The Truth about the Second Trimester

{You can read my first trimester post HERE.}

Well, guys, I’ve made it through the second trimester. I didn’t know if I would… not because of any complications, only because it’s completely ambiguous when the second trimester ends and the third begins. If you divide 40 weeks into thirds, then your second trimester ends at 26.5 weeks. 27 weeks means there is 13 weeks until your due date, which sounds about right. But most baby apps and doctors say the third trimester starts at 28 weeks. All very confusing. Nonetheless, I’ve made it. I’ll be 30 weeks tomorrow and I’m in that final two and half month stretch until this baby arrives. If you read my moving post yesterday, you know this freaks me out slightly, but I will survive. I am so, so thankful for another great trimester of pregnancy behind me. Here’s what went down these last 13ish weeks.

Real life…

Most people say the second trimester is the best part of pregnancy, and I definitely have no complaints, although I had an easy first trimester too. The second trimester is fun because you start to show {aka you stop looking bloated and look pregnant instead} and you start to feel the baby kick and move. I started popping out around 16 weeks, and around 20 weeks I started having {very confident} people ask me if I was expecting or when I was due. I would never ask someone this, because what if I were at the “I still look four months pregnant” postpartum state? But whatever… this just goes on the list of things to teach my college freshmen never to ask a woman. 

I think I felt the baby move for the first time right around 17 weeks. I had just gotten in bed for the night and I felt the tiniest flutter. After that I felt nothing for about three weeks. At my 20 week doctor’s appointment I found out why. It turns out the placenta is attached to the very front of my uterus {by my belly button}, which creates a lot of cushioning between the baby and the surface of my stomach and prevented me from feeling movements as early as most women usually can. Now that the baby is bigger, I feel movements all time time and my whole belly shakes if the baby is super active, but it took a long time to get there. It’s all about placenta placement. Who knew? Now I feel the baby move sometimes throughout the day, but its most active times are right when I wake up in the morning, either while I’m still lying in bed or if I’m sitting and doing my quiet time {especially if I don’t eat breakfast soon enough after waking up… baby lets me know it’s hungry} and always right when I get in bed at night. As soon as I lean back against my pillows around 10 or 11pm, baby decides it’s play time. The fun part is that Micah is always around and he gets to put his hand on my stomach and talk to the baby. I love it.

As far as complications and discomfort, I definitely started feeling round ligament pain around week 13. It felt kind of like I pulled my groin for a couple of weeks, but the pain was on and off and not too bad overall. I’ve also started experiencing some lower back pain recently. I worked out a little too hard on a Friday afternoon during week 25, and later that night I could barely walk. We were at a friend’s house playing games and I turned into an old woman as the evening progressed. I’ve modified my workouts since then, but I still feel lower back pain if I do too much during the day {examples: moving houses, throwing baby showers, etc.}. Most days though my back is fine, although I’m sure it will hurt more over the next ten weeks. Lastly, my digestive system is messed up y’all. I don’t want to gross you out with details, but there is nothing “regular” about a pregnant lady’s squashed digestive tract. Also, I got diagnosed with low iron and iron pills mess with your system even more. Basically, I just try to eat more fruits and veggies and I avoid greasy foods at all costs. I have learned the rumor that you can gorge yourself on any random craving when pregnant is a complete lie! I never eat until I’m full and most junk food sounds disgusting to me, because I think about how much my stomach might ache if I eat it. The upside to this is that my doctor told me very enthusiastically that my weight gain is “excellent” at my last appointment, and I’ve been sure to remind Micah of this fact at least every few days… 🙂

I should also add a note about leg cramps here. Yep. They happen. Horrible Charlie Horse cramps in my calf right when I wake up in the morning. I have always been prone to leg cramps {I went through a stint in high school where I had one every single morning for a few months}, so I was not surprised by this symptom. I would say I got a cramp about 8-10 times between weeks 20-28 but I actually haven’t had one in a while. A few of the cramps were so bad that my calf was sore for a full two or three days afterward, so if they don’t come back I won’t be mad about it.

Rumor has it…

This is where I tell you about other things that can happen during the second trimester, even though I did not experience them personally. There isn’t much to share here, since the second trimester is usually the least eventful, other than some poor women continue to experience sickness after their first trimester ends. My heart hurts for these women. For real. Also, I’ve heard you can start lactating as you approach 30 weeks. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened to me yet. Heartburn is also an issue for many women, but I haven’t had it at all… probably due to my careful eating habits, as mentioned above. I have gone through a full bottle of Tums though, just because they seemed good to eat. And swollen feet and ankles… my feet have only swollen twice so far, and one time was after walking around at a food festival downtown on one of the first hot days of the summer, so it was pretty understandable. Some ladies start experiencing constant swelling by week 25, so I am thankful my feet have remained pretty normal in this desert heat. Finally, if you are like 90% of pregnant women, you get to find out the gender of your baby around 20 weeks. Then you can go crazy buying clothes and decorating the nursery. However, Micah and I are in the rare 10% of couples who do not find out. And our bank account is very thankful! 🙂

Unless Baby Russum decides to come early, I will be back in 10 weeks or so to share details from the third trimester…