Second Trimester Update

The weeks are starting to fly by at an alarming rate! I’m 27 weeks today and thought that put me in the third trimester, but apparently that doesn’t actually begin until 28 weeks. (Math: never my strong suit.) But this post was ready to go, so here it is a week early. Surprise!

PHYSICALLY

Overall, the second trimester has been a huge improvement over the first. I have near-normal energy levels and very little nausea! Baby is active and clearly starting to explore the limits of his space. I’m feeling lots of weird things, like he’s headbutting me or doing “paint the fence” in there. Feeling him move is definitely my favorite part of pregnancy (at least for now before he can do much damage). Once in a while, he really gets going and my stomach jumps around like a bongo. It’s crazy.

HOWEVER: I did not get the promised second-trimester break from heartburn and acid reflux. It may sound like a minor annoyance, but as anyone who has suffered from this knows, it’s not. My throat feels like a clogged drain about to overflow 24/7. I often have to prop up on several pillows to get enough relief to fall asleep. Many mornings I wake up feeling good, but the discomfort comes back the moment I drink or eat anything. Skipping doses of Pepcid always proves to be a mistake. I’m so thankful that this has an end date – people with GERD, you have my eternal compassion and sympathy.

I’ve had restless legs all my life, but the pregnancy version feels different, more rooted in my hips and lower back. If an attack is brewing, no amount of stretching can stop it. Pretty much the only thing that helps is a heating pad. (Pre-pregnancy, I just took an Advil or Aleve.) I’m hoping that taking more walks will help with this. Rufus has always slept on my legs at night, so I have the added stress of knowing I’m bothering him every time I move. I wish I could convince him to sleep next to me for a while.

We got another ultrasound at 20 weeks and the baby looked great! He’s definitely a boy and was measuring ahead of schedule. I should get another ultrasound at my 28-week appointment and am excited for the update. I also have my glucose test next week. Gestational diabetes runs in my family, so genetically my odds are bad, but I’m hoping against hope. I’ve already been on daily blood thinner shots since 5 weeks (for my APS) and reeeally Do Not Want to add finger pricks, insulin shots, and a strict diet to the routine.

I keep discovering things I physically can’t do anymore. It mostly makes me laugh. Stretching up to reach items feels so bad that I now need a stepladder to get things off the middle kitchen shelf. Picking things up off the floor is tough. Crossing my legs when I sit is getting tough. Often when I try to access my ab or hip muscles to do something (like swing my leg over the cat when getting off the couch), nobody’s home. It reminds me of when I first tried to suck in my stomach at about 10 weeks and absolutely nothing happened.

Tennessee just added pregnant people (and their partners) to vaccine category 1c, and I got my first dose of Pfizer this week! Taylor and I will both be fully vaccinated by the beginning of April. I’m so thankful and know this is a privilege – it wouldn’t have been possible for us if better leadership hadn’t just taken over our local rollout. I will not debate my decision to get vaccinated. I did so with the full support of my doctor, ACOG, the WHO, and the CDC, all of whom feel the benefits to pregnant people outweigh any risks. The woman who vaccinated me was also really supportive and kind, and told me I was doing an important thing, which meant a lot to me. I’m thankful to be able to give antibodies to my baby, especially considering the uncertainty around when kids will get that protection. And of course it’ll be a bonus to have a little more freedom and peace of mind before the baby is born.

FITNESS

I’ve kept up with yoga several mornings a week. I discovered the Harlow’s Earth prenatal yoga series and enjoy doing each week’s practice. I also like this 30-minute tabata workout. Prenatal-specific videos are great! You never have to do anything that feels bad or unmanageable.

I’m still going to my trainer once a week, and she’s making sure to incorporate squats and/or deadlifts at every session. She’s also pregnant, and has decided we’re going to be the new moms with killer arms. I’m on board.

Now that it’s warmer and staying light longer (yay!), Taylor and I are walking several times a week. Walking is really the only “cardio” that feels good – I think I’m already too big to run comfortably (especially since I’m out of running shape). I haven’t been able to access my elliptical due to our renovation, so I’ve done almost no cardio so far in 2021. Unless getting faint from climbing the stairs counts as cardio. I struggle emotionally with not living up to my own high pregnancy fitness expectations. If we weren’t in a pandemic, I’d likely still be going to the gym and Pilates and feeling on top of things. Instead I’ve been isolated with limited options, and it’s hard to get motivated to do more. Following pregnancy fitspo probably isn’t helping me feel better, but I am learning helpful stretching and labor prep tips from Expecting and Empowered and Mamaste Fit.

All that said, I feel generally okay about how I look. I felt like a sad, awkward blob for the first trimester, but now I have a nicely shaped bump that reminds me my body is doing amazing things. I mean, this is a miracle bump!

EATING

Thankfully, most of my food aversions went away early in the second trimester and I’ve mostly resumed my regular diet. Even so, I have days or even weeks when nothing sounds particularly good. It’s weird. I try to follow my instincts during those times, and as a result have bought a lot of weird things, like cottage cheese.

Some of my favorite foods this trimester: SANDWICHES, all condiments, sauces, and dressings (continued from first trimester), provolone cheese, Kalamata olives, hummus, yogurt, chicken salads and wraps, oatmeal, quinoa bowls, baked potatoes, ice cream. Confession: I’ve had ice cream almost every night of my pregnancy because it’s the only food that helps with the heartburn. I also go through a lot of strawberries and blueberries, as I have for my whole adult life. Excited to be moving back into the season of abundant, cheap berries.

