to elaborate on how I’m very excited to incorporate myself as mommy-to-be, and eventually as mommy onto my site! This site is dedicated to exploring all things skincare and beauty, and with my new role, I am already researching and exploring all new types of products that I want to share with you. To name a few, clean beauty and skincare during pregnancy, baby products, baby skincare, baby fashion, baby gear and more! I’ll be adding a new section solely for baby inspired posts. Sharing my skincare and beauty routines will still be the focus of the site, but the site will be expanding with me, no pun intended. Or I could say evolving rather than expanding 😉

Thank you all again for reading and sharing your feedback with me. I am always open to questions, a conversation or a friendly hello!

~Natalie Katari