Second Trimester Update (18 Weeks)

When you are in the first trimester of pregnancy, time feels like it is moving so slowly. You so desperately want to get to part where you are in the safe zone, where your baby is mostly secure and you can breathe deep. You are also acutely aware the second trimester is “the good part”, and with the nausea, exhaustion, and bloating, you just can’t wait to be able to actually see a baby bump (rather than a bloating bump) and to be able to feel more like a normal human being.

Let alone this is also the part where most people share their news. I of course announced right in the middle of the time I felt the worst, partly because I felt bad for slacking off and backing out of everything and anything, and partly because my best friend was getting married and I didn’t want to steal her sunshine (as 12 weeks would be around her wedding!).

But now, I am in that “easy zone” and I have to say, things are pretty good and the weeks are flying by.

I have almost forgot what the nausea felt like, how crappy the constipation made my body feel, and how I was so tired I could barely get an hour of brain activity a day.

I remember my trip to the ER well, and I am still feeling tired a lot more than usual, but compared to the first trimester, this one feels a whole lot better!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel normal by any means, I still burp about 300 times a day, most of my clothes don’t fit anymore, and I fall asleep by 8pm most nights, but overall, things are good.

Now I can see why people say they “enjoy being pregnant”, I have to say, it is pretty cool seeing a bump appearing and knowing that there is a little person in there, especially after the scan where you can see little fingers and toes!

Thought it was time for an update, so here goes:

How far along?

Just over 18 weeks (actually, when I originally wrote this post, it was 17 weeks, but in case you didn’t notice, my website went down for THREE DAYS last week, so decided to save it for this week!)

How big is the peanut?

The size of a sweet potato or bell pepper.

Although, one of my favorite pregnancy apps, Ovia, allows you to see your baby size in other “themes” than fruit. My baby is also the size of a croissant or a sugar glider (looks like a squirrel).

Total weight gain/loss?

+5lbs at 16 weeks (since pregnancy) I don’t weigh myself, only at the doctor visits.

Maternity clothes?

Yep, I can wear them comfortably now.

I haven’t been wearing them that much, trying to squeeze into my normal clothes as much as I can. I know I will be saying bye to them all for a long time, so making the most of using the Bellaband and trying to wear my Jeans as long as I can. I have to say though, the maternity jeans (I got mine from H&M) are SO comfortable! I do find I have to roll down the band covering my belly to let it “breathe” every few hours though.

Still can’t quite fit in my sisters stuff, but I don’t think it will be long.

Sleep?

Have had to transition to side sleeping for the most part, which I don’t really like, but the Snoogle Pillow makes it about as comfortable as side sleeping could be. I showed my doctor the position I have been sleeping in most, as it is a cross between lying on my front and side, but with my leg propped up, it is not putting any weight on my belly. I probably look like a weirdo, but it is comfortable for now.

Sleep is getting more uncomfortable with each passing day, but I have done pretty well so far.

I am getting 8-9 hours most nights, which is FAR more than I ever have in my entire life, but I feel like I need it, and I am embracing that. A lot of nights now I don’t sleep very well, very restless (especially at 3am for some reason), but I don’t can’t get out of bed, so I eventually fall back asleep.

I have weird dreams a LOT, very vivid and often I can control them. The other day I was dreaming about racing cross-country in the snow in St Albans, and I remember Steve asking me if I was okay, I responded, “yes, I am trying to decide whether to go back into my dream or not”. For the record…I decided not to 🙂

Best moment so far?

Hmmm finding out the gender was a pretty special moment we will remember forever, but honestly, I think it was more finding out that she is healthy when we saw the ultrasound at the 16 week scan.

Seeing her fingers and toes, fully formed and hearing them say everything looked good was a huge relief! Especially since the last time we saw her on an ultrasound she would have been 6 weeks and was literally a little blob.

Symptoms?

Nausea has left the building, woooohooo!

It was replaced by headaches for a few days, but Dr. Fuson told me how to massage the back of my head….I ended up getting Steve to do it, and it actually felt much better the next day.

For those who have headaches, find the pressure points on the back of your skull. They are tender and just under the back of the skull (where it dents in), when you find a spot that hurts. Hold pressure on it for 2 mins, moving your fingers slightly if it feels okay, and then find the next spot.

Constipation is long gone too, woohoo!

Fatigue.

This hasn’t been as bad, but I still get exhausted easily. I fall asleep on the couch by 8pm most nights and make Steve go to bed at that time…well he reads, I sleep.

I also have a REALLY hard time getting up in the morning. Before I felt like someone switched on my brain and body and it was like, ZING! I am up and ready to go. Now I feel like what I would imagine a teenager feels like, and not only do I moan and groan for 10 mins before I actually can move my legs out of the bed, but then I take about another 45 minutes to wake myself up to be a normal human being.

I feel like this is what people who NEED coffee feel like before they get their coffee.

I don’t have to take naps during the day that often anymore, unless I had a bad nights sleep.

Burping.

I am still burping all the time, often after I have eaten, but then often when I haven’t eaten in a few hours and I am just walking along. Not full on belches, just little pops still.

Super smell.

Still going strong, but I can tolerate it more. Before strong smells made me feel nauseous, now I just comment that it smells strong, and walk away.

