How I Survived My First Trimester With TWO Toddlers!

We made it through!

How I Survived My First Trimester With TWO Toddlers!

Photo by Jessica Rockowitz on Unsplash

The first trimester of pregnancy is never fun. It’s exhausting and nauseating, and on top of the physical stressors, you’re also emotionally fatigued worrying if the baby will be all right. Of course, it’s God’s greatest gift to be carrying a child, but I think it’s valid to be able to express the difficulties of early pregnancy. But you know what’s even harder than your typical first trimester?

Your first trimester with two toddlers.

My older son is almost three and my younger son is just over a year. My older son has dropped his naps - although, he still does quiet time many days - and my younger son is walking all over the place. Being a present and active SAHM is almost impossible when you’re lying on the couch feeling like you’re about to be sick.

After eight weeks of intense fatigue and morning sickness, I felt completely demoralized and worried that the symptoms would never end. But almost like the flick of a switch, my symptoms abated in my thirteenth week of pregnancy. God is good!

I thought I would share with you ways I was able to make my first trimester possible with two little ones at home with me. I plan on homeschooling my children and so this set of circumstances will most likely occur in the future if I am blessed enough to be pregnant again. Was it easy? Absolutely not. Could I have done it without help? Maybe, but I truly leaned on my support system during this time. But women have been having babies and dealing with morning sickness for millennia, so there must be a way. And I thought I’d share MY way with you.

1. Lean on your family and friends. I always tell my mother before I conceive: “I need you to mark out two months during my first trimester so that you can help me and three months postpartum so you can help me.” It’s our running joke. I know that those periods of time are not easy, and we were never meant to take on mothering alone. If you have family or friends around, don’t be afraid to ask them for help. I know that many women don’t want to tell people they’re expecting early on, but sometimes survival is more important. Tell the people who would help you if something went wrong, then depend on them through thick and thin. My mother came almost every day for two hours so that I could sleep and make it through till my bedtime at 8:30. If I didn’t get a nap in, my body was so tired that the morning sickness made it almost impossible for me to stand up by 4 PM. But with a nap, I could be present for my kids through their bedtime. If you have other SAHM friends around, set up playdates and see if you can drop your young ones off so you can rest. ASK. FOR. HELP.

2. Accept a slower pace. Before I got pregnant again, I had a very specific schedule for my children. We would wake up, eat breakfast, and then immediately go out for the morning before coming back for lunch. Then we would either spend the afternoon at home or we would go out for a playdate. Well, luck would have it that my younger son solidified his nap schedule just as I started feeling sick. He has now started taking his morning nap about two hours after he wakes up, which means my older son and I end up taking our mornings very slow at home. Initially, I had to wrap my head around not having a daily excursion and activity, but now, after spending more time at home with my children, I am realizing the beauty in slowness. My children don’t need to run around doing things; sometimes, they much prefer time spent at home with my full attention. This was a huge lesson for me and it’s made me appreciate a slower rhythm which is absolutely necessary when you’re feeling sick in your first trimester. Don’t feel guilty for letting the schedule slip - embrace it and enjoy this time with your kiddos.

3. Set up quiet time for non-napping toddlers. Ever since my son stopped napping, we have incorporated quiet time. We don’t do a super long quiet time just yet and it’s always changing - right now, my son plays for about 35 minutes alone in his room. During normal times, that’s just time for me to work on my articles or clean my home. But during pregnancy, this is time for me to sneak in some rest. It’s not always a perfect system, but even just getting some time to lay down on the couch without being responsible for another human being is wonderful. Practice quiet time with your toddler every day if you can so you can get the rest you need to grow another human!

4. Invite your toddlers for snuggle times. This surprised me this pregnancy, but my older son loved snuggling me when I needed to lie down. It became a special activity! I’d tell him how tired I was and that I needed to rest. He just loves being with me, so I’d invite him to come under the blankets for a snuggle. He never slept, but just having him resting with me for a few minutes was another much needed break where I didn’t have to supervise. That would often morph into reading books together which was fun for both of my sons and allowed me to sit without having to move around too much.

5. Explore more cerebral activities that allow for more sitting. Finally, doing magnatiles, megablocks, and arts and crafts projects helped me on the days when I was feeling exhausted. These are low impact activities that the kids enjoy and can be done for long stretches of time. Keeping the children from destroying each other’s buildings can be difficult, but by distracting one toddler I was usually able to keep the other one happy with their own work.

I hope these tips were helpful and offered some ideas for how to get through the first trimester. I know how hard this time can be - I literally just started feeling better - but it will pass. And then, you get a baby! Nothing is more worth it than that. As my friend always says, “No wonder you’re feeling sick - you probably grew an eyeball today!”