Second Trimester!

This trimester your little baby is blooming! They get their lips, fingernails, hair etc. They grow a lot and are covered in that white goo to protect them from being in water all of the time as their skin starts to thicken and they develop brown fat. You are hopefully done with the morning sickness and are moving toward more energy and having more of an appetite for food, your sex life, social life and all of the parts and bits of you that made up your life before you came down with flu like symptoms that didn't leave for 1-4 months!

It wasn't this way for me. I have experienced the headaches that are expected in the second trimester. I get woken up around 3 or 4 AM every day to go pee and although I drink mass amounts of water I don't have to pee as much as I thought I would. I also am a lot smaller than I thought I would be at 20 weeks and don't have much of an appetite.

My husband, smart man that he is said something very profound to me. He asked me to stay calm about everything that I had decided must be wrong. He reminded me that morning sickness (according to the books) should end around week 12, but that I had constant nausea until week 17. He reminded me that I constantly think I must have lost her right before an appointment and that at every appointment everything is good, healthy, happy, normal and she is alive and swimming and growing. He told me that my pregnancy has not gone the way the books said it would and yet I have a happy healthy baby.

It is hard when I don't feel her moving and it's week 20. It is hard when I am still losing weight in the second trimester and I'm not hungry. It is hard when I'm told I'll have more energy and everything will be awesome in the second trimester and then when I get there I'm so tired I fall asleep from 7 pm - 6 am the next morning and want to keep sleeping. It's hard to read the books that promise to keep you up to date on what to expect and so you get excited and hope and then arrive and have no idea what's going on.

Here's the hope! Everyone's body is different. Every baby is different. You may not fit into the typical mold of pregnancy that the majority does and it doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with you or your baby.

Tips:

You may not feel your baby moving until week 25! Especially if it's your first pregnancy. I believe I sometimes feel her move but it is definitely nothing consistent and I can't really be sure until she's big enough that I feel her all of the time to compare.

The second trimester is tiring! You may have spurts of energy but your body will crave those naps. You're growing another human inside of you and that takes a lot of energy from you. 

Your appetite hasn't come in yet. Don't worry, it doesn't for everyone, just make sure you are eating something healthy and a lot of times a day if it's a little. You and your baby need nutrients so if you're not eating anything then it's a problem but eating small amounts of food shouldn't a problem..

*** You're not fat or getting fat you're pregnant so make sure you aren't eating because of wrong thinking. This is NOT the time to diet or get on a crazy exercise regime or not eat because of weight gain. If you aren't eating for the wrong reasons then this is bad. If you aren't eating a lot because you aren't super hungry that's ok. Talk to your doctor if you aren't sure. Your baby needs those nutrients!

If you aren't sure about anything contact your health care person. They will be happy to answer any questions you have and help to put you at peace. Worry isn't good for you or your baby so making sure you stay calm and relaxed is important.

Exercises:

Walking, Swimming, Elliptical, Yoga, and Free-Weights are some good, easy exercises to do if you don't normally do a lot. However if you have never done these, then stick to the swimming and walking. The easiest way to injure yourself while pregnant is picking up something new (exercise wise) and trying it and doing it wrong. NOW IS NOT THE TIME to experiment with work outs.

Look for the healing and sunshine!

Laura xo