The Golden Era

The second trimester promised to be the golden era, and a lot of times it didn't feel like it. Now here I am, 37+ weeks along, and I realize that the second trimester really was the promised land. Why, you ask?

THE SECOND TRIMESTER

You’ll read this a lot – the second trimester is the best. You’re over the morning sickness and you’re not a gigantic manatee yet. That’s mostly true, but one of the things I was disappointed about was that no magic switch flipped when I hit the second trimester. I knew it probably wouldn’t, but I was so over being sick and tired that I really wanted my life to just be different because the clock struck 14 weeks. It didn’t. I didn’t really start to feel better until 16ish weeks, and I wasn’t fully back at it until about 18 weeks. That being said, 16-27 weeks was a pretty good time. As I mentioned, I wasn’t huge yet but I was getting noticeably pregnant, which is neat. I got my personality and energy back, and we did fun things like set up our baby registry. The act of setting it up was not that fun (more on that later), but the idea of it was. Hitting the halfway mark is simultaneously thrilling and daunting – Halfway there! I have to do this all over again? 20 more weeks? Really?.

I didn't experience quite as many symptoms as I did in the first trimester, but of course there were a few notable things:

Dizziness –Dizziness/vertigo is common in the second trimester because of the increase in the amount of blood in your body and a lower blood pressure (heart pumps more blood but blood vessels dilate, lowering your blood pressure). There also more pressure on your veins and blood doesn’t get to your brain as quickly. I didn’t feel this until I stood up too fast in the nail polish aisle of Wal*Mart and had to grab Adam’s arm in order to not hit the floor. (~17 weeks).

Round ligament pain – The Internet tells you that round ligament pain is sharp, caused by sneezing or moving too quickly. This is true, and I certainly have been doubled over clutching my lady areas for 15 seconds after sneezing. For me, though, it’s also a usually a dull, achy all day pain that radiates from my groin up through my lower abdomen and to my back.

 

Back pain  - I have back pain when not pregnant, but the bigger I got the more pain I had. It was persistent by the 20 week mark. Not a whole lot you can do to prevent this. I did see a chiropractor near the end of my second trimester, and it was helpful. I didn't keep up with it because it was expensive and I felt kind of pressured to go all the time.

See? Look how content!

Sleeping becomes uncomfortable - Your belly pops out, you can no longer sleep on your back or stomach, and WHAM-O, there goes your comfort. I guess it depends on how you slept before pregnancy, but even if you were a side sleeper I promise you'll start to get uncomfortable. I could feel my belly pulling down toward the bed (it was too small to reach on its own, but big enough to have its own weight). Do yourself a favor and get a Snoogle. Your partner will hate it, but you will love it. 

The Milestones

• I felt the first kick around 15-16 weeks, which is pretty early. This is even more surprising because I have an anterior placenta, meaning my placenta sits at the front of my uterus between baby and the world. It usually "mutes" the kicks.

  

  Every. Time.

• We got to hear the heartbeat on the Doppler at 16 weeks, which was amazing since we only ever saw it fluttering on our first ultrasound. 
• "Anatomy scan" - aka what's in between those legs? Should people buy frilly skirts or socks with trucks on them? We did our anatomy scan at 19 weeks. I always had mild anxiety before ultrasounds because I was afraid something would be wrong, but ours were always fine. 
• Actually functioning like a person, most of the time. After 18 weeks I was pretty much "normal", all things considered. I just had growing pains, but my energy and pizzazz was the closest it's been to my usual self.

Other Things

Maternity clothes – At some point, you'll need to switch to maternity clothes in the second trimester unless you're a freak of nature (I say that with love and envy). From what I gather, maternity clothes used to be on fashion suicide. Well, my friends, that is not the case any more. Maternity clothes are amazing these days. There’s nothing worse than squeezing into uncomfortable jeans for a long day of terribleness, and I'm happy to report that maternity jeans are much more comfortable than normal jeans. I'm not sure I want to go back to normal waistbands. I was 100% in maternity jeans by 20 weeks, and really wished I had done so before then (maybe around 17-18 weeks). In fact, after I really popped it was so uncomfortable to wear tight pants that it sometimes made me nauseous. I liked the over-the-belly stretchy panels because I felt like it smoothed out my tummy and supported me throughout the day. Maternity tops are also really cute, most of mine are things I will be able and willing to wear when I’m not pregnant. 

I managed to somehow have a muffin top AND pregnant belly

Let me tell you something, though. The sales people will advise that you'll buy your "pre-pregnancy size" for maternity clothes throughout your pregnancy. You may grow out your maternity pants no matter what the nice salesperson tells you. My "medium" sizes maternity pants still "fit", I guess, but I have a lot of swelling in my lower legs and those skinny jeans are not ideal. I wish I had a size up for the last ~6 weeks, but I refuse to buy more pairs. 

Maternity Support Belt – You may want to give up on looking stylish and just commit to a maternity support belt. This will probably happen around 30 weeks or so. The support belt I got wrapped around my back and under my belly (above my belt line). That little bit of support made a WORLD of difference for my back and menstrual-type cramps in the front. You may start to feel a “pulling” sensation at the front, bottom of your belly, and a maternity belt can really help that uncomfortable feeling.

In conlcusion... the second trimester really was the "best", all things considered. Sure, I get the real prize at the end of the third trimester, but it's just plain difficult to be so freakin' huge. My only regret is not being more active in the second trimester, because that's when I could have mitigated some of my weight gain and just enjoyed life a little more. The grass is always greener, am I right?