Pregnancy Recap: Second Trimester

Welcome to the second trimester blog recap! If you haven’t read my first trimester recap you can do so here. Okay, let’s dive in!

More energy:

Let me first say that the rumors are true….the second trimester is exceptionally better than the first. At least that was true for me. When I think about how uncomfortable, anxious, nauseous and fatigued I was in the first trimester compared to how great I felt in the second, it is like night and day. Once I got to about 13 weeks or so, my energy increased so much and I felt like myself again. I could move, walk, eat easier and just felt like I could handle a load a bit similar to when I was not pregnant. I don’t think I felt quite as competent as I do when not pregnant (lol), but it was close.

Round ligament pain:

I did have some discomfort in my pelvic area around 15-16 weeks or so, which came and went for the entire second trimester. I learned this is called round ligament pain and happens as things begin to shift to prepare for a growing baby. That was uncomfortable at times but typically if I shifted positions or wore even looser clothes, I felt better. 

Baby kicks:

I started feeling small flutters around 18 weeks or so. I should have paid more attention because I don’t remember exactly but that was really exciting. They grew stronger as time went on and it felt so special. Like baby and I were bonding.

Water:

It was sometime in the second trimester that I took my OB’s recommendation about hydration seriously. (Probably because I generally felt better too.) I started drinking 90-120 ounces of water a day, which was a miracle because pre-pregnancy I probably drank like 50-60, if that. 

Coffee:

Just to be extra safe I did not drink any caffeine during the first trimester. It’s not something I necessarily recommend, though I do think it’s very important to stay within the <200mg/caffeine recommendation during pregnancy. It was just something that gave me more peace of mind as I embarked on this pregnancy journey for the first time. That said, somewhere in the late second trimester I went back to my one cappuccino a day and I was a happier person overall. 🙂

Movement:

Let me say that one of the BEST things I did while pregnant is invest in the Belle Method Prenatal Pilates & Push Prep course. This is not sponsored (I wish!), but I loved it so much I need to share. One of my friends shared it with me and it has taught me so much about breathing, pelvic floor health, labor, delivery, etc. When I say I knew nothing about these things, it’s an understatement. Essentially this is an 8 week online (live) course with an exercise and birth prep class component of each class. I was never able to attend the live classes so I watched the recordings. I started this around week 19 and am still doing it about 3-4x/week– I just keep watching the replays. (I’m 36 weeks as I write this.) It’s been so fun to find this kind of movement that genuinely feels so good, is challenging at times but always low impact and each move is thoughtfully designed for pregnancy. It’s kind of a barre/pilates mix so think small movements, light weights, stretching, breathing and mobility. As baby has gotten bigger, it has gotten harder to move around so these moves help so much. I would definitely recommend to any pregnant woman looking for an exercise resource!

Gestational Diabetes Test:

I was hesitant to write about this part because it was such a humbling experience but whatever – hopefully it will help someone! So at every OB appt, they take a urine sample to make sure everything is okay. I guess around week 22, they found some sugar in my urine and wanted to test for gestational diabetes. (It’s my understanding that sugar can be in your urine during pregnancy for many reasons, but they wanted to be safe.) I didn’t realize this test usually happens around 24-28 weeks, so of course I went along with it. They had me do a one-hour glucose test, which essentially means I fasted overnight, drank 50g of glucose and got my glucose tested an hour later. Long story short, I failed the one-hour test, which apparently happens a lot but it freaked me out. Failing the one hour test doesn’t mean you have gestational diabetes, but it does mean you have to take a subsequent three-hour glucose test. So a week later I did that, which involved fasting overnight, getting my blood drawn, then drinking 100g of glucose (truly disgusting) and getting three additional blood drawings – one every hour for three hours. The whole thing makes you want to gag because you have an empty stomach other than the 100g of glucose and you can’t eat/drink for those three hours. It’s nauseating. Good news was that I ended up passing the three hour test with no problem! Bad news was that my OB came back three weeks later and was like you have to take this again (around 27-28 weeks at this point) because you’re most likely to have issues in the third trimester (that’s why most women take it initially at 24-28 weeks). I was frustrated to say the least and honestly debated not taking it because I didn’t understand why we didn’t just wait to do the three hour test for the first time when I was near the third trimester, but I digress…)

I wanted to be safe so I agreed. It was terrible again, lol. And I did pass again, though my values did get slightly worse. So I decided to make some modifications to my diet – mostly involving upping my protein and fat intake when eating carbs. It was something that felt useful and gave me some peace of mind. Honestly this whole experience was humbling because as a dietitian I really felt like this shouldn’t be an issue for me. I was kind of embarrassed. And yes I realize that’s not fair to myself, but it’s how I felt. I also felt humbled because I had sort of been arrogant about it – like don’t I know how to eat? It’s hard to explain. And please let me be clear – I do NOT think that women cause their gestational diabetes with their food choices. I realize my thought process isn’t rational. Gestational diabetes is really an issue of the placenta requiring more insulin and some women just have trouble responding to that need. 

And still, there are eating choices that can help keep it at bay, and that’s what felt humbling to me. It kind of set me down a path of relearning about balancing blood sugar and reintroduced the idea of gentle nutrition (putting deliberate thought into the nutrient-density of our food choices without obsession) and reminded me that it’s okay to make intentional food choices. (This all comes with a BIG caveat that we need to heal our relationship with food first!) I think talking about eating healthy is really tricky on the internet because we are all at a different place with how we relate to food so that’s why I haven’t shared much about this. I’ll be really grateful when baby arrives and it doesn’t feel like something I need to worry about, but at the same time I think it has renewed my interest in eating more healthfully for my body’s needs (of course, still without restriction!). Hopefully this makes sense and isn’t triggering – I know it’s really tough to reconcile decisions like this when you’re at war with food and it’s not my intention to make you feel like I’m never eating dessert or something like that – because that’s not reality. Anyway I’ll stop my ted talk now. Thanks for listening.

Body image:

I don’t know if I was surprised by this or not, but my body image improved in the second trimester. I felt so appreciative of my body at this time that I just felt love toward it. I think because I knew it was literally sustaining another life it was just so incredible. I feel like I’m processing this in real time as I type, but it’s a pretty wild change when I think about how I felt about my body at age 12 or even 20. All that to say there is hope if you feel at war with your body! I’ve been there. 

I started taking more consistent weekly bump photos in the second trimester, which are included in this post. It’s so neat to see how the body changes!

I’m sure I forgot something but that’s all I have for now 🙂 Would love to know what your experience has been like or if there were certain products or clothes that you loved during pregnancy.