Navigating a New Normal – The First Trimester Saga

I, for one, am no friend of needles. And when you get that “You’re pregnant!” confirmation from the doctor, they really should warn you: you’re about to get your blood drawn more times than you can count. Seriously—so many needles.

Arriving at the Emergency Room was nerve-wracking. I sat in the waiting room with my boyfriend (who—spoiler alert—eventually my fiancé), quietly saying, “I just hope everything is okay with the baby.”

He gently reminded me, “We’re here to make sure you are okay.”

That helped… for a moment. Then I got called back.

Now, I think the person who came to check on me was a nurse—but in my defense, I tend to blur out anyone holding a needle. Nothing personal. Just survival instincts.

When he asked why I was there, I rattled off the list: headache, dizziness, starving but unable to eat, nausea, smell aversions… just plain miserable. Only a few tears slipped out. He attempted a joke about pregnancy, but clearly didn’t read the room. (Sir, not today.)

He gave me something for the nausea and told me I was likely dehydrated—which, of course, made all the symptoms worse. On top of the "normal" pregnancy stuff and if you ask me the first trimester is not normal at all!

Little did I know, this was just the beginning of redefining what “normal” looks like when you're pregnant.

After an IV drip to rehydrate me, I was sent to another floor for an ultrasound. Now—let me just say this for the girlies (and fellas) who don’t know: in the early stages of pregnancy, you don’t get the classic cold-gel-on-the-belly situation. Nope. Not yet.

Instead, you get a transvaginal ultrasound—a fancy way of saying they use a device that honestly made me wish for a pap smear. It was just me and the ultrasound tech in the room, her pushing this medieval terror device around after pumping me full of fluids—and I wasn’t allowed to pee until after the scan.

Torture.

What made it even weirder? I wasn’t allowed to look at the screen. For all I knew, I was imagining the whole thing.

Maybe it was a false positive.

A hysterical pregnancy.

Then, the tech left the room and I stood up to get dressed. That’s when I saw it.

There on the screen: a tiny little peanut, right there. My baby. With a heartbeat.

I didn’t cry. I just stood there, completely still, in total awe.

There was a tiny human growing inside me—and I literally could not believe it.

Little Peanut during the first trimester