So just in case any of you are interested, I thought I’d update all of you on how my second trimester has been.
If you aren’t interested in reading about how my second trimester went, feel free to skip this post.
It may also be a little too honest for some people, but hey.. better the truth than none at all seeing as I know some of you expressed an interest in kind of learning how my pregnancy has been progressing so you can anticipate it for yourself in the future.
(I love being pregnant by the way.)
So here goes!
SPICY FOOD CRAVING IS STILL GOING STRONG
So as I mentioned before, spicy food is top on my list in my second trimester for my wiggly Sea Monkey.
I am eating a lot of stuff with chili as much as possible, and I LOVE the hot spicy kick of food now.
MY BELLY FEELS A LOT TIGHTER
It is in this month that I really started to feel tight in my belly. I can feel the skin stretching now.
My belly button has not popped yet (they say it happens in the second trimester but I do not think it will happen to me until nearer to the end as I am not big enough).
BUMP JUST APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE
Around month 5, the bump just went.. BLOOP!.. and suddenly you could see I was pregnant with a distinctly larger and rounder belly, and not just full.
Again, no one can tell I am pregnant from behind.
In a profile, or in front, yes.
Sometimes they’re squinting at me or staring to make sure that I really am pregnant and not just full or round in the middle, but now I am starting to be offered seats which is really nice because I am unbalanced in front.
THE BELLY FEELS A LOT HEAVIER
I can kind of hold the belly and lift it now. It feels heavier. Much heavier. REALLY tight.
ACNE HAS IMPROVED SOMEWHAT
Still getting pimples and acne, but not huge cystic lumps.
I am hoping this will improve as the pregnancy nears its end, which is what my sister-in-law told me would happen.
I FELT THE BABY START KICKING AND FLUTTERING AT 4 MONTHS (20 WEEKS)
At the earliest time possible of 20 weeks, I already started feeling flutters.
They were really faint, but I could tell it was the baby and not gas.
THE BABY STARTED REALLY KICKING ME AROUND MONTH 5
The kid has a lot of room to move around in there… so sometimes I’ll feel a somersault, heavy kicking, etc.
If you want to know what it feels like, it’s like your insides are hiccuping.
I tried to think of the best way to describe this, and it is really like your uterus is hiccuping. That’s the feeling.
Sometimes the hiccups are small, other times they are really strong (like from a strong kick) and you are surprised. It isn’t painful.. 90% of the time.
It is only painful when little feet start stomping on my bladder like the baby wants to bust out of there. I have no choice but to shift and try and throw the baby off balance so that the pain stops.
I also can’t see the baby shift from one side to another (not in a video or visually at all), because I think it is a lot lower and deeper (close to my spine, which is causing back nerve pain as the baby rests on my sciatic nerve).
I can definitely feel the baby, but I can’t see the kick. I can only put my hand on my bump and feel it.
otherwise, it just feels like there’s a wiggly Sea Monkey in there.
I have a feeling the baby is somersaulting, punching, kicking and basically having a party while there’s still space to move around and float.
The kicks are also sure to happen about 20 minutes after I eat. If I eat spicy food, I get kicked more.
If I eat blander food, less kicking.
Once there is less room in there, I am not likely to feel heavy kicks. Oh, and you CAN distinguish between a baby kick and a baby punch.
A punch feels more like someone is using their fingers and wiggling/pressing a wiggling motion against your skin inside of you. Less hiccup-y, more wiggly finger motion. It kind of tickles. I giggled on the subway once in surprise because the punch was tickling my sides.
ULTRASOUNDS MAKE ME SMILE AND TEAR UP
It is really something to see your baby on the screen. Their little face staring at you (looks a bit ghoulish), their little feet and balled up hands… their HUGE torso… it’s kind of surreal.
My mother never had ultrasounds when she had us, so it’s kind of a kick for her to see them too.
I also really like hearing the lub-lub-lub sound of the baby’s heartbeat….
I started tearing up at my last ultrasound.
Also… they do not tell you this about ultrasounds but you have to pull up your shirt or dress and expose your underwear and whatever you’re wearing underneath, so because I couldn’t wear normal tights as they wouldn’t go over my belly, I had on thigh-high tights.. which I think may have looked a little umm.. sexy.. on the table.
Just something to think about.
Also, they squirt this cool kind of moisturizing gel all over your bump to do the ultrasound, and they don’t always clean it off carefully or properly, so don’t be afraid to ask for another towel or more paper towels, or else that gel gets onto your clothes.
CHEST HURTS LIKE CRAZY
On and off I will just get these kind of aching, sharp pains in my chest. The milk ducts are growing/working their way in, and this is very uncomfortable.
What I do is get my hands really cold, then I hold my chest to numb the pain.
They say chilled cabbage leaves work as well to cover your chest to stop the pain, but I am not buying produce for nothing.
Luckily it does not happen often. Just on and off.. but only about 30% of the time it is truly painful. The rest of the time, it comes in twinges.
I AM ITCHY.. LIKE ALL OVER MY TORSO *cough*
I am talking my chest (yes.. my chest.. read between the lines there) my belly sides.. wow. ITCHY. Serious itching. It comes and goes.
I tried asking my doctor about and she said just to put more moisturizer on there, but damn that doesn’t do jack squat. I am I-T-C-H-Y at night and trying not to scratch my skin off.
I thought maybe it was eczema but I am not itchy anywhere else. Just my torso (the front).