Pain.

About a week ago, I had a few days of really bad pain for the first few minutes of my run in my pubic bone. If I were not pregnant and running, I would have sworn I had a stress fracture in my pelvis. It went away within 5 minutes each time, and then I didn’t feel it the rest of the run. I did talk to Dr. Fuson about this, and she said that it was round ligament pain, as it went away completely after 5 minutes, she said to be careful, but if it goes away, it is just that area warming up.

I have had random tweaks of round ligament pain in other areas around my uterus and stomach, but they are tolerable.

Sneezing/stuffy nose.

I wake up every morning like I have so much congestion. I have to blow my nose a few times throughout the next hour, but then it is fine. I also sneeze a LOT now.

Food cravings?

Still love Marmite, but haven’t had it as much the last few weeks.

Tomato soup was on my favorites list for a while, and as we had a mountain tomatoes fresh from our Elmwood Farm Share I wanted to make my own. I found this recipe on NY Times, not paying attention to the servings. Once I chopped 1lb onion and started to heat up 1/2 of butter, I realized that this was no normal recipe, it was MASSIVE! It required 7lbs (!!) of tomatoes!

Let’s just say it made a rather big pot of soup, but I LOVED it. I had it for lunch or dinner every day (some days both!) until all but 2 servings were gone (which I froze for later). NOTE: If you do want to make that recipe above, make sure you don’t close the page once you open it as NY times will only let you on that page once before it makes you sign up for membership 😉

Unfortunately, I did have one lapse with Poptarts at 4am….and yes, I did go get them at that time. I have been slowly making my way through the rest of the box, but that was just a one off.

When it comes to sweets, I *think* my sweet tooth might be somewhat back, maybe not to the full extent it was before, I still don’t NEEEEDDDD dessert at night, but I would say I have something sweet every day now. I still am not really a fan of cookies, but cake and ice cream are back in…just not to the extreme it was before.

I am mostly liking red gummies, you know, like Swedish Fish, Jelly Beans, Strawberries, Gummy bears.

Still loving all the white carbs and enjoying popcorn as a late night snack.

Food aversions?

This has changed a lot since my 13 week update.

I am back to eating vegetables, salads, and even eggs…although I am not really enjoying them as much as I was before. A lot of my food aversions have subsided, which is good, as I hated that I was so restricted with what I would eat.

I still don’t really like fish, haven’t had it very much unless it is in something like my salmon, spinach risotto where the taste is overrun by other things.

I also hate the idea of green olives, and coffee is still disgusting to me.

Plain water, especially room temperature water is still difficult to drink, thankfully my family brought me over some squash from England 🙂

Other than that, I think that is about it. Oh, and as I mentioned above, cookies are definitely not appealing in the way they used to be.

Gender?

A little giiiiiiirrrrrrrrllllll <3

Belly button in or out?

Still way in.

What I miss?

Sushi and sleeping on my stomach.

What I’m looking forward to?

Feeling the first kicks! Should be anytime from now!

Milestones?

I can fit in maternity clothes now, is that an accomplishment?

Bump?

Oh yes, it is there! Amazing how hard it is!

Products I am loving

My Snoogle pillow Is still winning, but I am still applying this Burts Bee’s Mama Bee Oil  for stretch mark prevention, and filling out this pregnancy journal  from my sister. I still write to my baby in another journal, which is something really special I think everyone who even is thinking about starting to try for a family should do.

I am taking this MegaFood Baby & Me prenatal and a DHA made from Algae oil instead of fish oil.

AS I mentioned above, I am loving the maternity jeans from H&M, but I have now purchased a few other maternity things, so they may takeover.

There is also a certain sports bra, which is helping SO MUCH for running, but I am afraid I just cannot mention it at this time…..

Running

This changes depending on the day.

Some days I feel amazing (usually once the weather is cool), and last week I enjoyed every second of my 7 mile (longest run yet) run, but then 3 days before that I felt so terrible for two days in a row that the first day I stopped short and walked home, and the second day I felt so bad, but just wanted to “get it in” somehow.

I am learning that every day is new with pregnancy, and your speed can differ by a minute to a minute and a half per mile, just depending on how you feel and the conditions. The heat hits me pretty hard, for the first time in a long time I look forward to cooler weather, which is good.

I have been averaging around 20 miles a week in 3-4 days of running.

I am still planning on running as long as I can, Dr Fuson said I should be okay to keep going till the end of my second trimester (around 28 weeks), then we can reassess. I also have been doing my strength training with Drew  twice a week, which is only going to help my body. Don’t worry, he makes sure I am not doing too much!

Other Updates?

Not too much else as of right now. My sister, brother-in-law, and baby Charlotte are here for the next 2 weeks, so I am very excited for them to arrive this evening.

I have signed myself up for Hypnobabies classes, it was something I really wanted to do to make the birthing process less of a traumatic experience than it has been made to look over recent years.

I am taking my classes at BabyMoon in Lexington, but there are classes all over the country. It involves a lot of homework and prep, but I am looking at it like preparing for a race, you put in all those hours so on the day you can do the best you can, and although you will be in pain, you will be able to handle it a little better.

And that my friends, is all that is new with me!

Mothers, what were your biggest cravings?