2nd Trimester Recap

28 Weeks.

+Weird symptoms: Dry skin and congestion.

Basically, my back was constantly itchy. I get congested at night because all the extra hormones cause extra mucous production and blood flow in the sinuses.

Also, itchy feet. Isn't that weird? I've gotten into the habit of using a Gold Bond spray every time I put socks on.

+Shortness of breath is a real thing and they had given me an inhaler back at like 10 weeks. Because of the altitude here, people tend to need them. I started using it on and off around 26 weeks.

+I started telling people at work. I finally told my students after I had my 21 week anatomy scan. I'm SO glad I waited that long. They lost their minds. They were clapping and cheering and they told everyone they saw all day long. I really didn't expect that, but I'm soooo grateful for this sweet group of kids. I got comments like, You and your baby have a good lunch! every. single. day. and How old is the baby now? I'm sort of sad they'll never actually meet him and I won't get to see them next year. In the end, I know this was the school year I needed as I've gone through this because they were so caring and empathetic.

+I changed a few things related to my diet as well:

Adding full-fat dairy. Do you know how hard it is to find 2% or full-fat yogurt that has some flavor? I didn't want to go the plain yogurt route because I didn't want to have to mix a lot in for flavor. I just wanted something with protein and calcium and low-ish sugar.

No artificial sweeteners. I usually avoid them, but I made it pretty intentional.

Intentional fruits and vegetables. I don't love vegetables and fruit is something I eat because I know I'm supposed to, not because I "crave" it. Unless it's watermelon or strawberries, I could take it or leave it.  I'm really trying to incorporate a vitamin A, a vitamin C, and a folate source each day, in addition to whatever else I may eat.
Usually this is resolved with a spinach smoothie with pineapple and mango and almond milk, plus a clementine or orange.

In addition to my prenatal vitamin, I added in an iron pill every couple of days. I knew my lack of eating meat would affect my nutrient intake if I didn't consider it.

Aversions continued: I didn't eat any meat I cooked myself, aside from the occasional chicken sausage or bacon. Once in a while, I'd have some Chick-fil-a tenders/nuggets or get something with chicken at a restaurant if it sounded good. I can't remember the last time I had red meat. Veggie burgers made me want to gag. Indian food was a big turnoff, I think, because I ate it (seemingly) a lot when I was pregnant but before I found out I was pregnant...like weeks 1-6...which is the same thing that happened with the veggie burgers. Also, I started really hating my vitamins. So I switched to ones that tasted good no matter what. And candy. My sweet tooth was still non-existent for the first chunk of the second trimester but it came back around the beginning of April. I tried to ignore it and that didn't really work out well. By the beginning of the 3rd trimester, my diet was completely back to normal: smoothies, salads, sweets, less soda, unforced water-drinking, etc.

+Somewhere between 14 and 15 weeks, I started feeling fluttering...This was welcome and a relief but so much changes week to week that when the fluttering stopped, it made me nervous. Eventually I started feeling real kicking, but there was a huge stretch between 16 and 21 weeks where I didn't have a doctor's appointment. Did I buy a fetal heart monitor? Yes, I did. But I only used it once a week or so for that month and then I felt better after I had the anatomy scan. Plus, the kicking became much more regular.

+Heartburn. Seems to happen every day at some point. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat or when, but more like how fast I eat it? Like it can happen with oatmeal or it can happen with pizza. A few Tums takes it away, but sometimes I don't feel like digging out the Tums, and it goes away on its own. Toward the end of the 2nd trimester, I just always had some in my bag.

+Ligament pain. Week 22 was particularly rough with ligament pain. It went away after a few days. But it was 24/7. I could not get comfortable, couldn't really walk easily, couldn't do Pilates or yoga comfortably. Other people I've talked to said it hurt for a little bit each day and then they were fine. Mine was around the clock but when it went away, it was gone. 

+Exercise. I focused a lot on Pilates in the 1st trimester. But in the last few months, I've really honed in on the yoga. I do 15-20 minutes most days, and still do 15-20 of Pilates most days as well. I walk a mile or two outside each day. I wasn't doing a lot of true cardio before getting pregnant, so I just opted to leave that out for now. With weight gain, I'm on track, so I'm just focusing on what I know works for me. 

+At my 28 week appointment, I got the rhogam shot, which they apologized for having to give me. I wanted to laugh because I gave myself dozens of injections last year (and we only did ONE round of IVF compared to how many some people do) and they made a really big deal about one shot. 

+I had one more appointment in Colorado last week, and then, because I switched my insurance to Wyoming (and a civilian hospital), I also had a second 32-week appointment there. There's no base in Laramie so they put me with the local hospital. Tricare gets reallllllly strict about moving/switching after 34 weeks, so I had to make this a priority and I'm certainly still going to take advantage of whatever "free" healthcare they'll give me.  However, I blessedly was able to get into a doctor and see the hospital and transfer my records and all that. It wasn't the least stressful thing ever but it did all work out. I am absolutely thrilled with the hospital and the doctor and, seriously, this all came together, and having a hospital 5 minutes away is much more convenient than 40 minutes away. Coming from military care (and the hospital on Ft. Carson is actually a really good one), I'm still in awe of some things: I didn't have to scan a card to check in or wait for numbers to be called; there are only OBs, not midwives; my doctor told me that she and her partner-doctor work very hard on scheduling to make sure one will be on-call, but I may end up with a doctor I haven't had (from the other clinic in town) if they are unavailable. It was almost like a pre-apology, just in case one or both were out of town or something when it's time to actually have a baby. 

I was used to seeing a different midwife at every appointment. Military wives usually show up at L&D, ready to have a baby, and get who they get. I have a friend who scheduled a c-section so she could have her favorite doctor. This pseudo-civilian life is so foreign to me at this point. 

32 weeks. And the usual mess in the background.

Now that I'm into the 3rd trimester (33 weeks), here's hoping things stay "easy". I mean, the baby has a name, a room, some essentials and non-essentials, etc. It's really, at this point, just making sure we're actually moved into the house and being settled before he has a chance of coming along.

(Also, it'd be really nice if our Colorado house would sell as well. Thoughts and prayers appreciated on that. It should be on the market in a few weeks.)