Pregnancy Recap: Weeks 13-20

Holy cow, friends. We are freaking HALFWAY into this pregnancy already + I almost can’t wrap my mind around it. Because I loved (and found it so helpful) reading other mama’s pregnancy journey stories as I navigated my own, I knew that I wanted to document as much of this baby growing process as possible. Today I’ll be digging into the first weeks of the second trimester, which is 13-20 – basically when you go from knowing that you’re pregnant to actually looking like you are, ha!

I hope you have as much fun reading this as I do writing it!

The Recap: Weeks 13-20

Somehow the first trimester comes and goes in both a terribly slow + also incredibly quick way + friends, I was READY for it to be over. Not that I hated it that much, but I was so ready to tell our friends and family, for the nausea and fatigue to end + to just blissfully drift into the reality of the second trimester.

Unfortunately, I didn’t exactly have the magic transition into the second trimester that switched off all of my symptoms from trimester one like everyone promised, but I will say that as the weeks have gone on and on, I’ve felt more and more like myself and I’m not taking one single bit of that for granted.

If you missed it, in week 14, I flew back to the US to surprise my family + tell them all about our little nugget. It was SUCH a fun surprise + I’m so, so glad I filmed it. I’ve linked the video here in case you want to watch it too.

While home in the US, it was the biggest blessing ever to spend time with so many of my girlfriends who are in exactly the same stage of life. I’ve discovered that getting pregnant is like getting initiated into the “mom’s club” because almost any woman is willing to share her thoughts on the best nipple cream, her labor story or what baby products she loves. I’ve actually found it incredibly fun and helpful to hear about other people’s experiences.

I know that many of my friends have found the ongoing advice of loved ones and of strangers to be overwhelming, but I’m not there yet. I think what I’ve learned from all of the advice I’ve heard so far is that NO ONE can prepare you for your own delivery and your own baby. One woman will rave about how amazing a specific product is + another will tell me it’s useless. One woman LOVED her hospital delivery + another had a traumatic experience. And rather than confuse me, this has actually felt incredibly freeing! I love, love, love knowing that actually, even if I prepare in all of the ways, my baby + my body + my delivery + my family will need to find it’s own way. To me, that just takes a bunch of the pressure off, which says a lot since I’ve spent a lot of my life battling the urge to do the right thing (even though my therapist has told me there usually isn’t one right way, ha!).

The other hugely fun part of the second trimester so far is that I’m actually looking pregnant + not just bloated, ha! It took until about 20 weeks for the bump to stay around all day, but it’s definitely here now. Weeks 16-20 definitely had a bump too, but it would disappear over night + slowly grow throughout the day. So funny.

We haven’t really started getting anything for the baby yet like the nursery or anything , although I have created a registry since my family is throwing me a baby shower while I’m in the US For the month of September, so I at least have a good idea of what I feel like I need…for now. We’re trying to keep it relatively minimal + then get more as we realise we need it!

Symptoms

Much like trimester one, I am still navigating some not so fun symptoms, although I have found ways to get them under control!

• back pain, leg weakness + difficulty walking: This was my main symptom through a lot of trimester 1 and 2 so far. It honestly has been the scariest one for me too since it has affected so much of my day-to-day. After an emergency ultrasound at 14 weeks just to ensure the baby was okay + there wasn’t anything crazy going on, it was determined that my best line of defence for these issues was actually to see a pelvic floor physical therapist. OH MY GOSH – I wish that every single woman had the opportunity to do this. We identified my issues quickly + have been working together on some exercises that have changed my experience. (You can watch an insta chat about the appointment here). I think I’m going to do an entirely separate blog post of pelvic floor therapy, but it’s safe to say that with it my pain and difficulty walking has gotten SO MUCH BETTER!
  
• constipation: This annoying symptom has stuck around + in a big way. I finally talked to my doctor (after a push from my pelvic floor therapist) and we increased my stool softener dosage until I was able to go regularly. My pelvic floor therapy also helped with this so much. I literally lost 2 lbs the day after my first appointment because I finally went to the bathroom, ha! I’m also eating lots of fiber + drinking tons of water to help because the extra weight from a full digestive tract was putting a lot of extra unhealthy pressure on my pelvic floor along with baby. No bueno!
  
• increased hunger: I am finding that while I’m not actually nauseous anymore that I do still need to keep up eating every few hours or I start to feel not great. This baby is clearly growing + needs all of the nourishment, ha! I’m at like 4-5 snacks a day along with my meals, which seems to be what’s needed!
  
