Second Trimester Reflections

Now that I've entered the third trimester (!) I thought I'd share some of my experience during the last three months.

28 weeks, the start of the third trimester

Movement
Feeling the baby move has been my favourite part of pregnancy so far. At about seventeen weeks I noticed movements for the first time - it felt a bit like lemonade bubbles. Over the next couple of weeks that progressed to feeling small nudges and bumps.

It was probably another week before Owen could feel anything when he had his hand on my belly, we started to joke that the baby was like the dancing frog because it would stop moving as soon as he tried to feel anything!

Now the movements are really strong, sometimes you can even see them!


Eating
During the first trimester there were about four weeks where I hated food. I didn't want to think about it, and even seeing pictures made me feel sick (I had to avoid Pinterest for a while!). Since that time I haven't had any problems, though I still don't like the thought of eating lamb or fish. My appetite has definitely increased too.

I haven't experienced any cravings (well no more than I normally do!) which I think might be due to all the vitamins I've been taking meaning I've been getting enough of everything I need. My diet is generally pretty balanced as well, although there's always room for improvement - especially when people keep giving me chocolate all the time!


Sleeping
I'd usually sleep on my belly, and as it grew I thought it was probably better to transition to sleeping on my side (with a pillow between my knees to stop me from rolling over). This turned out to be really uncomfortable, I think I must spend all night trying to roll back onto my belly and end up with a sore back.

Lately I've been sleeping much better after deciding to go back to my favourite sleeping position, but using a pillow to make things more comfortable. Now my sleep is only broken my a couple of trips to the bathroom, or when the cat knocks over my glass of water, or when she somehow gets tangled up in the sheets at the bottom of the bed and needs to be rescued.


Exercise
Before getting pregnant I was really focussed on getting healthy and was doing a lot of exercise. This dropped off significantly at the end of the first trimester, mostly due to my low motivation caused by less energy and cold winter mornings! So I've been taking it easy during the second trimester, with a few walks with the dog being the only real exercise I've been doing. I want to make exercise more of a focus again, starting with regular walks and some prenatal yoga.


Work
I'm going to keep working at my office job until the end of the year. Lately it's been going through a quieter period which I've appreciated. I'm taking maternity leave for all of next year, and I have to admit I'm in countdown mode already!

I've also been busy with piano lessons, and actually have more students at the moment than I normally would. This means some long work days but since I enjoy it so much I don't mind! I'm taking a break from lessons at the start of next year but I'm hoping to start back towards the middle of the year. We'll see how that goes closer to the time...


Overall I've been feeling really good during my pregnancy and so far it's been a really positive experience. It feels like time is going by quickly, but when I think back to first finding out about the baby it seems like so long ago.

I can't believe that in only three months our little one will be here!