Saturday marked 28 weeks which means I’m officially through the second trimester. So crazy! In some ways, because my nausea continued well past my first trimester, I feel like this pregnancy has been divided into two phases instead of three. But I guess I haven’t hit the third yet, so we’ll see! The beginning of my second trimester was SO different than the end, and it’s hard to make generalizations about what I’ve been eating or craving because it has changed so much.
Overall, the second trimester has been so much better than the first. Still not great at documenting everything (the photo above is from Easter haha) but I’ve taken some notes along the way and put them below!
Highlights
15 weeks: think I felt the baby move for the first time – it’s hard to tell at first!
20 weeks: had what might be our last ultrasound, everything looked good and we got to see her wiggle around.
24 weeks: Brian got to feel the baby move for the first time.
25 weeks: first heartburn experience! So fun. Luckily it hasn’t continued much, crossing my fingers that I don’t encounter much of that in the third trimester.
Observations and Feelings
- For the first half of this trimester my bump seemed so much bigger at the end of the day than when I’d wake up. I don’t get it, but it was like that for weeks!
- The period of time where people aren’t sure you’re pregnant but you already feel like you’ve “told” people is weird. Not that I can’t keep telling people, but for neighbors or coworkers I don’t talk to often, it’s just weird when you feel super pregnant but people don’t want to ask. At our sales meeting last week a lot of my coworkers were like “oh, you’re pregnant! I thought you might be!” That was 27 weeks. So funny, definitely not something I was expecting.
- For years I’ve seen women complain about people touching their bellies and I didn’t really get it. Now, I get it. I don’t mind if people ask, but the way people act about it sometimes is so weird to me. And I make it more weird by laughing or making jokes about it. The bigger my belly gets the less it bothers me, but at the beginning it seemed like such a personal space invasion.
- I’ve come to really enjoy the baby movements, at first I felt like it was making my nausea worse but now it’s a fun little surprise throughout the day, and crazy lots of movement when I go to bed and when I wake up.
- Somewhere along the way I’ve come to feel like my entire life is all about researching, shopping, prepping for baby. I’m not mad about it, but it seems like if I ever have any downtime that’s what I’m reading about.
- In the last couple weeks I stopped worrying about pregnancy stuff and kicked it into high gear thinking about when the baby is actually here. I’ve spent a lot of time obsessing over where she’ll sleep and if I’ll ever be able to relax while she’s asleep or if I need to buy one of those hi-tech monitors that tells you the baby is still alive so that you don’t obsessively check on them and wake them up.
- Towards the end of this trimester I’m feeling all the feelings (see above haha.) It’s hard to describe but I just feel more vulnerable somehow, like I’m a sitting duck for something sad to happen to me, so I imagine bad / sad things happening all the time. Trying to just focus on staying present, not worrying, and appreciate the good things.
Eating Habits
- Bagels with all the cream cheese.
- All things citrus. Obsessed with grapefruit, lemons, and oranges. Around week 26 I decided to try to avoid these and I feel much better when I do, even though they sound so good – just have to sit out acidic things from now on.
- Homemade queso, in the microwave.
- String cheese and cottage cheese.
- Raspberries. They are normally my least favorite berry but their stock is rising.
- Lots and lots of carbs (still.)
- Vanilla things – love Nilla Wafers and Golden Oreos.
- Avoiding tomatoes when possible. I’m sometimes okay if it’s just sauce accompanied by pasta and cheese (cough LASAGNA) but otherwise it’s just best to avoid them if I don’t want to feel icky.
Even though I’ve heard the third trimester can be uncomfortable, most of the fun things that are associated with having a baby seem to be concentrated there (babymoon, baby shower, maternity pics, getting ready for baby, etc.) so I’m honestly really looking forward to this next phase!
Hey Sweetie,
Just breathe. If you have your mind on happy thoughts and happy places, Ella will be happy too. My two big positives, if I remember correctly, were 1) My boobs were huge and quite memorable, and 2) I didn’t have periods. Find two or three of your positives and roll with them. When you get uncomfortable, the best mantra is: This, too, shall pass. And it will. And you’ll miss it, believe it or not. All the fretting that comes with a first pregnancy is so normal…every single woman goes through it. Your memory will filter out the bad stuff and retain the happy stuff and all will be smiles and giggles at how seriously you took everything. God made our bodies so remarkable…rely on that. It’s the best fact of this whole thing. Love you girl, you’re doing great!! xoxoxo