MY SECOND TRIMESTER UPDATE
LIFESTYLE
MY SECOND TRIMESTER UPDATE
the second trimester
Weeks 13 - 20
So far, the second trimester for me has been a lot less eventful than the first, phew! It hasn’t been as easy as I was hoping as my first trimester symptoms didn’t stop as I was wishing they would but luckily they are at least more manageable.
My symptoms
Nausea
The nausea for me has sadly continued on into trimester two (it’s currently still going strong as I head into week 20) I usually get sick first thing every morning before I can take my medication. Luckily my medication works most days and I only feel nauseas randomly at different points of the day and have been able to keep food and liquids down thanks to this.
Fatigue
I think I’ve been more tired this trimester than I was in the first one. I go to bed exhausted and early. I usually have sleep disruptions though, waking up every morning from 4am until 6am and then falling back asleep for a few more hours before starting work at 9am. My midwives have still advised me to take it easy and not over due it. Nick and I had gone on a date day/night in the city in November and I paid for it the next week with a bit of a relapse on my morning sickness even when taking my medication. I find I really can’t do much other than relax. Wrapping Christmas gifts this year was exhausting and my main event for the week lol.
Nose bleeds
I’ve been getting small nose bleeds a few times a week which I’ve read is normal but have never met anyone else with this before. They usually come when I’m getting sick in the morning.
Aches and Pains
I’ve been having round ligament pains, leg aches and some hip pain but luckily no back pain yet, yippee!
Appetite
Unlike the books say I have yet to see an increase in my appetite and instead experienced a significant decrease. My stomach feels full so quickly into a meal and because my stomach has shifted upward in my body, I get quite nauseas when I can feel my meal sitting so high in my body. I can barely get through meals these days.
Cravings/Food Aversions
I have yet to experience cravings and am still in the food aversions stage of things. I eat what sounds somewhat appealing and still can’t even think about eating an egg, yuck!
Weight Gain
I’d read that you should be gaining about 1-2 lbs a week during your second trimester which has not been the case for me (luckily my midwife confirmed this is totally fine). I managed to gain about 10 lbs back in the three weeks following my surgery (I assume this was literally all water weight as I was so dehydrated). Since then I’ve only gained about 2.5 lbs and I’m 6 weeks into my second trimester. I’m still about 10 lbs down from where I started when we first found out we were expecting which is so crazy because my belly looks so big already.
My Bump
My bump really didn’t start showing until I was about 15-16 weeks. My tummy was completely flat after my kidney stone surgery, it was actually crazy how much weight I’d lost. My pre-wedding jeans were loose on me and my legs were like tooth-pics. But my bump is on full display now and seems to be growing little by little each week.
This is my bump at 18 weeks. My tummy had been flat only 2-3 weeks earlier.
PREPPING FOR BABY
We did SO much shopping for baby once I was feeling better after my surgery. We ordered all of the remaining nursery furniture and crib bedding (I’m so excited to share the design with all of you) immediately following my surgery and it was a good thing we did since the cribs I liked were set to arrive only a month or two before our due date. The crib I originally wanted wouldn’t arrive until after our due date so I had to go with my second choice.
We ended up buying almost everything else over Black Friday/Cyber Monday and got wicked deals. And now we’re enjoying all of those purchases arriving one by one, including our stroller! If you want to know more about what we’ve purchased so far, you can check out this blog post here.
maternity clothing
I’ve started wearing some of my maternity wear although I can still get away with a lot of my pre-pregnancy clothes at the moment.
Lululemon Align pants have been an absolute staple for me as I wear them nearly everyday, these are my fav style. I just keep buying more so I have more to rotate through lol. You can never have too many black stretchy leggings when you’re expecting. I currently still fit in my pre-pregnancy size but will probably need to size up eventually. I also recently purchased a pair of fleece tights which are warmer for winter but still nice and stretchy. (I must say, I work at the lululemon head office, so I’m a bit biased but have had so many women tell me these were their favourite maternity wear item too).
Besides that I bought some comfy loungwear (top and bottom) from ASOS that were super cheap but super cute and I’ve worn them SO much. They are nice and loose on my waist which is so nice when you’re having aches and pains or feeling nauseous.
I also bought some turtleneck sweater dresses from Joe Fresh after seeing a pregnant woman wearing one on Marilyn Dennis, they were $40.00 a piece and I LOVE them. I wore the black one in our birth announcement pictures.
AVOIDING STRETCH MARKS
I’ve been lathering on lotion one or two times a day over my bump and any other growing areas to ensure I don’t get stretch marks. I’ve been using bio oil and Earth mama belly butter.
Anyway that’s kind of all for now, hope all is well with you!
Lauren
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