Second Trimester Bumps and Must-Haves (for a Summer Bump!)

WHAT the heck? I made it through most of my 2nd trimester already. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy seems to be flying by. I'm finally starting to feel less anxious about preterm labor with every week that's gone by since reaching viability, so at this moment I can say I'm enjoying being pregnant more than worrying about it.

I'm feeling pretty good though. Not the best, but pretty good. The whole second trimester boost of energy and glowing beauty bull everyone thinks happens during this trimester certainly didn't happen to me until probably 3 weeks ago...so about 10 weeks late. And even still, there's days where I can't get off the couch. But man, I get so irritated reading pregnancy apps and baby books that say, "by now you're nausea and fatigue should be long behind you" and blah blah because that's so not true! Since my insides are running out of space, my stomach is squished so I feel awful after I eat. Tums has become my best friend. I basically feel sick till I'm hungry again and on and on it goes. I can't sleep anymore either. My bedroom has become more of a place of dread for me than relaxation because of the insomnia. But the good thing about this month is that my headaches have been very few and infrequent.

But boy is he kicking like crazy! I swear he's doing the worm or something. One minute he's on the right, the next he's on the left. It's pretty amazing and freakish at the same time. I'll get to see him again in 3 weeks during my next, and probably last ultrasound. Last time I saw him was at 20 weeks so I can only imagine how much bigger he's gotten.

And finally, my baby shower is in 3 weeks. My mom and sister are flying out here for the week to host it. It's going to be a very small gathering since my family is all on the east coast and won't be coming, so just a few CO friends are coming. The whole long distance shower thing is pretty hard. If I went back east, it would cost a fortune to have gifts shipped back here, but having the shower here means hardly anyone will come. In the end, my mom decided to have it for me in CO which I'm really grateful for since I hate flying and it will just be easier. And it's so exciting how it feels like baby-Christmas with registry items arriving every few days. The package man must know by now that a baby is coming!

Week 15
Baby is the size of an avocado
I had 3 days worth of shortness of breath where I felt like I couldn't get all the air in after trying to yawn. It was very scary. I got sick the first night from being thrown into a panic over it. Now my rib and neck muscles are sore from straining to yawn once a minute all day.

Week 20
Baby is the size of a mango
My insides are starting to run out of room! I can no longer eat a full meal at dinner otherwise I risk throwing up at night. My headaches seem to improve with magnesium supplements, only the supplements don't quite agree with my stomach. And I'm pretty sure I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction one morning. My stomach felt really hard for a few seconds. My midwife said to up my water intake in the hopes of keeping them away but I'm already drinking so much water and feeling bloated that it's hard to drink even more.

Week 24
Baby is the size of an ear of corn
We reached viability! This is a huge milestone and I'm hoping my anxiety levels will go down now and I can start enjoying being pregnant and not constantly worrying. My headaches have been fewer and I didn't have cramps this week so I felt pretty good! I met Nancy, a midwife at my OB's office, and she's my favorite. I really like her. My belly is measuring on track and Nancy checked my cervix, which was normal, so if I do get some cramps I have peace of mind. I hope she's the one at my delivery. Also, this week is my last week of work due to an extremely long and uncomfortable commute.

Week 26
Baby is the size of a head of lettuce
I'm feeling good, hardly any headaches, but man is it hard to eat and sleep lately. Baby kicks can reach up as far as the side of my ribs now and you can see movement from the outside. I had my first charley horse in my hip at night and I think I have mild carpel tunnel in my right wrist. I'm starting to feel less anxious about the pregnancy and more anxious about the impending labor. I signed us up for a few birth and baby classes in September. Time is going so fast!

I say this now at 26 weeks, but I'm really glad I'm having a summer pregnancy and not a winter one because if I couldn't wear my tank tops I'd be screwed. I don't like maternity tees because they ride up on my belly but the tanks stay put and pretty much go with anything I wear. And I can wear flip flops everyday. I already hate bending down to pick up the dog's food bowls, so any other kind of non slip-on shoe gets the stink eye.

I've been doing all I can to stay hydrated (drinking so much water is just not natural to me, plus it leaves no room for food, so even still I don't get all 70-80 oz of recommended water a day) and with watermelon being in season it makes a great guilt-free snack.

Sleep is touch and go. Because I keep going into the guest room at night to sleep on the memory foam mattress, we got a memory foam mattress topper for our own mattress. I gave up using my Leachco maternity pillow. It's so insanely huge. No joke, you'd need a California king to use one, it's obnoxious. And Brian was left with one and a half feet of sleeping space in our queen. Plus it's just cumbersome when I have to keep getting up to pee anyway so I just gave up using it and the memory foam seems to help with my back pain. The only night I slept all the way through in months was a night I took a benadryl. Other than that, sleeping sucks. And I still go in the guest room to sleep anyways.

And so far I've gotten a few stretch marks. From what I've read, I'm pretty sure there's nothing you can do to prevent them. I won't be falling for some overpriced gimmick cream. So I'm not too worried about this, but I do like to use body butter on my belly because sometimes it's itchy from stretching.

First trimester bumps and must-haves | Third trimester bumps and must-haves