7 Products and Tips to Survive the 1st Trimester of Pregnancy

Many healthy pregnant women can continue along with their normal life and do just fine, thankyouverymuch. But I am not one of them. Especially in the first trimester. It is a time of intense nausea, overwhelming fatigue, and an inability to find my way out of the dense fog clouding my thinking.

For all the magic that is pregnancy, it can also mean experiencing new and sometimes alarming sensations: an achy pelvic floor, constipation (yes, I’m going there), bloody noses, itchy skin, acne, or any other number of things that no one really wants to talk about. I don’t mean this to be scary or dramatic. It’s just the way of things.

Now that I’m solidly into my second trimester, I feel compelled to divulge what has helped me get here (a.k.a. survive) thus far. Seven products and tips to be exact. There will be no advice concerning aches, pains, or bloating (yet), but there are quite a few centered around nausea and fatigue.

1. Not Now Nausea
Support for occasional nausea, upset stomach, and discomfort from motion.

This was my holy grail for surviving nausea in the first trimester. My husband found it on a whim, but it was a complete game changer. A few sprays in the morning, afternoon, and evening were enough to keep me from spending hours in bed (or the bathroom). Learn more here.

2. Peppermint Essential Oil
For nausea on the go

Nausea would hit me at odd hours of the day, not just the morning. I’d keep a jar in my purse and bust it out for a sniff if I felt a sudden wave of sickness overtake me in the car or if I was out running errands. This is the brand I enjoy.

3. Drink Water
For growing the placenta, uterus, and amniotic fluid

It’s always important to stay hydrated, but more so in the first trimester of pregnancy. During the first three months, your body is doing 100% of the work for baby. What I mean is, in addition to feeding your tiny seed, you are also growing the placenta, increasing your blood volume, expanding your uterus, and then filling that space with enough amniotic fluid to support your baby’s growth. That’s why the first trimester is so uncomfortable. In the second trimester, the placenta takes over a lot of the work and your body gets a slight break. But until then, drink up triple the amount of water you normally would. Your body’s running a never ending marathon and needs it.

4. Ginger Mango Tea
For nausea, bloating and constipation

I’ve always been a big believer in tea as medicine. In fact, I have PCOS but conceived my current pregnancy, naturally, in only two months after taking a Fertility Tea blend for 30 days as part of an herbal Chinese medicine treatment (a story for another time). So naturally, I turned to tea again for help with nausea and pregnancy. Ginger is great for digestion and the mango flavor helped combat my nausea. The brand I used can be found at Target.

5. Saltine Crackers
A tried and true first trimester staple

Saltine crackers are recommended on almost every pregnancy survival list/book I’ve encountered, but there’s good reason. It helps to eat one or two before getting out of bed, or to sustain energy when too nauseous to eat anything, or just because you find the saltiness soothing.

6. Citrus Fruit
For nausea and added hydration

In the first trimester, drinking regular water was a no go, for me anyways. But if I added a squeeze of lemon and ice, I could down a whole glass. Similarly, for snacks I would eat mandarin oranges, because the sharp tang of the fruit, plus it’s juiciness helped quell my nausea when other foods seemed to heavy and pungent.

7. Olly Prenatal Multivitamin
Because pills are hard to swallow

Almost every mother I’ve talked to agrees, prenatal vitamins while pregnant are the worst. They are hard to swallow and make nausea worse. I tried switching up brands - Rainbow Light, Rx vitamins from my doctor - nothing worked. I even switched to taking my multi before bed so that I could “sleep off” the nausea, but I found it kept me awake more than anything. Then I tried Olly Prenatal Vitamins. They are gummies and a citrus flavor which worked wonders for me. If you’re in the market for something new, I highly recommend.

This list is by no means comprehensive - feel free to leave what’s worked for you in the comments below - but these products and tips were my staples of surviving the first trimester of pregnancy.

If you’d like a visual reference of this list: