my 2nd trimester

As I wrote here about my first 3 months, I thought it was only appropriate to write about my 2nd trimester (weeks 14-27 apparently), according to my calculations I just split the 9 months into 3 but it doesn't work like that as you still have some weeks left over ;)

So last week I entered my 3rd trimester (28-40 weeks). The last leg of the pregnancy race.. Not that I am racing anywhere at the moment - think more waddling!

My 2nd trimester has been a lot nicer that my 1st:

No nausea - hooray!

My relationship with food is back on the straight and narrow - horray! Although coffee is still not as appealing as it used to be - but I do have myself a decaf hazelnut latte now and again.

Baby brain - I also seemed to have a little reprieve from baby brain - although you may want to check that with my husband, family and friends as I could seriously be deluding myself about that one. But honestly it didn't feel quite as bad at times.

Junk food - the junk food obsession calmed down too.

Chocolate - don't worry ladies my love of chocolate has come back with avengence - I am eating even more than I was before pregnancy. Snickers anyone?

My body - my body still feels as if it has been hijacked and taken over - I am still a walking host organ.

So what's been new in this trimester....

Feeling baby move - this is a pretty special one and one that has evolved during this whole trimester. I first felt the baby move around 17-18 weeks like little flutters. SP felt the baby kick for the first time at 20 weeks when we were on our Babymoon, this time it was quite a strong kick. That was a pretty exciting time. Since then the movements have gotten a lot stronger, I get kicked all over the place, the ones in the bladder and ribs aren't so pleasant. Apparently this will slow down from now on as the baby gets even bigger. I can even see my belly move when the baby moves - think Aliens!

The BIG scan - at 19 weeks we had our big scan to check how everything with the little one was growing and all looked good and well. Praise God. We even found out if we were having a little boy or little girl ;)

Hello belly - from about 21-27 weeks I popped BIG TIME. I more than doubled the weight I had put on in the first 21 weeks in just 6 weeks. I was impressed! My belly is now sticking out and proud.

Back ache - because of the above point I have had a pretty sore back, this has probably been one of the harder things for me during this trimester. I went for a pregnancy massage last week which was lovely and have encouraged my hubby to give me a wee massage in the evenings which has helped.

Sleeping - say what? No really I have been able to sleep but it certainly isn't as comfortable as it used to be and I wake up a fair bit. I almost need a forklift truck to turn me over during the night*. Plus I am normally a 'on my belly' sleeper, I think if I lay on my belly now I would be almost touching the ceiling*! It's worth investing in one of those super long maternity pillows. *slight exaggeration.

Return of the baby brain - this has also come back with avengence. I walked out into the middle of the road the other day when it wasn't even a green man, thankfully I saw the car and quickly got back on the pavement. Poor Tracy and Denis were with me and looked on in amazement and shock! WARNING: pregnancy can be dangerous to your health!

Glowing - I thought this would never happen as I felt so awful at the beginning but I have had some lovely comments from people saying that I look like I am 'glowing' and that I look well.

Sore ribs - because my bump is quite high I get really sore ribs, they almost feel bruised - I don't imagine that's going to be getting much better until baby starts to drop a little.

I think my expectation of pregnancy and the reality of pregnancy were quite different, it's been harder than I thought but I wouldn't change it for the world, to have a little life growing in you and feeling them move is priceless. The 2nd trimester has certainly been a lot better. So be encouraged ladies that if you have a rough time at the beginning it does eventually get better.