Which trimester is the hardest

These changes often cause a variety of symptoms, including nausea, fatigue, breast tenderness and frequent urination. Although these are common pregnancy symptoms, every woman has a different experience.

For example, while some may experience an increased energy level during this period, others may feel very tired and emotional.

The second trimester of pregnancy is often called the "golden period" because many of the unpleasant effects of early pregnancy disappear. During the second trimester, you're likely to experience decreased nausea, better sleep patterns and an increased energy level. After week 37, her organs can function on their own. You meet more frequently with your doctor during the third trimester - every two weeks until week 35, then weekly until delivery. At every visit, your doctor collects a urine sample, takes your blood pressure, measures your fundal height, asks about fetal movement kick counts.

Your doctor also conducts a vaginal exam to see if your cervix is dilated opening or effaced thinning. Around week 36, your doctor performs a Group B strep test, a bacterium harmful to a baby that has to be treated with antibiotics. Around this same time, your doctor feels your abdomen to see if baby has settled into a head-down position for birth. Most babies who are breech butt down naturally turn head-down by 37 weeks. Also, keep moving! There's nothing "easy" about pregnancy. A human body going through that much change that quickly is taxing, to say the least.

But most of the pregnant women I have talked to would agree that the first trimester is the hardest. It's not that the second or third are without their difficulties sciatica, squished up lungs, being so damn tired of being pregnant , but taken as a whole, the physical and mental stress of the first 12 weeks of gestation are hands down the goddamn worst.

For the record, I am not a happy, glowing pregnant woman. I absolutely know I was blessed in many ways regarding pregnancy, since I didn't have any medical issues that created cause for concern or required bed rest. For that, believe me, I am grateful. But that doesn't mean I wasn't uncomfortable AF and generally extremely cranky. Increased irritability was totally one of my most prominent symptoms over the course of both of my pregnancies. These feelings were the strongest, for sure, in my first trimester.

Emotionally, physically, and mentally, it's a time that really tests you , over and over again, new things are happening every damn day, and the comfort of those growth charts that compare your baby to various fruits can only make it so much better, ya know? So what, specifically, is making this such a miserable time for so many preggos? Let me count the ways:.

If this is your first pregnancy, you're especially overwhelmed by all the stuff you're expected to learn immediately. While the many books, blogs, and other resources may help you, the sheer volume can be overwhelming. And even if you've been around the baby block before, you may find yourself in unfamiliar territory every single time. My grandmother talks about the fact that each of her four pregnancies felt like her first because they were all so different.

If you are among those lucky women who do not go at least 12 weeks feeling nauseous AF, congratulations and bless. I cannot be counted among your ranks, and neither can at least 70 percent of my pregnant comrades, per data from the March of Dimes. While I was never at hyperemesis gravidarum levels, I always felt just queasy enough to feel uncomfortable and cranky. And, lucky me, it stretched well into the second trimester. But if you, too are all aboard the S. Queasy, take heart, research from the National Institutes of Health indicates that nausea in early pregnancy can be a sign of a healthy pregnancy.

Our life plan — the one that we had nailed so perfectly up until this point — came crashing down. Each month that passes without your dream being fulfilled is another weight added to your shoulders. And that weight of the wait is unbearable. We felt alone, isolated, and ashamed because why did it seem like everyone else around us was getting pregnant so easily?

Were we the only couple in the world going through this? Our goal is to change the conversation around infertility so people feel empowered to share their story, not ashamed. This is why we created The Real First Trymester because, for some of us, trying to get pregnant is the hardest trimester of all. My own infertility journey taught me so much about who we are as a couple, who I am as a person, and who we are now as parents.

As I sit here writing this, listening to my now almost 2-year-old bang pots and pans as drums, I think about all the things I wish I knew then. Your strength will surprise you. The journey is long.