Wow. That was a looooooong 13 weeks! It wasn't a fun time in life for me!
Not everyone has a really crappy first trimester, but for those of you who are currently in the thick of morning sickness, exhaustion, crazy hormones, being incredibly bloated, and are just trying to survive, this article is for you. If you have other kids and are basically dying of exhaustion, this article is for you. If you are a guy who happens to randomly be reading this and your partner is pregnant, this article is for you!
I wrote a post a while ago with tips on dealing with morning sickness. You can read that here. You bet I used all of those tips!
I currently have a 6 year old and a 4 year old. It was super helpful to have my 6 year old be in school most of the day. My 4 year old goes to preschool twice a week for 2 hours, so during that first trimester I absolutely would drop her off and come home and sleep!
But when they both were home, and I still had pure exhaustion, I definitely utilized the tv more than I usually do. I promise your kids will not become zombies if they watch more television than usual! I just made sure the shows they watched were somewhat educational (okay, I gave into stinkin' Paw Patrol a few times). I also have a post about the shows I prefer my kids watch. Now the title does say for 2-3 year olds, however both my kids still like to watch them.....even though my 6 year old probably wouldn't admit that haha! You can read my list here.
Okay so you have let your kids watch tv for like 3 hours and are feeling guilty about that (which you shouldn't right now. Hello, you're in survival mode at the moment!). You're still exhausted and just want to lay on the couch like a slug. So what can you do? Play "doctor" of course! This little doctor's kit from Amazon is perfect! You literally lay on the couch and let your kids give you a check up.
Another thing you can do to entertain them while you lay there is send them on a scavenger hunt. You can ask them to go find something that starts with any letter of the alphabet, or something that is a certain color. Again, you just lay there!
If you are able to muster up a little energy to be able to sit up, you can always play a game with them. Chutes and Ladders is a good one, Candy Land is always fun, and for the older kids you can always do Battleship or Rack-O.
Reading books is also a good thing to do while you either sit or lay down. It's even better if you have a kid who can read books to you! Then you can kind of doze off as they are reading to you.....
If nothing else, you can always ask for help! And it doesn't have to be asking them to watch your kids. If they offer to help with providing dinner, let them! That seriously was so helpful. I didn't have any energy to prepare food for my family. And I didn't have an appetite either. Making food made me feel like I needed to throw up! If someone offers to help you, say yes. It is always good to let people serve you, both for yourself and for them!
One more thing, my kids loved cuddling. I am not one who just lays or sits on the couch all day. So this whole feeling like crap all the time and needing to lay down was new for my kids. They loved just climbing under the blanket and cuddling. So try to soak that in if you have little cuddle bugs :)
My friends, hang in there! There were some days where I truly felt like it wouldn't ever end. I cried a lot as I was laying there. I asked myself a lot why I had decided to get pregnant again. The days dragged. I felt like each day was 100 years. But eventually, it got better.
You got this!
**This blog contains affiliate links. I may make a commission off of qualifying purchases. Thanks!**
Comments