Holy Moly, did I really just type out 22 weeks?
Like… how?
HOW?
This entire pregnancy has gone by so fast, and I am only getting more giddy by the day for December to be here. Comparing my first trimester to the second… I now get why people actually decide they might want to be pregnant again after their first. Is that horrible to say? Ha.. oh well. I legitimately questioned my entire first trimester what the heck I signed up for, and then… like a miraculous wind that blew in out of NO WHERE, I woke up to my second trimester and felt like a new woman. My second trimester has truly been so easy that I forget (genuinely forget) that I am pregnant and can’t do certain things anymore. Paul told me last week that I act so normal 95% (lol) of the time that he also forgets I am pregnant… so much so, that if I am irritable or acting a little preggo… he has to remind himself that some men live with this for 9 whole months. Husbands say the funniest stuff, y’all. I definitely took it as a compliment! He has been seriously the best, and this has been such a fun journey together. He has been involved in every little detail, and I love that.
In all seriousness, though, all jokes aside, I have loved my second trimester. It’s absolutely wild to think I will be in my third trimester in just a month. We had our first sonogram since the 8 week jelly bean sonogram last week, which blew both of our minds. We saw legs, a spine, a heartbeat, kidneys, head, arms, fingers, feet… it made this all so much more real. I feel like I truly love this human being inside of me now after seeing him. I loved the idea of him before the sonogram, but he is just so… real now. I don’t know how to explain it.
Our prayer for baby boy is that he would have “thick skin, a tender heart, and a lot of love for Jesus.” So, seeing his beating heart after praying that for so long was breathtaking.
What am I feeling?
In the last week or so I have started to have Braxton Hicks contractions, which are normal. But when my midwife asked me the longevity and frequency of them… she told me I’m doing too much and that the amount I am having them is too much. So I am trying to take things a little easier and slower now that we are moved into the house and I am back from summer camp with our students. This is hard for me… clearly.
The back aches and ankle pains by the end of the day are real. I literally lay with my back on our foam roller in the middle of the floor to stretch out my spine. My hip flexers are increasingly a hassle, but nothing too horrible yet.
Bloody noses are an every day occurrence.
I have also been having acid reflux, not terribly yet, but it’s definitely there. I have been trying my best to steer away from spicy foods now, which is also very very tough for me. So my Chipotle at 10 Pm this week… definitely a bad idea. We are rearranging what times I eat when we know we are going to be out late.
Weight gain: I have gained 5 pounds from my starting weight, which my doctor told me was perfect for my size and where I am at right now. So, I am going to keep up with my fitness routine and keep eating about 300 extra calories a day to maintain my healthy weight gain for pregnancy.
We have DEFINITELY started to feel baby boy move, and I am convinced he is a boxer. My placenta is on the back side of my belly, so I can feel him very strong and clear. It started out with me thinking my pulse in my belly was really heavy, which made sense to me… like, there must be a lot of extra blood pumping there? But, after a couple days consistently feeling the same sensations off and on all day, I realized maybe this was baby. Sure enough, I started to see my belly jump, the spots changing with every thump. Paul and I both freaked the first time we each felt it and knew it was the baby. I love that Paul can feel him, too, and be part of this in a little way now.
Cravings: I really don’t have any. I still can’t eat chicken drumsticks or dark chicken meat. I don’t know what it is- but it makes me want to vomit. That’s the only aversion that I still have from the first trimester. I do, however, really enjoy me a chai tea latte in the afternoons as of late. I think Starbucks sees me about 3 or so times a week at 2 PM. No shame. Chinese food, if I had to nail down a “craving” is probably mine. I eat it a few times a week, but I always have loved Chinese… it’s just justified to eat it multiple times a week now. 😉 I really think I deserve a PF Changs pregnancy sponsorship at this point from how much money we have spent in the last 20 weeks there… lol.
All in all, like I said, I LOVE THE SECOND TRIMESTER. We have been starting to plan baby showers with friends and family, and I cannot wait to get our nursery set up. Our nursery set was delivered, more on this to come, and that made things get really real really fast.
Thanks for walking through this exciting journey with me! My top and jeans (my first pair of maternity jeans!) are from Pink Blush, and it’s by far my favorite/most comfortable outfit I currently own. I am obsessed. This outfit makes me so excited for fall that is just around the corner- can you believe it’s already August? My favorite time of year is so close I can almost taste it, and I am beyond giddy about it.
New fall pieces in The Cake Shop will be rolling out VERY SOON. Keep an eye peeled, because these are going to go fast and are in limited quantities, per usual. You can currently pre-order my “Weekends Reserved” tee for football season here.
xoxo- Han
My top pictured is HERE
My jeans pictured are HERE
(These jeans are literally the most comfortable thing I have ever put on.)
All photos by Cottonwood Road Photography for The Cake by Hannah
Leave a Reply