The middle. It’s not the beginning and it’s not the end. It’s a cushy place to be where anxiety is low and energy levels are high. After the massive fatigue that my first trimester brought on, I’ve loved so many aspects of the second trimester which encompasses week 13-27 ish. As I write this, I am officially on the first day of my THIRD trimester (where oh where does the time go?!), so I’m excited to share the changes and new beginnings.
The Second Trimester
My second trimester spanned the months of September, October and November. Looking back, it was around early September when things started to finally feel real. This whole pregnancy thing was happening. We were having a baby! We did A LOT during this timeframe, and I’m so grateful for the increased energy levels that this trimester brought along. We boxed up our home in LA at the end of September, I sold my car, we moved across the country on a 25 hour road trip starting October 1st, we moved into a new house in Arkansas, we met our new OBGYN, we went on a babymoon at the beginning of November (week 23/24) and we worked our butts off creating holiday content and eating all the turkey 🙂 It was a beautiful, busy time.
Bodily Changes
A woman’s body is pure magic. Watching my friends and sister go through pregnancy was a beautiful thing, but to grow a human myself has been the most joyful and confusing and awe-inspiring thing I’ve ever gone through. To truly know this beautiful experience, one must live it themselves. The bodily changes are constant, keeping me on my toes at all times. My relationship with exercise has gone from intense, super sweaty sessions to slow and steady feel-good stretches with some cardio mixed in. I’ve embraced the weight gain even though it took a while to wrap my head around mentally and physically. It’s all for my baby in the end! I’ve luckily warded off any back pain and I attribute that to yoga. Join me over on LimitLes Movement where I’m still teaching and have pregnancy safe options for your moving pleasure! The below week markers were standouts for me, so if you’ve experienced any of the below, you are not alone!
Week 15: I’ll never forget when this week brought on continuous headaches from the hormonal imbalance. It was the only time I’ve taken Tylenol during pregnancy thus far – and no regrets. It was hard to drive, work and function during that week but we prevailed!
Week 17: I started showing around this time – although it was a bit hard to really nail down a specific time that I “popped.” New day, different bloat! During the first trimester, the bloat was REAL so I wasn’t sad to see it go during the second trimester. The baby grew from the size of a peach to the size of a head of lettuce, so I guess I just traded in bloat for baby growth 🙂
Week 18: Baby kicks! This is probably my favorite part of pregnancy. I first noticed the flutter around week 18 and shortly after that, Alex was able to feel them, too! In the beginning, they can easily get confused with muscle spams or gas, but it becomes super clear with each passing day that those movements are just her elbow jams or leg kicks in my belly.
Week 24: Bring on the mood swings! I’ve never experienced such drastic changes in my mood. (Okay except for that time I went off birth control.) No matter what I did, I couldn’t get myself out of it. A good cry definitely helped alongside talking to my partner, but it was as if the TINIEST things set me off and boom. The world was ending. Of course, it wasn’t, but tell my hormones that…
Second Trimester
Favorites
Must-Haves
So far, I’ve tried 3 prenatals throughout my pregnancy. The first brand didn’t sit well with my stomach, and while I had no qualms with the second brand, I knew that once these Ritual prenatals came back in stock, I would order immediately. They contain all of the same vitamins and minerals plus choline and DHA.
A friend told me early on in pregnancy to go ahead and start using belly butter to keep my bump moisturized for stretch mark prevention. I was using this brand (it smells AMAZING) but have switched to this Honest brand for a more economical option – plus it’s available at Target.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the worst sore neck I’ve ever had. I came across this neck massager on Amazon and clicked Purchase before I knew what I was doing. Best move EVER! Y’all, everyone needs this guy in your life. My entire family is now obsessed – pregnant or not!
Y’all know my obsession with the tub, so it’s no secret that this yummy bubble bath is on the must-have list! Bring in a warm beverage and a book, pour in a little bubbles and boom. Relaxation station 🙂
My feet have been super sore in the last month, and I get it now. God bless pregnant women and their ailments! We can blame our increased blood pressure and the amount of fluids our body is retaining in the lower extremities for this. I personally love being barefoot, but this can increase foot pain and discomfort. A cushiony slipper between my feet and solid ground helps, and how cute are these?!
Good sleep comes and goes these days, and I’ve found the best sleep aid in my pregnancy pillow! This especially helps my sore hips in the middle of the night since I’ll prop up one leg when I’m feeling extremely uncomfortable. It also feels nice as a support for my ever-growing bump. If you’re looking for a super luxe body pillow to have forever, look no further than here.
I waited as long as I could…but t’was time to dive into the world of maternity jeans. I wrote a review here on a few different brands I’ve tried. I also wrote about my favorite maternity activewear, dresses and coats here. For a variety of pieces, I’ve seriously loved all things A Pea in the Pod!
For leggings (which I’ll undoubtedly live in this winter!), I have loved sizing up in non-maternity Beyond Yoga and Alo Yoga pieces. My new Spanx faux leather maternity leggings just came in from Cyber Monday…but word to the wise: size up! They run super small. I had to exchange for a medium which is unfortunate because they don’t honor exchanges at this time (only returns) and they’re no longer on sale waaawaaah.
I received this robe as a gift for my birthday last year, but I never knew how much I’d come to absolutely love it during pregnancy. There’s nothing better than having something soft and cozy to wrap around my body during this time – and the best part? I know it’ll always fit lol!
I just had an order of Knix bras come in and ZOHHHMYGAH they’re amazing. They’re all wireless (great for mastectomy patients) and specialize in comfort, support, lounge and postpartum wear. The best!
If you’ve made it this far and you’re not yet pregnant – but trying – thank you for being here. I see you, I appreciate you, and I hope the path ahead is bright.
