MY SECOND TRIMESTER UPDATE PART TWO
LIFESTYLE
MY SECOND TRIMESTER UPDATE PART TWO
the second trimester
Weeks 21 - 27
There haven’t been any major shifts in my symptoms from the beginning of the first trimester to the second part of it. Things have remained relatively the same. I’m breaking them down for you below.
My symptoms
Nausea
I’m still taking one zophran (lasts 9 hours) everyday to help with pregnancy nausea. I wake up most days with nausea and if I can take my pill quickly, I manage to avoid being sick. I still sleep with a bucket next to my bed as on the odd day, I still get sick. I’ve definitely had a few days where the pills don’t seem to work as well and I get sick most of the day but lucky for me those days have been occurring less often.
Fatigue
I was still extremely tired and low energy for the majority of this trimester and by majority, I mean the entire thing with the exception of the last two weeks which I’ll explain why in the next point.
Low Iron
After taking my 24 week blood test/glucose test (which tests vitamin levels and for gestational diabetes) I was contacted by midwife who let me know that my iron levels were quite low. This apparently is quite common, especially if you’ve had severe morning sickness. I was prescribed to take an iron supplement every other day and since I started taking them I noticed an insane change in my energy levels. I actually felt like a normal human being for the first time in 6 months.
Aches and Pains
My aches and pains haven’t been too bad at this point. Sometimes my back hurts and sleeping became quite difficult but my pregnancy pillow completely solved that issue once I hit 25 weeks (I found it incredibly annoying to sleep with my pregnancy pillow before 25 weeks).
Appetite/Cravings/Food Aversions
I still don’t have a huge appetite and honestly don’t really have cravings. If I were to say I crave anything it’s a burger and fries (in my opinion, the white spot legendary burger with cheese is a masterpiece and earls fries deserve an award). I could eat one nearly everyday. I think it probably boils down to the fact that I had/have low iron so my body wanted red meat and the fries just really help coat my stomach and help my nausea more than anything else has. As for aversions, eggs still sound like the most vile thing on the planet.
Nose Bleeds
I’ve still been getting nose bleeds all the time which stinks. Sometimes 3x a day. But compared to nausea this literally is nothing more than a slight annoyance.
Weight Gain
I just calculated how much I had gained during my second trimeter and it adds up to about 11.5 lbs. I think that’s pretty good, especially with having had nausea persist through the entire second trimester. I’m still 4 lbs under where I started when we first found out I was pregnant. Just a refresher, I lost 22 lbs in the first trimester and gained back 6.5 lbs in recovery at the very end of my first trimester.
My Bump
My bump was measuring 2 inches larger than my gestational age at my last midwife appointment (24 weeks, 26 inches) which is great and within the healthy range (2 inches higher or lower than the amount of weeks you are). I’m hoping this means I’m actually a week or two further along than my dating ultrasound told me lol.
21 week bump
23 week bump
24 week bump
PREPPING FOR BABY
Nesting got real in the second half of my second trimester. I swear I found something new to order on amazon everyday. I actually feel like we have everything now (except for one shirt bib that I want to order even though it’s way too early for a shirt bib lol) and I’ve even begun packing my hospital bag. (They recommend starting around week 27). In case you missed it, click here for my blog about what I’m packing in my hospital bag.
20 WEEK ANATOMY SCAN
I had my 20 week anatomy scan just after New Years and for the most part it went super well. Our son was super co-operative at first and was moving around a ton which apparently is what the technician wants. However, he tired himself out for the last half of the scan and passed out nose down and it took my tech a while to locate his nose bone, which luckily he did end up finding and it was cute as a button.
We did get a call a few days later from our Midwife to let us know that our son’s kidney’s were slightly enlarged which is most likely due to him not having emptied his blatter but we’ll be having an ultrasound once he’s born to make sure his kidneys are functioning properly. This was a bit scary to hear but we’re optimistic that it was just that he was holding his Blatter.
24 week blood work and glucose test
At 24 weeks pregnant I went for a routine blood test (I mentioned this bit earlier), this is a routine test to check vitamin levels and to check for gestational diabetes. You have to drink a really sugary drink, wait an hour and then get your blood drawn.
Of course, even though I have twice the amount of blood pumping through my veins, my veins are still really hard to find. I guess the silver lining of this is that I don’t really have any veins popping out of my skin which can happen in pregnancy.
Luckily, I did not have gestational diabetes but I did have really low iron, so I’m now taking a supplement for that.
I mentioned this on my instagram stories but I am RH- which means that we needed to do a test for Nick’s blood to see if we were compatible or not. If he is RH+ that means I’ll need an additional shot. Essentially if you’re incompatible it just means that you need to take precaution in case your blood mixes with your babies during labour as this could result in difficulties in future pregnancies.
COVID BOOSTER
I got the covid booster at 23 or 24 weeks pregnant. I went with the Moderna shot as I had been extremely sick with Astra Zeneca and wanted to avoid getting a fever like I did the first two times. I had a really sore arm and was really tired. My pregnancy symptoms flared up so I had a really bad day with nausea and vomiting but it was so worth it. We spent most of the day lying bed with Louie watching the Australian Open, so I can’t complain too much. Additionally, so many new moms and soon-to-be moms reached out with their experience with Moderna and Pfizer and all were super positive which was so reassuring to hear.
26 week ultrasound
We had an additional ultrasound at 26 weeks and we found out our son’s kidney’s were completely normal which was a huge relief after our 20 week anatomy scan where they were slightly enlarged. He was also making our tech laugh because she kept trying to record video samples of him in the womb and he would kick my stomach right where her device was, ruining the video each time. She was a good sport and said she didn’t take it personally lol.
FEELING BABY MOVE
By far the most exciting thing about the second half of my second trimester has been getting to feel our son moving around in my tummy. Even though this is my first pregnancy we actually started feeling him move pretty early (another reason I think I may be a week or two further along than what my dating ultrasound said).
The first time I felt him was around 17 weeks and around 20 weeks I started feeling him much more often. People typically describe the initial feeling to be like butterfly flutters in your stomach but for me it has always been more like a little pressure, kick, punch from the inside type feeling.
Now that I’m towards the end of the second trimester I can feel him dragging his hands and feet across my tummy and I can feel him quite a bit throughout the day which is fun. Even Nick has been able to feel his kicks which has been so special.
AVOIDING STRETCH MARKS
I am so relieved to say that I have still managed to avoid stretch marks or any changes to my skin. I switched to the Summer Friday’s Bellymoon lotion which has been really nice. I put it on every morning.
They say if your stomach or any area on your skin is itchy, it means the skin is stretching so my goal has been to keep my skin moist by moisturizing at least once each day so that my skin never gets so dry that it tears and creates stretch marks. So far, it’s been working but the third trimester will be the true. test lol.
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