Pregnancy: Second Trimester Update

This website contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and participant in other programs, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

I can’t believe I am officially on the last trimester of my pregnancy! While the first trimester seemed to drag on forever with symptoms, food aversions and constant worry; the second trimester has flown by so fast.

As most women will tell you it’s the break before the storm. I returned to almost a normal state and really loved this phase.

Pregnancy: Second Trimester Update

---

*Symptoms

• I am feeling as close to normal as possible. Or maybe to a new state of normal. My appetite is back, I am less fatigued and at about 22 weeks the nausea went away. I stopped taking the morning sickness medication and went back to the gym. I am really happy about that because I also started packing on the pounds super fast once I went on nausea medication and specially when my appetite came back.

 

• I am out of breath easily nowadays and I have just accepted this is going to continue happening until I deliver since my growing uterus is pushing up my organs into my heart and lungs.

 

• My breasts are no longer sore and stopped growing (finally) which meant I was able to buy new bras. One super weird symptom is that my aureolas doubled in size and now are much darker. Why this happens still a mystery to me since babies can’t see well for weeks. Maybe it’s a dark bull’s eye. Who knows?

 

• The only annoying and rather painful symptoms I have had during the second trimester are pelvic girdle/tailbone pain and most recently leg cramps. Put simply, my pelvis is expanding to allow baby to pass through the birth canal and I feel like it’s splitting me in two. Thankfully the pain is not constant, appearing more when I walk for a couple blocks, cross my legs or when I lay on my back and try to switch positions while sleeping. This has restricted the amount of exercise I can do because the more movement in the lower body area, the more inflamed my ligaments become. The tailbone pain gets worse when sitting, so I have adapted to seat on a travel neck pillow- that’s how I survived a 12 hr car road trip a few weeks ago for our baby shower.

 

• Finally the leg cramps are due to the uterus putting pressure on the arteries that carry blood to my legs. The kicker is the cramps only come during the night or in the morning when I am still asleep. I have woken up a couple times in such agonyzing pain that I feel like I am going to die. I’ve started stretching my calf muscles every time I wake up to pee during the night to hopefully keep the cramps away. A good massage and plenty of electrolyte water has kept it at bay for now. Other than that though, I am loving this part of pregnancy!

On more positive symptoms:

• I felt the baby move around 19 weeks. I had an inkling that I felt him move before, but wasn’t quite sure it was the real deal, until at 20 weeks we had an ultrasound and while the technician was going over my belly, the baby kicked. That’s when I knew what it felt like for sure. The best definition of what it feels like is a rolling sensation in your belly. All that stuff about popcorn popping and butterfly flutterings are not too helpful. At the end of the second trimester, the baby moved a lot more often and his patterns are pretty set: he usually moves about 20 mins after I eat and when I lay in bed before going to sleep. Now it doesn’t feel so much like a rolling sensation. It feels more like kicks or pulsating spams. I feel it more on my lower belly which I can’t see anymore due to the growing spurt I have had, but the hubby and I have been able to feel it. I tried recording it with my phone, but it’s still very faint. I am sure in the next few weeks I will be able to see it more clearly, but I am not sure I want to. It still freaks me out when he moves too much in there. It’s a weird thing to have a human being growing inside of you. Some people find it adorable, I just have alien pictures…lol.

 

• In the last week of the second trimester, I started feeling the baby hiccups. That feels more like flickers. It goes on for a few seconds and then it goes away. It’s not very strong, so I can only really tell if I am laying down quietly when it happens.

 

• Another symptom that has recently come on that tells me we are nearing the third trimester is braxton hicks contractions. I didn’t even know I was having them until we started taking our birth class. I was probably having them for a while and had no idea what they were. Basically, the uterus contracts for a few seconds and releases. The belly during the contraction feels really tight, like “your forehead”. They don’t hurt at this point, it’s just uncomfortable for a few seconds and then it goes away. Since I had a lot of “stretching cramps” during my first trimester, I just chucked these contractions as the uterus expanding.

*Cravings

• My main craving has been for fruits and sweets, specially ice-cream. I am not a big huge fan of ice-cream normally, but let me tell you, I am obsessed now. I am trying to go for healthy options like frozen yogurt, but I am not always so good. And since it doesn’t appear that it will go away anytime soon, I decided to ignore it on most days.

*Things that we did during the second trimester

During these 3 months, we tried to get a lot accomplished because I am not sure how long the “new normal” will last. I learnt from the first trimester that all my big plans of eating healthy and exercising were thrown out of the window, so we are super busy getting ready for baby.

Here is how we are doing that:

• We took a tour of the hospital
• We are getting the nursery ready- emptied an extra bedroom, painted it, bought the furniture and started decorating it
• Registered for gifts
• Had a baby shower which was awesome!
• Started a birthing class and signed up for more classes for the next couple months: infant care, new dad bootcamp, breastfeeding and infant CPR.
• Booked our last trip- Seattle here we come!

*What is up ahead?

The third trimester is about to be busy as well, but hopefully we will have some time to enjoy it. Here is what’s coming:

• Pediatrician interviews
• Bi-weekly and weekly appointments
• Birth Plan Consultation with the hospital
• 4 D ultrasound
• Have a baby!

Since the second trimester went by so fast, I am planning on doing posts more often on the third trimester because I know that once the baby is here, writing about it will be the last thing in my mind and I will probably forget everything a few weeks later anyway… baby brains get worse after delivery, I’ve been told!

I have a new video on YouTube if you would like to see more. Check it out and don’t forget to subscribe!

Here is a belly shot for comparison. I’ve grown quite a lot, a whopping 27lbs since the pre-pregnancy to be exact. My hair is also growing like a weed even with monthly haircuts!

Have a fabulous week explorers!

 

• First Trimester Update
• Second Trimester Update
• 29 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 30-31 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 32 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 33 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 34 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 35 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• 36 Weeks Pregnancy Update
• Birth Story and Meet My Baby

Don’t forget to follow my travel or lifestyle accounts on Instagram and to subscribe to my YouTube channel for videos.

This website contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and participant in other programs, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.