Second Trimester of my First Pregnancy

Second Trimester was both a physical challenge and a mental challenge. Some of the biggest milestones were, my belly starting to show, announcing our pregnancy on social media, and finding out we were having a girl. Some of the first trimester symptoms disappeared, but new ones quickly found their place. 

Thankfully the nausea from the first trimester started to subside. Hunger was hitting me full force and I was getting random cravings at random times a day. Like it would be 10:00 in the morning and all I wanted in life was a slice of cheesecake, and then 20 minutes later I just wanted hamburgers. My favorite was the day I was craving fried zucchini, french fries, and buffalo wings. Apparently Red Robin is the only place in the world where they serve all of those things, so my husband and I went there and just ordered a ton of appetizers for dinner one night. 

Everyone talks about how in the third trimester you get really uncomfortable, but I started getting aches and pains in my second trimester. I could tell that my hips were starting to shift and as a result I started experiencing sciatic nerve pain and I could feel my pelvis grinding. Plantar fasciitis was also a problem for a few weeks. Thankfully with a focused and consistent exercise program I was able to alleviate some of those pains, but they still made their appearance every once in a while. 

Pregnancy hormones were starting to make me feel a little extra crazy. I don’t think enough people talk about the mental challenges of pregnancy. You hear a lot about the nausea and feeling really uncomfortable, but no one talks about the very real anxiety that comes from pregnancy.  

When I hit the ½ way mark of my pregnancy I started feeling incredibly anxious. I think it was all coming together that I was about to give birth and be responsible for keeping a tiny human alive. I started setting high expectations for myself (like trying to clean our entire house after a full day at work) and getting frustrated when I didn’t meet them. I was trying to hold myself together, but I was slowly unravelling. I remember one morning I was feeling particularly anxious and my husband was out of town for a business trip. I figured if I did my usual morning yoga practice I would feel better. After about 10 minutes I just broke down on my yoga mat and had my first anxiety attack since I was going to school full time. That’s when I knew it was time to start stepping down on some of my expectations and make my mental health a priority. 

What really helped kick my pregnancy anxiety was a daily morning routine focused on centering my mind and remembering the good. Thankfully, baby girl’s kicks also started getting more regular and I could feel her moving around every day. Feeling a tiny body moving around inside of you is just about the coolest thing that could ever happen. It also served as a good reminder of the upcoming joy I would be experiencing when I finally got to meet my baby girl. 

If you’ve been pregnant before, what was your second trimester like?