a slo life

Well, we’ve made it to 37.5 weeks! As much as I’m getting ready for this pregnancy to be over, I am definitely happy and thankful that she’s taking the time to get as developed as possible before making her debut!

Hopefully I’ll be able to recap the third trimester for you next week at 38.5 weeks, but for today, I wanted to go back and spend some time discussing second trimester symptoms, cravings, workouts and some of the essentials that got me through (and if you missed the first trimester recap, read it here!)

How I felt

My morning sickness started to dwindle the last week or so of the second trimester and it was so nice to feel like more of myself for at least the first half of the second trimester. I wouldn’t say I got a huge surge of energy like a lot of people talk about – I just felt more normal.

I’d also been able to feel the baby move since about 14 weeks, but only if I laid down and really concentrated. And then at 20 weeks, I was able to really feel her on the ‘outside’ as well, which of course, has only gotten stronger as she’s gotten bigger – it’s definitely my favorite part of being pregnant!

Here were some of my main symptoms:

• Continued round ligament pain. This let up a bit after the first trimester but if I walked too far or pushed too hard when I was working out, I usually got lower abdominal cramping and had to back off a bit.
• Skin issues. I’ve never had perfect skin but my chest and back broke out like crazy at the beginning of the second trimester. It completely cleared up a few months later so was probably due to all of the hormonal changes going on. Plus, I started getting skin tags all over my body that I’ll probably need to get frozen off once the pregnancies over. Oh, and while I didn’t ever get a linea nigra (nor is my belly button going to pop out!), I did get a nice covering of fine hair all over my stomach that I’m hoping goes away with the rest of the postpartum shedding stage. So much fun!
• Restless leg syndrome. It became almost impossible for me to sit on the couch and watch TV at night like we normally did. My legs could not handle being in the same position for long, so there was lots of squirming and then eventually just sitting on the floor…
• Swelling. I really didn’t swell that much until it got hot and I started walking. I ended up taking my rings off about 26 weeks in case they got stuck!
• Stuffy/bloody nose. I would wake up most mornings in the second trimester with a stuffy/bloody nose despite sleeping with the windows open and getting lots of airflow. I read that it’s pretty common in pregnancy (you have 40% more blood coursing through your body!) but still annoying.

Cravings

Thankfully, my cravings really subsided during the second trimester. I still didn’t really want to eat greens and salads but I was able to force myself to without gagging at least! It was also hard to eat fried foods and meals that were too carb heavy since you digest things so much more slowly when you’re pregnant, I guess. I also craved a ton of dairy – cheese, yogurt, ice cream – and developed a pretty strong aversion to most meat. Fruit and smoothies continued to be the biggest craving!

Workouts

I really had to take my time to listen to my body this trimester and modify workouts accordingly. I began the trimester with my usual 60 minute Barre3 workouts and then slowly decreased this to 40 minutes over the next few months, which was more sustainable and didn’t leave me completely exhausted. I also started to incorporate more prenatal yoga into my routine each week and by the end of the trimester, had replaced two of my Barre3 workouts a week completely with yoga.

With the crazy hormonal shifts going on coupled the normal emotions brought on by being so far away from home, I also decided to commit to adding a daily meditation practice at the end of each workout, even if it was only for 5-10 minutes. It was (and still is) a time to connect with my mind, body, and the baby I was growing and set a more positive outlook for myself each day. I’ll share which videos I followed in my pregnancy workout post soon!

Essentials

I didn’t need to rely on quite as many things this trimester, thankfully. The biggest essentials were:

• A pregnancy pillow. At the suggestion of a coworker, I actually purchased a duvet instead and rolled it up. It became an absolute necessity to help minimize some of the pressure on my hips which could be intense at times.
• Coconut water. This helped with the restless leg syndrome at night.
• Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter. I purchased my first tub of this back in the US but thankfully, they sell it in the UK too because it helped ease the itchiness of my ever stretching skin. I thought I’d escaped stretch marks too but unfortunately, they showed up late in the third trimester.
• Vegetable Wash. Jeff came to hate making salads because it’s super important to wash everything really well when you’re pregnant to help minimize your chances of getting things like listeria. I used this one.