Second Trimester 2021

My second trimester recap is about 4 weeks overdue – I’m already 32 weeks! Read my first trimester recap here.

When I hit 13 weeks I was way too hopeful that I would start feeling better immediately. But thankfully I did start feeling better around 15 weeks! The nausea and food aversions disappeared, thank you Jesus! I felt like I was able to get back into my normal routine for the most part. 

Physically

I started spinning and weight lifting again, which I am so thankful I’ve been able to do and I continue to feel good when I work out.

I think my belly officially “popped” around 20-22 weeks. I had to buy larger sweatpants because the pair that I bought for pregnancy became too small on my belly. 

Our 20 week ultrasound went great! Baby was healthy, just a little small around the 35% for weight. It was a relief that Ryan was able to come with me because he wasn’t allowed to come to any OB appts because of covid restrictions. We confirmed that baby is a girl, we did early blood testing and initially found out around 11 weeks but you can never be too sure! 

The day after our ultrasound is when I started feeling more flutters and was able to distinguish that was in fact the baby! I also found out at the ultrasound that I have an anterior placenta, which means the placenta is a cushion between baby and the outside of my belly, so that could be why it took longer to feel her movements. It was a few more weeks, maybe around 24-26 weeks when Ryan was able to feel her from the outside. 

I felt a lot more belly stretching pressure during the second trimester. I would frequently wear my belly support band when testing and photographing recipes to help relieve some pressure. 

I was able to test and photograph a lot of recipes which helped me to get ahead of schedule. The goal was to work ahead so that during 3rd trimester I could focus on creating a stockpile of recipes to share during my maternity leave. 

Putting on my tennis shoes has become quite difficult! I now just keep my shoes by the stairs so I can hike my leg up on the steps.. but it still feels like a workout just getting my shoes on!  I also noticed that I would get more winded walking up our stairs. 

Food

Some of my second trimester cravings included cheetos, cool ranch doritos, and pesto bacon and tomato omelettes. Plus, sweets started sounding good again!!! Both Ryan and I agree that my palate became a little more adventurous in 2nd trimester. I started liking things I don’t typically like.. like cheese, white sauce pasta.. in general I guess I was more agreeable to whatever Ryan would suggest for dinner so we tried out some new dishes and they were hits!

Sleep

I was still sleeping pretty well! Occasionally there would be a few nights where I would lay awake for a few hours, flipping from side to side and having to get up to pee. But once I fell asleep, I slept well! I started having vivid dreams almost every night. I still love my pregnancy pillow.. I’m not sure I ever want to give that thing up!

Projects

We started tackling some projects once I was feeling better. We painted an accent wall in the nursery – the green color is SW artichoke. We assembled the crib, dresser and closet organizer. We built a bow organizer for all of baby’s bows! I felt like I was still able to keep up with the house cleaning.. but that has slowed down a little now!

Other Details

Second trimester flew by! Many call it the “dream” trimester because you typically feel better, which I did! We started reading a few different baby books, continued researching baby items and worked on our registry. We also celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas during the second trimester. I remember feeling so excited that I was feeling better so I could enjoy Thanksgiving dinner! We took advantage of a few black friday baby deals too.

I remember being impatient to feel those first baby wiggles (as I type this, baby girl is doing flips and jumping on my bladder and now I wish she would settle down 🤣). Her movements definitely became stronger towards the end of second trimester.

I’ve really cherished this time with Ryan. He’s been listening to different baby / parent podcasts when he runs and he’s always excited to tell me what he learned. I’ve been able to see him grow as a husband and father-to-be as we prepare for baby, and I feel like I love him more!