Pregnancy Journal: Second Trimester (Week 14-27)

Towards the end of my first trimester, my energy level had gotten back up. I could carry on my regular activities a lot more easily. I didn't notice much difference or changes in my second trimester. Sometimes I even forgot that I was preggo and had a baby growing inside my body.

Regular Exercise and Yoga

I still continued with my regular habit of exercising but started to take yoga classes. Yoga was said to help ease pains and help with delivery. I was careful with the different moves. I avoided moves that work out my abs and core. I also stopped doing the overhead press.

Going on a Babymoon

Will and I booked a trip just shortly after I passed my 3 months and after I got a clearance from my doctor. It took us a while to decide on where to go. The destination needed to be pregnant-women friendly and safe from Zika virus. We ultimately decided on Europe for a more tame and relaxing babymoon since I wouldn't be able to do anything adventurous like this and this.

I bought pregnancy compression pantyhose to help with my flight in case of leg cramps or swelling. Even though our trip was supposed to be relaxing, we were ambitious and visited Paris, Strasbourg, Colmar, Dusseldorf, Koln and Amsterdam all within just 2 weeks (post to come!). Despite going from places to places in a short period of time, it was still manageable. On average, we walked about 30,000 steps each day and I still felt great! My belly started to show a little bit but I was still able to hide it inside my regular clothes.

Eating was tough in Europe, especially in France. Although I had gained back the appetite that I lost in my first trimester, there was a lot of food that I needed to avoid. I couldn't eat any of their cheese, wine, deli meat, beef tartare, escargot -  basically most of the things that France was known for.

Keeping the Gender a Surprise

At about 20 weeks, my doctor was able to tell me the gender of my baby. But I really wanted to keep it as a surprise and do a gender reveal. What's more important for me was the baby's health and growth. Besides, I was so entertained whenever someone guessed the gender and shared me their theories.

Will and I also started keeping a list of names for both genders. But it was difficult to find a name that we both liked, not taken and worked well for our culture. We had fun picking out a few nicknames though.

First Flutters

I wasn’t sure when I actually felt my baby’s first flutters. I couldn’t tell if it was my baby kicking or just me feeling gassy at first. But when I started feeling it more frequently, I knew that must be it. The baby kicks that I was so curious about. It was really a special feeling. They felt like big bubbles or something was twitching from inside my belly. The flutters would occur in the middle of the night or when I lied on a certain position or when I ate a certain food. I thought maybe my baby was trying to tell me something.

Growing Out of My Clothes 

During this time, my belly was always itchy from the winter dryness. I had to put more bio-oil and moisturizer to soothe the skin. My clothes no longer fit me anymore. My go-to jeans would not buckle. So I had to start wearing maternity jeans and leggings and more dresses. Eventually, I was more comfortable wearing a more fitted silhouette and shape to embrace my growing belly.

Other than getting the occasional leg cramps, my second trimester was indeed a smooth-sailing like most people said. I was able to do so much and go everywhere with ease.

How was the second trimester for you? Did you enjoy it more than other trimesters?

Check out my other pregnancy posts!

How to Look Stylish During Pregnancy

Ways We Saved Money on Baby Stuff
Pregnancy Journal: Third Trimester (Week 28-36)

Pregnancy Journal: First Trimester (Week 1-13)