The agony of the first trimester is behind me now and I’m feeling like my old self!
Observations at 16 Weeks
I’ve stopped taking vitamin B+ supplements back at 15 weeks, about the same time that my morning sickness faded. I’m happy that I no longer feel like barfing my guts out every five minutes and I can actually enjoy food once again. Of course, that means I’ve been gaining more weight. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Oh, well.
I started doing bits of exercises to counter the rapid weight gain. I’m doing this for two reasons. One, so I can feel like I’m still in control of this aging shell and two) I heard keeping active is good for the baby. I do cardio most days and strength training sometimes. All these exercises are safe for preggers, BTW. I will feature some in another post.
They’re Here: Pregnancy Butt and Pregnancy Nose
Can I just say, my ass never looked bigger? I feel like all the food I ate went straight to my butt, I look like a Teletubby! Even my husband noticed; it was that obvious. Also, I have the pregnancy nose, which funny enough, I feel like karma hitting me where it hurts. I used to tease my sister about her bulbous nose and now, I’m sporting the same schnoz.
Another thing that most pregnancy articles won’t tell you is that skin tags are quite common when you’re expecting. All my life, I never had to deal with skin tags and a couple of tiny ones sprouted on my neck. Seriously, pregnancy changes your body in more ways than you can imagine and at some point, you won’t recognize your own body. I sure as hell went on a researching spree after discovering the skin tags. I’ll have these removed after giving birth, I guess. I heard that removing them mid-pregnancy will only lead to re-growths, so no thanks.
We’ve started blasting classical music all day at the beginning of 16 weeks, btw. I think we’ll keep doing this until I’m due.
Observations at 17/18 Weeks
We just got back from the doctor’s office after a series of prenatal tests and from the looks of it, everything checks out. Since Little Peach is developed enough for a gender reveal, we were so excited about the ultrasound. As luck would have it, Little Peach wants to keep his or her gender a secret a little while longer.
Here’s a quick video of the ultrasound (yes it says 16 weeks but the doc says Little Peach is actually 17 weeks and 1 day old here, just forgot to update the title). No, she was not seizing at the start of the video, the nurse was giving my stomach gentle pokes to get her to move to the ideal position. When the ultrasound started, she was lying on her side, facing the screen (not seen in the video). But as soon as the nurse started moving the stick around, Little Peach laid on her back then basically clamped her legs shut.
The little pokes made the rest of her body move except the parts that mattered, the legs. She kept those tightly shut. It appears that even in utero, Little Peach managed to inherit my stubbornness.
What amazes me is the fact that Little Peach appeared to be investigating the source of the pokes (first 7 seconds of the video). At first, she was chilling out, sucking her thumb or something and then, she started tapping on the moving womb walls. I’m like, please be smart, please be smart, hahahaha!
The nurse instructed me to cough a few times to get the baby to move but Little Peach wouldn’t budge. We gave up after several tries. I was told to come back a day later and hopefully, the baby is in a better position to check the gender. Sigh.
According to the nurse, the baby looks healthy. Everything seemed to have developed well. Little Peach has a strong heart, as seen in the video. She’s also moving around so much so the risk of miscarrying at this point is pretty low.
… and the Gender Reveal
So, I came back a day later for a second ultrasound. Thank goodness Little Peach was feeling generous that day, he was all over the place, kicking and changing positions, showing his junk off. It turns out he’s a dude, I’m having a boy… or was told to lean to a male gender partly because Little Peach is still developing. However, the doctor said it’s likely a boy because he can see the beginnings of the scrotum sacks.
I can’t tell you how hard I hoped for a girl. I have two boys at home, two of my cats and two of dogs are male. My house is, without a doubt, overflowing with testosterone. I was hoping for a girl so I’ll have a mini-me to dress up. I don’t know why I even expected a girl to be honest. Both sides of my family are dominated by male offsprings. My husband’s family is the same.
Well, when you think about it, I can also dress up a baby boy. Plus, I won’t worry too much about roughhousing because I’m sure my boy can handle it so having a son is nice too.
Also, check out the baby bump at 16 and 18 weeks, respectively. I can’t believe how much my belly popped out in just a couple of weeks!