• fatigue: While it’s not the same as the bone deep fatigue of the first trimester, I do still feel like my energy levels are not at all where they used to be. I’m not really able to exercise much without really feeling some rough effects later. I’m honestly just listening to my body + resting as much as I can, while I can, and being active when it feels good too. It’s a learning curve!
  
• big boobs: My boobs have shot up by like 2 cups sizes already + they’re predicted to just keep going as we get closer + then once my milk comes in. It has felt SO WEIRD to feel so much heaviness on my chest, but I think once I get a few good bras, it won’t be so annoying, ha!

Diet + Exercise

As I mentioned above, exercise isn’t happening much. Even though walking is getting easier, I’m still finding it challenging to do more than 15 minutes at a time. I miss lifting weights so much, but if I push myself to do it, I feel horrible for the rest of the day in my back and down my legs. I’ve kind of just decided that, in this season, ANY form of movement is a win.

So, for exercise lately, that looks like: stretching lots, a few pregnancy pilates workouts + a random arm weights session maybe once a week. I’m not beating myself up about this AT ALL, which I’m really proud of me for. Just moving when I can since I know it will be helpful to preparing for labor and postpartum.

In terms of diet, I’m mostly back to my old self! I’m not super nauseous anymore, which means more meat + veggies have made their way back into my eating schedule. I will say that I’m eating more than normal, which is just because I find myself so much hungrier than normal too. I want to listen to those cues + am aiming to gain the recommended 1 pound a week for healthy development for the babe. I’m also allowing for fun treats when I want them + trying to include some dairy + even bites of gluten in my diet to ensure that the baby doesn’t develop an allergy since I almost never consumed them before. Overall, diet doesn’t feel like a stressful thing to me at all right now as long as I have enough to eat, ha!

Other Fun Stuff

• feeling the baby kick: I was told to expect light flutters by 18 weeks, but I actually started feeling them at 14! By week 18, I was on full blown kicks + they are just getting stronger. By 20, I was even able to see them from the outside of my belly + it is the most wild + cool thing ever. Mark hasn’t felt the baby yet, but that’s mostly because the kicking is so sporadic still because of baby’s size and changing positions. My favorite thing is that sometimes when I lie down in bed at night, the baby is quite low + completely on the front, so I can almost hold the entire baby in my hands. SO SWEET!
• 20 week ultrasound: We had our 20 week ultrasound last week + just like the first time, it was the coolest thing EVER! Baby was head down, so they couldn’t get a cute shot of the profile like you often see, but we were able to see it’s sweet little lips and nose, the bottoms of its feet + all of its healthy organs in detail. It really did feel like such a relief to know that everything appears to be developing just as it should.
• baby names: Mark + I have settled on a baby boy’s name, but for the life of us can’t agree on a girl, ha! Some people say this means we’ll have a boy? Some say this means we’ll have a girl. We’ll just have to wait + see – we just want a healthy baby!
• baby shower: baby showers aren’t really a thing in England, so I’m SO grateful that I’m getting to have one while I’m back in the States for the month of September. Just having lots of women come together makes me feel a bit emotional. It’s this weekend, so I’ll be sure to share some fun behind the scenes on instagram.
• maternity clothes: I haven’t really invested in much of anything as far as maternity goes. I grabbed 2 pairs of Lulu Align leggings and they really have lived up to the hype. I did just purchase a pricey pair of Madewell maternity jeans that I LOVE, but I’m still undecided on if I’ll keep them. My bump is getting to the point that it really does need maternity clothes, so I’m going to have to invest a bit more time here soon, ha!

What I’m working on for the rest of Trimester 2

• continuing my pelvic floor therapy exercises + prenatal vitamins: I am finding it harder than I thought to remember to do these every day even though they’re both SO helpful + imperative. I’ve finally just set an alarm on my phone so that I don’t forget, ha!
• starting to get things together for the nursery: I’ve already started to do research on things like cribs + nursing chairs, but we’ll probably aim to start actually purchasing a few of these items before we hit the craziness of trimester 3!
• find some maternity clothes: while I’m home in the States, I’m trying to thrift or borrow or buy a few things that make me feel really pretty even as my belly continues to expand, ha!
• start making a birth plan: I already know I’m going into labour with high hopes, but realistic expectations. We’ll talk about this more in trimester 3, but I really am spending a lot of time digging into my different delivery options + what I hope my experience will be like. So far, I’m not scared of labor. I want it to be an empowering experience, so that’s the narrative I’m investing in now!

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