SLEEPING ON MY BACK STILL FEELS MORE COMFORTABLE
I was trying to train myself to sleep on my side but it is getting harder because the bump in front is heavier, so it drags my spine out of balance.
I have been using pillows between my knees and under my belly to help ease the strain but is still brutal to try and stay on my side.
STILL can’t get used to sleeping on my side. I have to force myself to do it.
I FELT SPIKING BELLY PAINS AROUND MONTH 4
Around month 4, my belly started to do a lot of growing and stretching.
I felt a lot of sharp pains and twinges like someone was knifing my stomach (seriously), but luckily it did not last long or happen too often.
It’s just the skin and the uterus stretching but it does hurt, and it would surprise me sometimes.
THE BABY HAS STARTED EXPRESSING DISPLEASURE IF I DO NOT COMPLY WITH ITS WISHES
Incidentally, if I sleep on my back and bend my knees (the MOST comfortable position, even though it deprives the baby of maximum blood and oxygen), the baby gets super wiggly.
The baby starts to basically punch and kick me when I am on my back, and by doing so, I am forced to switch positions and lie on my side.
Basically the baby rules my body.
In the middle of the night, I will sometimes be woken up with some MAJOR punching and kicking in my belly like a Mardi Gras party is happening and my baby is the star of the whole carnival.
Sometimes the baby will punch or kick my bladder so hard, that I am forced to get up, lull Baby Bun back to sleep by walking to the bathroom, and walking back.
Otherwise.. it just continues and HURTS.
MY BACK HAS STARTED TO FEEL A SLIGHT PINCH LATELY
I have been stretching, doing yoga, and flossing my back nerve (with this exercise I was taught), but it is not easy to constantly sleep on your side.
I am trying to sit up straight, and to be aware of the strain on my back but not to overcompensate by leading with my belly (a bad, bad idea for posture).
Not sure what else I can do, but I’ve started massaging my back as well.
It is because the baby is kind of near the back of my spine and a little lower, so it has been pinching my sciatic nerve. *sigh*
MY LEG & FOOT CRAMPS HAVE INCREASED
I get a Charley Horse in my calves and feet at least twice a week at night.
I will just feel my foot or my calf start to twist and pop, I try to muffle my scream, and I get up as soon as I can to stand on my feet and keep my foot flexed.
If it is my foot that starts to cramp, I kneel down and try and force my big toe that is trying to detach from my foot (with my hands) to push back into its normal position until the muscle twinges are over and it calms back down.
If that makes any sense…
This has worked out well so far without a lot of real pain or crying afterwards, but it hurts like a #%*%*(#&%(*….
I just know that if I don’t get up or I don’t take care of the problem right away, I am sure to have residual leg or foot pain afterwards.
I also find that if I walk too much in a day (more than 5 hours touring the city, running errands, etc), I get more leg cramps.. so I am trying to take it easy on the walking or at least trying to stretch before I sleep at night.
MY VEINS HAVE STARTED POPPING OUT
My hands and arms have green veins popping up more visibly than before. It’s kind of freaky.
No varicose veins on my legs yet (thankfully), and I am hoping I will not get them. My mother got some serious varicose veins on her legs from having us, but no one other women in her family did.
Same with the long vein going across my belly down my belly button and veins on my torso.
I HAD TO TAKE SOME DISGUSTING GLUCOSE TEST
Near the end of my second trimester, I had to drink this disgusting glucose fluid to check to see if I have elevated levels of sugar in my blood and urine which can indicate a problem with my insulin production (which is linked to diabetes).
Anyway, it was gross. It doesn’t hurt or anything (unless you hate having your blood taken), but the drink was just nasty.
I LOVE RUBBING THE BELLY
Sometimes it feels nice just to rub the belly and massage the bump.
It also feels nice when the bump is out and feeling air. I don’t know how to explain it.
MY BUMP HAS GOTTEN ITCHIER TOO
It is getting itchier but if I rub shea and cocoa butter on my bump on a regular basis, it lowers the chances of my bump feeling itchy and for me to get the urge to scratch it (especially since I suffer from eczema).
MY THIGHS HAVE GOTTEN SPORADIC PATCHES OF ECZEMA
Really, only on my thighs, I get a few patches of eczema here and there. Bright red, scaly patches.
There is nothing I can do except to just keep the patches moisturized and try not to think about touching or scratching them.
I am trying my best to keep really moisturized in general so that I avoid making my eczema worse especially during my pregnancy.
BY THE END, MY BUMP TURNED A LITTLE SQUARE IN FRONT
By around the end of my second trimester, my belly turned flat in front. It wasn’t a rounded belly, it was like.. a flat front to an otherwise round soccer ball attached to my front.
My belly button itself is still intact and still an “innie”. I can feel it stretching out a bit more each day and I think by my third trimester it will pop out, although some women apparently experience the belly button popping out pretty early on in the second trimester.
15 POUNDS IN TOTAL SO FAR AT THE END OF THE SECOND TRIMESTER
I am now at 120 lbs, originally at 105 lbs before I got pregnant.
The weight gain is not gradual, like half a pound or a pound a week. It is more like… I hover at 116 lbs.. and then the next week I am at 118 lbs and so on.
It goes up in spurts, but that’s because the baby is growing in ounces, and the scale does not calculate weight in ounces but in pounds, so it stands to reason.
15 pounds so far, and only 3 months to go.
If I can keep my weight gradual and steady to put on a max of 20 – 25 pounds, I am golden.