We haven’t announced the pregnancy yet. My husband is holding off the announcement on FB until the 5th month. I, on the other hand, feels that the whole social media pregnancy announcement/gender reveal thing is so fucking overrated. I don’t even feel like announcing the pregnancy on FB after I give birth, to be honest. I feel like only a celebrity should make a big deal about announcing a pregnancy/gender reveal on social media, you know? I guess I’m old-fashioned like that.
Anyhoo, I started taking maternity milk. I like drinking milk but this kind of milk, it tastes weird. Thankfully, my husband picked the chocolate flavor one, which I sorta liked. I heard that the milk will speed up the baby’s growth in utero so little Damien Alexandre will come out looking cute and plump!
Observations at 19 Weeks
We just got back for a follow-up checkup and we were expecting little Damien to be 18 weeks old. But apparently, he’s now 19 and 4 days weeks, which means I’m 5 months pregnant! I can’t believe the second trimester breezed by so quickly. In just a few weeks, the second trimester is over. In just 4 more months, I’ll be a mother, I cannot wrap my head around it.
My belly is much rounder these days and moving around is a struggle especially when I’m lying down. Shifting position while sleeping is such a drag, le ugh.
I’ve started feeling all sorts of muscle pains, especially in the mornings as soon as I wake up. My arms hurt, my thighs and legs hurt, and of course, my lower back hurts. I have to sit up real straight and avoid slouching while working otherwise, the soft tissues just below my boobs hurt.
The aches and pains get worse at night and I’m not sure why. I can sorta feel Little Damy move at night, I feel he’s most active during that time. It could be my imagination, of course, but I don’t know man. I’m new to this.
Oh, the beginnings of water retention are showing too. Funny story, I haven’t worn my Birks in a while because it’s been raining a lot here in the tropics. Yesterday, I wore my gold ones and lawrd, they were a tight fit! I’ve been telling the hubs that my feet were looking wider these days but he won’t believe me! Now I have proof! My mom was laughing her ass off.
At this point, all my prenatal vitamins were replaced with new ones. According to the doc, I gained about 3 kilos when I should’ve gained just 2 but she’s happy that I didn’t overdo it with the eating this time. I think doing light workouts 3 times a week and gardening made a huge difference. Exercising really really puts me in a great mood and I feel so much better after even if I have to drag myself to stick to my routine.
My waist has disappeared completely, my sides are now bulging. This doesn’t bother me because I sorta expected it. Also, I can feel the little one move now. The movements are still subtle and some nights, I feel that I am just imagining things but he’s quite rambunctious. I showed the doc the video (I go to a different hospital for the ultrasound) and she said he’s so active!
Observations at 20 Weeks
Although I took an ultrasound to check the gender and we were told to lean in the male gender a couple of weeks ago, our OB informed us that the doctor who did the ultrasound was not an OB. She didn’t encourage us to take another ultrasound but we did anyway because we need a 4D picture for the FB announcement. I know, we’re a bunch of millennials.
So yes, we went to a different hospital for the 4D ultrasound. One thing I learned about the experience is that 4Ds take much longer to complete. Also, little Damien, who by the way, was confirmed to be male during the 4D ultrasound, was all over the place. He refuses to show his junk to the nurse until the doctor stepped in an hour later (we were waiting for the doc). He did flash a smile, which I know looks creepy now but pretty sure he’ll be all cute once he arrives.
For the record, we had to do the announcement earlier than anticipated because my cousins ratted me out on Facebook, hahaha! I posted something and they started a thread about me being pregnant and eating for two. So yeah, people saw the convo and we basically had to hurry and make the announcement the next day so we don’t look like a bunch of schmucks hiding a pregnancy for no reason.
Bump pics! My belly also kinda popped out even more. The images above were only a week and a few days apart. You can tell the significant difference right away. I feel heavier now and moving is still hard. Also! I can feel the baby kicking now, especially in the evenings. The kicks were not painful, more like fluttering sensations and faint taps that would be mistaken easily for gas moving in the bowels but they’re different. Hard to explain.
I also learned that I gained a total of 17 pounds already T^T and I’m barely halfway through this pregnancy. That sorta made me feel bad so I’m trying to avoid snacking now. It’s hard to watch what I eat because everything tastes so good right now! I didn’t change my eating habits apart from adding rice for lunch and dinner. