Hi from the third trimester! I thought it was time to recap the second trimester!! Especially, before I forget any details. 😜
Transitioning between the 1st and 2nd trimesters is such an interesting time. It feels like you’re just waiting on some of those yucky symptoms to lessen any day now – then all of a sudden, you realize you feel so much better! For me, that transition to feeling better kicked in at about 16 or 17 weeks.
The first trimester is pretty tough. In many ways. For me, physically I felt pretty terrible – but I also really battled with worrying thoughts and anxiety – especially post IVF. As the second trimester came I found myself settling in a little more to the confidence of this pregnancy. This is tough because so many of us fully know that unfortunately there is no “safe” point in pregnancy until the baby is in our arms – but I did feel much more peace as I headed into the 2nd trimester, and physically saw my body growing & began feeling the baby move.
Noticing Movement
Speaking of that: when did I start to feel the baby move/kick? This is my second pregnancy – and I was super fortunate to feel our first child move pretty early on. My placenta was in the back during my first pregnancy and so feeling movement was very easy. I felt my first baby move at about 16 weeks and I felt those same tiny flutters for this baby, also at about 16 weeks.
I noticed the movements I felt were definitely towards the back and bottom of my uterus – not the front/top like my other pregnancy. With my anatomy scan, I found out that my placenta was actually anterior [at the front] instead of posterior [towards the back] like my other pregnancy. For some, this can be a reason you wouldn’t feel movement until much later in the pregnancy – but I felt pretty fortunate to still be able to feel movement early. I felt those flutters and flicks every day and they also became more frequent as the days passed. Roux and Loren had to wait until about 22 weeks or so before they felt those same kicks and movements.
Anatomy Scan
The anatomy scan went really well! It’s always a little nerve-wracking for obvious reasons. We prayed for a healthy baby who was developing appropriately & that’s exactly what we had!
We were also a little on edge to check out the cord. During my first pregnancy, I had an incidental finding of a cord complication. They found that the umbilical cord did not insert into the placenta properly. Instead of it inserted in the center – it is inserted on the edge. They were concerned about a velamentous cord and brought me back for very frequent ultrasounds to be sure Roux’s growth wasn’t delayed.
That might sound fun to be able to see your baby so frequently via ultrasound – but it was actually very stressful and worrisome. Every 3-4 weeks I had an ultrasound in my 2nd and 3rd trimester. At delivery all was fine – just a weird cord. So, at this anatomy scan – we were so relieved to find out the cord was perfectly normal and nothing to report.
Do we know the GENDER?!
No! We don’t. And we will not find out until delivery. This is another reason why the anatomy scan is a little daunting to me! I don’t want the sonographer to accidentally use a pronoun or forget that we don’t want to know the gender. All was great though – we looked away when they measured baby’s lower body & the secret was safe.
Energy!
My energy levels came back up in the second trimester and I finally began to feel like myself again. I got back to my early morning routine – which I had missed so much! Sure, I still found myself tired at the end of the day – but I no longer felt like I needed an afternoon nap. I had the energy to get back to my workouts and have been working out 5-6 days a week every week for the entire 2nd trimester.
Self Care
I’m paying close attention to my skincare and belly care. I use all the same skincare products as I did in my IVF journey – because they are all clean. I alternate between a few different oils and lotions for my bump. I love them all and feel like rotating products is always a good idea when you find good ones! They are all clean & wonderful.
I see the chiropractor once every two weeks. Roux goes weekly for a little curve in his spine we are working on. I saw a chiropractor for labor prep with my first pregnancy and really feel like it was so helpful with managing some of the discomforts but also preparing my body for delivery. I’ll start going weekly instead of every two weeks as we get closer to my due date.
Cravings?
Am I having cravings? No, not really! In the first trimester, I really enjoyed a lot of citrus and lemon water. I haven’t craved anything specific though. The only aversion I’ve had this pregnancy has been warm/hot coffee. I just can’t do it! I enjoy iced coffee – but I cannot drink it warm at all! This isn’t too bad for me though – my last pregnancy I had a major aversion to meat and chicken! I will say, my hunger comes on quickly. When I get hungry – it feels like I need to eat immediately or I might die. HAHA! All other things are pretty normal for me though – I’m not eating a large amount, craving anything specific, or pairing any strange foods together.
