If there is one thing I’ve learned so far during this pregnancy it’s how quickly time flies!!
I can’t believe I’m here writing about my second trimester as it’s already happened, and I’m currently 6 weeks away from our baby’s due date. Time really gets away from you when you’re busy preparing for a special new addition to the family! The closer we get the more ready I am to meet our little one. But, I’m also trying to take in these last few weeks of being a family of two with just Richie and me (and our two sister kitties). Reflecting back on my pregnancy journey is such a joy for me and a huge reason for these separate trimester blog posts. It’s nice to know a sister isn’t alone with some of the wild things that may come with pregnancy. I hope you also enjoy these posts and find them helpful and comforting if this is also your season of life right now.
You can read my First Trimester Wrap-Up post here.
Second Trimester Began With A Bang
We had been holding onto a sealed envelope with our family’s destiny in it for a COUPLE OF WEEKS. How we managed to never peak at the gender inside continues to amaze me. I also had the results easily accessible online and STILL did not look!
We were able to find out the gender so soon based on a blood test I had done at 11 weeks. Normally, we would have had to wait until our anatomy scan around week 20. I had my suspicions on what gender it was going to be. I had always believed I was going to have a baby boy when I had kids. I was so convinced our baby was a boy that I started to create an identity for “him” before we actually knew. To be real honest, this led to me having extra anxiety about our gender reveal. I was afraid if it wasn’t a boy I would be so sad during a time that was supposed to be a happy and exciting celebration. Once we got our sealed envelope I started to accept that our baby may just be a girl!
I began envisioning a baby girl in our lives to even the playing field, and I truly became just as excited for either gender! I’ve heard a lot of others say they dreamed what their gender results were the night before they found out, and I definitely had one of these! The night before our gender reveal I dreamed that the results said girl but the color was blue!? A little confusing, but I had a feeling it was going to be a Girl!
I just entered into week 14 of pregnancy when we had our gender reveal party. We were SO excited! My Mom and Sister hosted the celebration we had with just family. It was beautiful and so special with every detail so well-thought-out and executed. I am so thankful for my sis taking the reigns and also the help of my cousin Tiff, and surprising us with the party details. It was such a special time for us all! To see what our party and reveal was like AND if we are having a Girl or Boy WATCH HERE.
The Second Trimester Anatomy Scan
Through the second trimester, we had doctor’s appointments every 4 weeks. After our gender reveal we had a routine appointment the following week. At these appt’s they call me back, I pee in a cup, get my blood pressure and weight, then wait to see the doctor. The doctor came in and she started measuring my belly at this point to make sure the baby was growing on track. Then, we listened to the baby’s heartbeat with the fetal doppler. Baby girl’s heartbeat was consistently in the 150s through the second trimester, “good and strong” the doctor would always say. This always makes my Mama heart so happy to hear our baby’s heartbeat.
Our next appointment was THE BIG ONE. Our anatomy scan happened right at 19 weeks! I was so ecstatic and anxious about this appointment. To see our baby girl for the first time since finding out her gender just took things to a whole new level. But, also, I was anxious to make sure everything looked good with her anatomy. The ultrasound was the first thing to happen when we got called back at this appointment.
Richie and I held hands as we got to see our baby girl on the screen! We could see her laying on her belly and her little hands and feet moving around. The ultrasound dr quietly studied her anatomy for the first several minutes while we waited anxiously in that dark room for her to update us. Finally, she let us know everything was looking good! THANK GOODNESS! We went over different parts of her anatomy that had developed and how it was all looking good and normal. We were so thankful!!! There were no surprises, baby girl was indeed a Girl! Now we had a pic to prove it!
One of the coolest experiences for me was during this ultrasound. As we watched our baby on the screen we saw her kick her foot and simultaneously I felt her kick! So wild that we can witness that! She was measuring right on track at 9 oz and we got to hear her heartbeat at a strong 155 beats per minute. We even captured some of this ultrasound on camera! I’ve linked it below in my second-trimester memories video!
Second Trimester Baby Movement
At 16 weeks I for sure could feel baby girl kick and wiggle inside my belly! Not long after this Richie was able to feel her for the first time too! Around 12-13 weeks I started to feel a couple of flutters in my belly but not much. Week 16 was different. I knew it was her. Not gas bubbles, not a muscle twitch, it was our baby girl! – Talk about making things feel more real! – I mostly felt her while I was laying on my back (when this was still possible – lol) in bed or on the couch. It was (still is) the most magical, special feeling in the world and makes me so happy every time I get a kick, wiggle, or flip. I’ll never forget one night I was lying in bed and I felt her completely do a flip from one side to the other. Such a wild feeling that took me by surprise!
Week 24 I got kicked in the ribs for the first time while laying in bed on my left side. She normally starts to wiggle around and kick as I’m waking up, but this happened while I was still sleeping and it woke me up! I remember feeling a little sore in the ribs that day lol.
One night, during week 25 as I laid on the couch with Richie, I felt this tickling sensation in the form of a line from the inside and across the lower part of my belly. I had never felt this before! I was stumped on what caused this feeling! Finally, I did a little research and came to the conclusion that our baby girl had blown some amniotic bubbles causing that sensation. How cool, right?! Then, the same week on a different night, I felt her have the hiccups for the very first time! It was The Sweetest thing experiencing that for the first time and my heart was so proud of her accomplishments! – It means her lungs are developing well! – Her hiccups come mostly at night and they feel like a little heartbeat. They’re so powerful that Richie can feel them when they happen and also says they feel like a heartbeat. 🙂
Big Second Trimester Events
We made some big moves on baby girl’s nursery during the second trimester! We painted the walls, replaced the carpet, ordered all the furniture, and started picking out decor. One tip I can give when you’re shopping for baby things, for furniture in particular. Once you’ve decided on a piece of furniture you want, do a Google search with its name. One piece of furniture will likely be available on multiple company’s websites! AND they won’t all be offering the same price! We saved hundreds of dollars by doing this!
We decided on a name for our baby girl!!! We started sharing it with family only. We still haven’t announced it publicly yet but might be doing so before she arrives! Stay tuned! The baby name process started before we were ever pregnant and we ended up going with the very first name we saved from the beginning! We bounced around different ideas after looking at many lists of names! Richie and I both feel the same about wanting a name for our kids that isn’t a common one, but also that has a lot of meaning to us. All the names we came up with never measured up to the original one we saved. Finally, we decided that our very first name was THE one. It felt so good to start calling our baby girl by her name!!
At 17 weeks and on our 4th wedding anniversary, we announced our good news to the world! We got our big secret off our chests! It was so good to share our pregnancy news with everyone!! There was no particular reason we waited until 17 weeks, although I thought announcing it on our anniversary was special.
We had family come to town to visit during my second trimester. My Nana stayed for a few weeks and Richie’s sisters around the same time. It was so special getting to spend time with family we don’t get to see very often during our pregnancy! At some point around then in July, I strained my right foot, so much so I had to limp on it for a couple of months. It’s currently still healing but much better than it was! This was hard for me for quite some time (and well into my third trimester) since walking around no longer came easily. Before this Richie and I enjoyed going on Saturday morning walks at the park – it was our little weekend ritual I could no longer do. Not to mention I couldn’t easily get things done around the house, which is HARD on a nesting Mama! But – I made it through!
Speaking of house projects, we started and finished going through all the spaces in our house that needed organizing! We live in a house with very little storage and needed to organize every space possible to make room for allll the baby things! This included our master bedroom & bath since baby girl will be staying in our room for the first several months, the kitchen, and all closets around the house. My goal was to be done with all of this before entering my third trimester. We accomplished that goal! Which, I credit to this system I used. CLICK HERE – It seriously is a game changer!
My Mom and Sister also began planning our baby shower! I made the decision for it to be a drive-by shower due to the Pandemic numbers picking up at that time. Also, I wanted to have it my first weekend into my third trimester. This would give us more time to finish preparing things we still needed before her arrival in December and before the Holidays kicked into high gear. Since the shower fell on the first weekend of October we decided to go with a Fall and Pumpkin theme. As the invitations went out, it was another small step towards things getting more and more real! More on the shower in my third-trimester blog post to come!
VIEW MY SECOND TRIMESTER MEMORIES VIDEO HERE!
Second Trimester Reflection
Looking back on my second trimester, it was a bit of a whirlwind. Starting it off with our gender reveal really set the tone. Nesting took over at that point, and we dove into getting all-things-baby done and ready around the house. I’m so glad that we took the initiative to do so much during those three months as we did. I spent the majority of my time working on our registry, making to-do lists, and checking things off. Lots of research took place. I started to educate myself on childbirth and take courses. Time never slowed down! I blinked, then I was getting ready for my baby shower! The toughest part of the second trimester for me was injuring my foot. I had to give up going on walks with Richie and was limited in general on how much I could be on my feet. This made it hard for me to take advantage of the time during pregnancy where I had the most energy.
Highlights of my second trimester include finding out we were having a precious baby girl!!! Seeing my baby bump grow and become more noticeable. Richie and I experiencing her first kicks and movements in my belly, including her first-time hiccups, and blowing amniotic bubbles. Getting to see our baby girl on the ultrasound again and know that she was growing perfectly. Receiving some of her very first items and watching her nursery come together. Each one of these things made it all the more real for us. When you’re busy every day going through the motions and getting things done, it’s easy to forget the reality of what’s happening. Every little accomplishment we made along the way was a reminder of what our future holds for us. A sweet, precious baby girl who is half Richie and half me making us a family of three!
Q & A
Q: Have you and/or when did you stop being able to wear your wedding rings?
A: Around week 22 I had to take them off because I could tell my fingers were bigger and it was hard to get them off! Excited to be able to wear them again 🙂
Q: Any new pregnancy symptoms during the second trimester?
A: Yes! I had my very first nose bleed EVER in life! Also, it started getting harder for me to sleep at night due to my belly growing more and no longer being able to sleep on my back halfway through the 2nd trimester.
Q: How have you been feeling? Emotionally, physically?
A: So nice of you to ask! Emotionally, pregnancy can be a roller coaster, not only because of hormones but the reality of all the huge life changes. I will say 98% of the time I am feeling so excited, happy, and grateful to be going through this experience and being able to grow our family. The other 2%, well sometimes hormones take their toll. I’ve also been so focused on preparing things and getting things done before she’s here. Sometimes I have to sit back, take a breath and really take in the whole experience before it completely passes me by! That’s actually a big reason why I tried to get a majority of things done before entering my third trimester. I wanted to spend my last few months relaxing and enjoying pregnancy, the holidays, and spending time with just Richie and me before she’s here! Physically, I’ve felt pretty good throughout my pregnancy. Besides my injured foot and not always getting the best quality of sleep I have to say I’ve felt great! I do think diet and exercise are a BIG contributor to this!
Q: Have you taken any classes for childbirth?
A: I sure have! If you know me, you know I’m a planner and I definitely need to plan things out to feel less stressed and prepared. So, taking classes was a must for me! I purchased a course online on how to give birth with practically no pain. It opened my eyes to a whole new world for childbirth. It was through this course I became confident I can give birth naturally. And, I’m actually excited about it! I’m so thankful I came across this course! I started doing the course during my second trimester. I also purchased a course on breastfeeding, but haven’t started that one as of yet.
Q: What baby registry did you choose?
A: I ended up going with Babylist online. I loved that you could add items to it from any store and it showed you the different prices of the same item from multiple stores. Such a little money-saving hack!
I hope this post brings peace and insight to any other second-trimester mommies out there! Pregnancy has continued to be a beautiful and magical experience overall. I’m so grateful for every single moment!
Comment below any questions or relatable experiences you’ve had!
Catch me on IG for more regular appearances and updates. I’ll catch you here next time with all the must-have baby items we’ve purchased, and then, my 3rd-trimester blog post! Make sure to subscribe!
Love always,
-SHOP SECOND TRIMESTER ITEMS-
