Hey before you get started here make sure you check out my post about my first trimester!
You can view it here: https://wifeychat.wordpress.com/2020/06/05/1st-trimester-pre-quarantine-baby/
Second trimester hasn’t been as exciting as the first. A lot more relaxing, self reflecting and alone time. I mean I haven’t jumped a single fence.
They say 2nd trimester is the best part of pregnancy. Your chances of miscarriage lessen, your morning sickness goes away, you still fit most of your clothes and aren’t uncomfortable yet. I’d agree that majority of what they say is true.
By 14 weeks I wasn’t feeling sick but was still tired. I started work at 6 am and the last year I’d been getting off at 6 am, so I was having a little bit of trouble adjusting. I would sneak a 15-20 minute car nap in during the day if I could. No lie, I had a pillow and blanket in there and everything. I’d set my timer and get in the back seat and KO. I think my coworkers knew, but just didn’t say anything. Most days I took a nap when I got off and then still went to bed early because I had to be up at 5. I’m not complaining I know I’ve got it easy compared to some people, I just wasn’t use to it.
Not long into my second trimester my Sgt called me and told me they wanted me to start working from home because of the virus. He wasn’t sure for how long but told me he would check in weekly. This was mid-March and at the time I thought it would be maybe for 2 weeks or so, but it’s June and I’m currently still working from home. As soon as I started working from home I started having trouble sleeping. I would be up until 3 or 4 am every night, and then have trouble getting up the next day. Timing couldn’t have been better honestly, I could sleep in after being up all night.
At 19.5 weeks we had our anatomy scan. We are waiting to find out the gender until birth but they still wanted to do the scan to check on the baby. Baby was growing right on track and we were told he or she has long legs. Tyler was weirdly proud of that. I wasn’t showing or feeling the baby move yet so it was really refreshing to see the baby and hear the heartbeat again. At this point I had gained about 10 ponds but my stomach just looked a little bloated. The midwife assured me I was growing just fine and since it was my first pregnancy I may not show until around 25 weeks. I spent too much time googling baby bumps and obsessing over what I should look like. I calmed down for a little after that appointment when I knew the baby was growing fine and we were both healthy.
Around 20 weeks is when I started to feel uncomfortable with my body. I didn’t really have body image issues prior to being pregnant, I was actually probably the most body confident I’ve been. I really under estimated how I would feel about my pregnant body. I know I’m not the only woman to feel like this. It didn’t help that was home days at a time with a lot of time to feel sorry for myself, the lack of sleep didn’t help. Because there was so much unknown about the virus I spend many many days inside. I didn’t mind at first. But after 8 weeks it did start taking a toll on my mental. I decided better sleep and working out would help me feel better. I really try not to take any medicine, so I tried some natural approaches to better sleep. I started taking hot showers right before bed, drinking hot tea and using lavender spray on my pillow. I’m pretty sure it was all in my mind, but I didn’t care because I started sleeping better! I was working out a few times a week, throughout my pregnancy but really committed to working out every day, and I’d count a 30 minute walk as a workout on my lazy days. Since I wasn’t very confident in the way I looked I had really been taking a lot of photos. Tyler encouraged me to at least take one every week and I’m glad I listened. I know I would regret not having these photos.
At 21 weeks I felt the baby move for the first time! It wasn’t until 23 weeks that Tyler could enjoy this with me. Baby must know the difference between us because baby does not put on a show for Tyler like they do for me. My app told me that the baby could hear and recognize my voice, so I took the opportunity to get the baby use to my amazing singing voice (not). Baby does have good taste though because I feel like he or she really likes when I play Chance, I’m so ready for our jam sessions.
Our next appointment was at 24 weeks, but it was an appointment via telephone. You have the option to come in if you have any major concerns, but since I didn’t we did it over the telephone. It was pretty basic. The midwife asked if I could feel the baby moving, if I had any issues, etc. She let me know my next appointment would be at 28 weeks, for my glucose test. I had some concerns about this early on because I didn’t know if the sugar drink they give you was vegan. Google told me it probably is, but wasn’t 100% sure. I started looking at alternatives. Before I could ask her about it she stated that a lot of women at the birth center prefer a natural alternative to the sugar drink. Okay this made me super excited, this was something I could get behind. She advised that the “meal” option isn’t CDC approved but has been proven to yield the same results. They emailed me a list of alternatives, I’ll share below.
Of course discuss your options with your healthcare provider, but just an idea for alternatives. Having these alternatives just solidified my choice to deliver at a birth center. I know it’s not a big deal to most, but it was nice to know that something that was concerning to me was already addressed because other moms had the same concerns. Did any moms try these alternatives? If so tell me about it in the comments below.
At 25 weeks I started showing. I mean I could easily still hide my stomach if I for some reason wanted too. But I felt I officially had a bump. I’m still working from home I don’t have to worry about clothes fitting or dressing up, I usually wear workout clothes everyday. But it is swim suit season and I made the mistake of trying on all my swimsuits, having a mini breakdown then complaining to all my friends and mom. They brought me back to reality real quick with compliments and praises for growing a healthy baby. I feel like you have to say those things to a pregnant lady, but it still helped 🤣
I think I would have been back in the office if the protests weren’t going on. Protesters are marching through uptown where I’m currently assigned. I had a lot of guilt about not being able to assist with the protests, not even in an administrative role. I think representation matters and having a minority woman, like myself, on the front lines would have been beneficial for both the community and department. I spent many nights up late watching the protests on FB live. I couldn’t keep that up, I had to take a mental break from Instagram as well. I won’t get into it now, I’m going to do a post on policing as a woman and minority, I truly enjoy my job and I think it’s important to humanize the badge.
I’m officially 28 weeks today and have the sudden urge to get the house completely done. It’s getting there, a lot of little projects still but I think we will get most of them done. I want all our free time to be for baby when he or she gets here. I have my 28 week appointment for the glucose test next week. I’ll update on how that goes in my third trimester recap.
Pregnancy isn’t anything I imagined it would be (pandemic and protests have a lot to do with it) but it is a beautiful thing. Every time I feel my baby kick I’m reminded of how amazing the woman’s body is and how fortunate I am to bring a life into this world. The pandemic has made me appreciate mine and baby’s health during this unknown time. And the Black Lives Matter movement has brought up more conversation between Tyler and I. We don’t typically have conversations about race or gender any more because we are already on the same page, but we know we will need to have these conversations with our son or daughter. The conversations may differ slightly than the ones I had with my parents, but important nonetheless. Tell me, how have you had conversations about race with your children or spouse?
Going into my third trimester with uncertainly about the state of our nation but confident in our ability to raise a kind and understanding son or daughter, despite what he or she may look like.
Before I go, I want to let you know I posted my first video on YouTube! I’ve provided a link for you here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtotpKhG51E
I’ll be back with another post Friday, subscribe so you won’t miss it!
xo