I’m taking a prenatal combo vitamin, baby aspirin, superfood smoothie, magnesium, and liquid chlorophyll daily.
My Maternity Capsule Wardrobe
Early on I decided to create sort of a pregnancy uniform. I knew this would likely be my last pregnancy – so I didn’t want to buy a ton of stuff. Instead, I wanted to create a small capsule wardrobe for pregnancy. [hey, one step closer to a capsule wardrobe in real life I’ve been wanting to accomplish]. I bought a few things because I made a major mistake in my attempt to reuse my pregnancy clothes from last time. I sort of forgot that I was pregnant enough for maternity clothes in Virginia – during the winter. Now, I’m in Florida. Most of those previous maternity items just do not work for this pregnancy because it is way too hot. Towards the end of the second trimester, I’m basically in loungewear every day anyway.
What I’m Reading
I’m reading some of my old books from my last pregnancy.
I’m also reading a book called Holy Labor. I have been listening to the Christian Hypnobirthing app which brings you through all kinds of affirmations, prayers, and scripture. I’m practicing all the breathing techniques that I learned so many years ago now in the hypnobirthing book and finding the playlists that help me create a super calm and relaxing environment.
My Belly Headphones
I’m using belly headphones again for the baby. I did this in my previous pregnancy because my husband was deployed for basically my entire pregnancy. It was important to me that our child knew my husband’s voice – even though he wouldn’t be in the house while the baby grew inside me.
Also, we knew how beneficial music was to a growing baby. So, before Loren deployed he recorded himself reading a bunch of children’s books we loved. We also created a playlist with a mix of classical music and worship music. Then, a part of my routine was to put the belly headphones [belly buds back then] on and play all of that for the baby before I went to sleep.
We loved that so much we decided to recreate it for this baby – even though now, we are so blessed to have Loren home with us. We thought it would be fun for the baby to hear Loren reading a couple of books, and also record Roux singing a few songs to the baby – as well as a big brother message Roux felt strongly about recording haha! So, I play that for the baby a few times a week along with that same classical music playlist & some of our favorite worship songs.
Nesting
The biggest project I had to tackle in the 2nd trimester was going through all the old baby things we saved after Roux. Loren went up to the attic & brought all the things down. Now, it’s been over 5 years since we’ve used any of these things – so we were unsure how they would hold up.
Unfortunately, a bunch of things literally disintegrated in the attic. Things melted and completely fell apart. There were many other things that just needed to be washed and cleaned. It was a big project & it was important so we could see what things we needed to replace – and what could safely be reused. I’m happy to say that project is done – and all I have left to do is go through newborn clothes and the cloth diapers. We did cloth diapering with Roux about 75% of the time and plan to do a similar hybrid thing with this baby too.
Challenges
Alright! To wrap this blog up I figured I would talk about some of the challenging parts of this trimester & give you a tiny peek at our birth plan.
One of the toughest challenges of the trimester was all the sleep interruptions. I found myself waking up to pee at about 3:00 a.m. every single morning – even when I kept my water to earlier parts of the day. I’d get up to use the restroom and then could NOT fall back asleep. I think we’ve finally turned a corner for being able to get back to sleep faster – but that was a tough few weeks of no sleep!
I have hip pain in both hips – while sleeping. This happened with my last pregnancy too and it makes a good night’s rest pretty tough. I just keep switching from one sore hip to the other.
I have daily rib discomfort. It’s more of a burning sensation and probably related to the feet that hangout right in my ribs every day 🙂
And lastly, I am dealing with a low back ache with this pregnancy. It’s hard to tell but I think I may be carrying a little lower – but my back definitely bothers me more. It’s not pain – and the chiropractor helps. I also switched out my office chair for the stability ball and have been working on stretches and posture a ton.
Birth Plan
I’ve had a lot of questions about our birth plan. Our plan A is to have a home birth. I will share details closer to our due date!
Thank you for reading!!!! Are you pregnant or trying to grow your family now? I’d love to hear from you and connect here and on Instagram!
