Catch up on our first trimester here!
Ok, I honestly cannot even believe I am writing this-somehow the second trimester has passed us by! They say the second trimester is the “magic middle” and honestly, once we were past the first trimester on and off nausea, we have been smooth sailing!
We truly cannot wait for this baby boy to arrive, but in the meantime we are finishing up nursery projects and small things around the house, which TEB is loving LOL! In all seriousness, he hasn’t complained one time, just said I pick complicated things ha!
Let’s get to it…
Second trimester is week 13-28, we’re going to cover some common questions I received over the course of that time and I will share some other things that might be helpful to you if you’re expecting now or in the future!
Cravings?!
My cravings have been about the same as before– all of the orange juice, please! I haven’t really wanted chocolate milk as much as I did during the first trimester (which I was making with almond milk and further food chocolate collagen). My appetite finally regulated toward the middle of the second trimester, thankfully! My own cooking sounded good again.
Have you had any weird symptoms?
Nothing out of the ordinary, thankfully. I have had a handful of sleepless nights which we nipped in the bud quick, bc I function best on 8hrs of sleep, which I know is about to change and I swear this is the way the Lord is preparing us for that haha. Once I experienced that a few nights in a row, a few things that helped me was taking a magnesium chloride bath, my fav bath flakes are linked here, then after slathering all of the body things on, which we will cover below, I put about 1/2 tsp of this magnesium lotion on the back of my legs, thennn, I would drink about 4-6oz of tart cherry juice for the natural melatonin…and that’s not all, I am telling you, we take sleep very seriously over here LOL. I also put oils in the diffuser, either happy baby which is calming and helps with sleep OR cederwood and lavender mixed. Lastly, I had a spray bottle of calming oils mixed up I sprayed on my pillowcase before bed.
I know that seems like a lot, but let me tell you, it worked and continues to when I need to pull out all the things!
How have you handled your body changing through this pregnancy?!
TBH, I thought I would hate pregnancy and my changing body, but i’ve actually embraced the beautiful journey. Things that have helped:
- Been thankful every single day for what my body is doing, creating, and housing…it’s truly miraculous
- wearing clothes that feel good
- stayed off the scale, I don’t weigh at home and when I go to my OB and midwife, they know I do not want to know my weight!
- trusting that my body will hold on to what it needs to for a healthy pregnancy.
- reminding myself daily that physiologically my body was made to do this!
what workouts have you been doing?
My workouts have not changed other than needing to modify some moves. We also remove some things that are too much on the core during pregnancy. My workouts are programmed by our coach that we’ve been with her for almost two years. My workouts are what is called Functional Body Building, but not the type of body building you’re probably thinking. Think: look good, move well. We do lots of progressive overload + time under tension, tempo work if you know what that is.
So, still doing all the big moves like back and front squats, lunges, deadlifts, bench press with all of the accessory work too! I’m SO beyond thankful to still be able to do all of this, it’s probably what has kept me most sane this entire pregnancy. I can’t imagine going from doing this 5 days a week to nothing at all! OH, another thing we did change was the duration of my workouts– they were usually taking me 45-60 min before and now 30-45 is what I do max bc I get fatigued wayyyy quicker.
I’ve also still been playing tennis and that has also been fun and challenging with a growing belly!
Ok, on to this important piece!
body care products
This may be another place I’ve been a bit excessive, but I do not care. I will do all of the things to take care of my body and skin during this pregnancy!
My favorite products:
- Neccesaire body serum right after bathing– this is straight Hyaluronic Acid for multi-level hydration. The formula also features Niacinamide for barrier support and Ceramide NP to help skin retain moisture. YES, PLEASE!
- Next I like to use a moisturizer mixed with oil! If I need deep hydration I will use the neccesaire body lotion which is pretty thick, if I want regular, I will use the Beautycounter hydrating body lotion which is IMO about half the thickness of the necessaire one and rubs in easier. The Beautycounter citrus rosemary body oil is my fav, to mix in with lotion! I’ve recently tried the Primally Pure baby oil and really liked it too, plus you can’t beat the price! My code: SARAHB10 will save you on all Primally Pure products too!
- So, if it’s been a while since I did all of that but my belly/boobs/hips are needing more moisture, I will use this melting body balm. It’s the most hydrating product out of all of these IMO.
- One other thing that keeps blood and lymph flow going that I like to do is dry brushing and then body gua sha, at minimum the dry brushing before bathing tho!
I think that about sums up our second trimester! If you have specific questions, always happy to answer!
