Second Trimester Recap — Take Off Your Party Dress

Jun 7

Jun 7 Second Trimester Recap

Where does the time go!? It feels like my second trimester came and went in the blink of an eye. Now that we’ve entered the third trimester, I realized I’m due for a little second trimester recap so here it goes!

Timing: Mid February to Mid May (weeks 14-28)

How I felt physically: Just like everything I’ve heard and read, I felt so great throughout my second trimester and am so so grateful for it.

I had a ton of energy again and no longer felt like I needed a nap once 2-3pm rolled around every day. This really helped get me to start moving my body again and I found myself working out a lot more than I did in the first trimester. Most of my exercise has been practicing prenatal yoga flows and walking Zeus around our neighborhood hills, but I also found myself enjoying leg circuits and occasionally lifting some light weights (gotta get these arms ready to carry a baby around all day).

Some time in the second half of March my belly finally started to show — I was no longer in the “looks more like a food baby than a baby baby” stage (AKA looking extra bloated). The funny thing is, I felt like I was already getting so large at that point and now three months later I just laugh knowing I have so much more to grow still (also sitting here wondering how that is even possible)!

In addition to my belly and baby growing in size, I started feeling all the wiggles, punches and kicks during this second trimester which is seriously the craziest and coolest thing in the world. While I feel this little one move around constantly throughout the day, I feel like he or she is definitely most active later in the evenings - especially after dinner and as I’m settling in for bed.

While this pregnancy really has been so good to me, I have started noticing more back pain specifically in my right SI joint. I can’t exactly pinpoint what triggers it as it seems to happen so randomly but I do notice the more active I am/the more that I stretch, the less I feel any pains. Luckily the only other discomfort I’ve been feeling lately is the difficulty of getting dressed, which is pretty laughable. I’ve resorted to wearing sandals and slip ons as much as possible and have found that putting bottoms on now involves bending my knees out to the side instead of directly in front of me in order to get my feet through my shorts/pants leg holes.

How I felt emotionally: I’d say I’ve been pretty calm throughout these past few months which is probably a result of having a good appetite, higher energy levels, and staying active. But as we get closer to baby being here, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting more anxious at the same time. I’m more excited than ever for our family to grow, but there’s also this sense of nostalgia or longing for more time with just Chris and me by ourselves. I know our lives are only going to get better after bringing this baby into the world, but I’m still a bit nervous for all of the change and unknown that lies ahead.

With all of that said, I’ve loved seeing Chris build the baby’s crib, pick out car seats and strollers, and talk about all of the fun/funny things we’ll do with our kid. I know he’s going to be the best dad, just like he already is to our fur baby Zeus.

How I’m preparing:

OB appointments - These have been pretty standard monthly appointments where we check my blood pressure, weight, baby’s heart rate and go over any routine tests as the weeks progress. We’ve also had a few ultrasounds to track baby’s growth along the way.
Exercise - Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve been doing my best to stay active as we finish out this pregnancy. We take Zeus out for daily evening walks and I’m looking forward to continuing this once baby is here (in stroller or strapped to my chest).
Taking my daily prenatal vitamins and drinking lots of water.
Getting the house ready - Though we plan to have baby in our room for the first few months, we’ve started putting baby’s room together, assembling the crib, organizing the closet and decorating with a few things here and there. We’ve also started our hallway bath remodel, which I’ll have to share more about in a separate post.
Making our baby registry - I thought it’d be a little tricky putting our registry together since we’re waiting to find out baby V’s gender, but I’ve had so much fun shopping for all the fun baby gear we’ll need and finding the cutest gender neutral clothing!

Cravings: Lots of fresh fruit, especially strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. I’m happy to eat all by themselves or mixed with granola on top of some greek yogurt. Also doesn’t hurt if a little chocolate and/or ice cream is involved (but what else is new).

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