I’m not a huge fan of plain water, so finding a variety of satisfying drinks is an ongoing challenge. My big obsession is Diet Snapple peach tea. The Crystal Light peach tea is almost as good. They’re both low in caffeine. I think I need the bite of the fruit and fake-tea flavors, because I still have an aversion to a lot of regular teas. I also love the Mango Tropical flavored water from Aldi, and the Crystal Light lemonades.

EMOTIONALLY

In a day-to-day sense, I enjoyed feeling pretty even-keeled in the second trimester – it’s really thrown into relief the hormonal roller coaster I’m usually on. However, my anxiety is rising as the time draws closer. At no point in this pregnancy have I felt like I had anything under control. This is probably something I should lean into, since control is an illusion and all, but every post from a smug mom with her hospital bag packed at 20 weeks has set me back. I am “behind” on almost every getting-ready-for-baby milestone. I have to keep telling myself that this doesn’t mean I’m already a failure as a mom. Meanwhile, due to my various health complications, I need to be emotionally prepared for a variety of birth situations. I’m okay with that part – all that really matters to me is that he’s born safely – but there’s a chance I could be induced as early as 37 weeks. I’m praying against that because I need those three weeks! I think I feel extra pressure because I’ll most likely only do all this once, so there’s no opportunity to do better next time. This is it.

Pandemic pregnancy also continues to bring its own weirdness. On one hand, I’m thankful for the more relaxed pace of life, more flexibility, and reduced opportunities for unwanted commentary and/or strangers touching my belly. On the other hand, I’m sad about not getting to experience pregnancy in community. I don’t get to go to prenatal yoga classes, shop for baby clothes with friends, get prayed over at church, or just generally share this experience in a physical, present way with more than a few people. It can be a little lonely. When I do “go out” (e.g. to the park or Target), I have a higher awareness of being a Pregnant Woman in Public than I think I would in normal times. Any of the traditional kindnesses extended to pregnant women touch me deeply. Also, as we enter the very early stages of finding a “new normal,” sometimes I feel bummed that I never got to give my old normal a proper goodbye. My new normal will be EXTREMELY NEW, with no going back. I don’t totally hate this – I feel ready and even excited for a fresh start in a few areas, and think it will be good. It’s just… another thing.

PREGO FASHION & BEAUTY

My friend Alanna loaned me a large bin of cute maternity clothes in my size, and it saved my sanity (and wallet). I also still have some things from my sister, and Old Navy has filled in the gaps. My favorites so far are these shirts and these distressed skinny jeans. As a long-torsoed person, I love how long maternity shirts are. You can easily wear them with jeans OR leggings! Flexibility! I might have to keep some of these in rotation.

Next I’m looking for dresses for my (distanced) baby showers and maternity photos, one or two pairs of shorts, and maybe a few lounge items for postpartum. I generally find online maternity shopping frustrating. I know being WFH during my pregnancy is saving me a ton of money, but I also feel guilty spending real money on any pieces, because the cost per wear will be so high. I’m having a particularly hard time with the dresses. Lately I’ve focused on Pinkblush listings on Poshmark, but nothing has felt just right yet. I really miss in-person thrifting.

For attempted stretch mark prevention, early on I started full applications of Palmer’s cocoa butter in the morning and Neutrogena body oil at night. So far so good. As a side benefit, my upper arms, which usually look scary after the winter, are nice and smooth.

I have a few patches of dry, red skin under and around my eyes. They just appeared one day, and no eye cream or lotion or even eczema cream has erased them. When they flare up, it looks a little like I got punched. Several women I know (mostly boy moms, interestingly) told me that they got them too, and they’ll go away. So weird. Other than that, pregnancy has been very good to my complexion.

I can still (mostly) tend to my own toenails, but I know that window is closing fast. It’s a relief to think I could maybe get a real pedicure before the birth.

“PREPARING” FOR BABY

As I’ve mentioned, we’ve been in a home renovation for two months, and baby’s room (formerly the guest room, which no guests ever got to stay in because pandemic) has been a dusty construction storage zone. While I love the improvements and am thankful we were able to do this, it’s been tough not to be able to nest. Now that the renovation is close to finished, we can finally start thinking about furniture and setup. A friend brought me a big bag of hand-me-down baby clothes, and I’m excited to go through it and start putting little clothes in drawers.

We don’t have a Nursery Theme, which has caused me a little distress (despite being a first world problem). At this point I feel like narrowing my options will just make it more challenging to put a nursery together. Besides, I love baby sea life and baby dinosaurs and forest animals. So it might be kind of a mishmash with a loose blue/gray/green color palette.

I’ve finally set up baby registries and am adding to them slowly. The initial registry creation required two long Facetimes with my sister to go over every item recommended to me, or that I had randomly chosen. The complexity of baby merch is truly overwhelming, but I’m starting to get a handle on it.

As far as names go, we’re down to two or three front-runners and cannot make a decision. I thought about waiting to choose until we saw the baby, but we both feel it would be less stressful not to make that weighty call while recovering in the hospital. I’m also reaching a point where I want to be able to call him by his name. So we may decide soon, but I’m not sure if we’ll announce the name publicly until he’s born. I find people have fewer loud opinions if you hand them your cute baby and say “This is X,” rather than sharing ahead of time when the baby is still an abstraction.

Gold star if you made it through this novel. That’s all for now!