Trimester 2 in a nutshell...
The Bump: Winter is an interesting time to be growing a baby bump. I suspect sweaters, coats, scarves and layers keep people you don't know very well keep people guessing longer than in warmer months. I had publicly announced I was pregnant everywhere but in my doctoral program where I had only personally shared with a handful of classmates I have gotten closer to. Wednesday night my professor asked me during a transition. She said she had been going back and forth for a couple of weeks now (I have her for my Monday night class to), but seeing me in my maternity style shirt that night she felt confident enough to ask. Bump pic scheduled for the next week or so (we are shooting for one a month...I'm not sure how the once a week picture takers keep up!).
The growing bump has also revealed that my seemingly bottomless, black hole of a belly button (it literally was a hole where you could not see or feel any sort of "button") really does have a bottom! I saw it for the very first time just a few weeks ago.
Symptoms: Heartburn vanished for a while, but then came back around week 24. It is not food specific rather seems to strike at about 7 each evening. It's not terribly severe, and clears up with two Tums. I also continue to pee like it's my job. I continue to go 3-4 times a night AND have now added what feels like a million trips during the day. I will sometimes pee, walk out of the bathroom and feel like I have to pee again almost immediately. Ella either is using my bladder as a soccer ball or it has shrunk to the size of a grape:(.
The exhaustion has subsided some as I have had a number of breaks (Thanksgiving break, winter break, snow days, etc.) during trimester 2. That being said I have head several people comment this week that I am moving a bit slower (I would be offended, but I feel like I am moving slower too!). The last notable symptom is over the last 2-3 weeks I think I have started experiencing some Braxton Hicks. They are just a couple times a day, generally when I am walking. I plan to discuss more in depth with the doctor next Tuesday.
Not really a symptom, but Isabella has become a very busy little girl! Just about any time I stop moving (answering emails at my desk, sitting in class, getting ready to go to sleep) I can feel her dancing around in there. No painful kicks or punches yet, but she definitely lets me know multiple times during the day that we are in this together!
Diet: Carbs with side of cheese followed by a healthy dose of sugar! No specific cravings per se, but if it doesn't involve carbs I don't want anything to do with it. In trying to get a handle on the heartburn I started having a glass of chocolate milk each day-yum! With my glucose test coming up next Tuesday, I have cut out almost all sweets this past week. I was going to try to minimize carbs, but that was too hard:(. My goal was to gain 25 points this pregnancy and as of Tuesday I was at 20! New goal is 30...hopefully that once sticks as I imagine everyone's stories of dropping the baby weight will look very different for me as I round the corner to 40 (years that is-not pounds)!
Exercise: I successfully walked more this trimester than last and even threw in a prenatal workout video here and there, but overall I think I am going to regret my "exercise plan" (or lack there of) when labor kicks my backside!
Emotions: It has been a very happy second trimester. Fears and doubts have quieted down (especially since hitting viability at 24 weeks!) and have been replaced with excitement about meeting Isabella Grace:). I am trying to keep my anxiety about the world around me way down (J.T. said he is taking that one on for both of us) and just trying to remain a place of peace for Ella to grow strong and healthy.
Purchases: Maternity clothes. I scored a pretty decent wardrobe at a very reasonable cost. I bought several pairs of paints and a number of tops at a consignment shop with a maternity section (probably spent less than $150 for like a dozen pieces). Then a teacher brought me a bag of tops (free!). My kindergarten team gave me a gift card for Motherhood for my birthday which I held onto until the after Christmas sales (scored 8 pieces for $15 out of pocket). Throw in like 8 pairs of leggings ($50) and I have a $200 maternity wardrobe which should get me all the way through work and play (fingers crossed!).
Other than her take home outfit I bought a few organizational pieces for the nursery, but otherwise am going to wait until after the baby showers (one in February for local friends and family, one in March at school and one this summer with family and friends up North) to see what else we still need.
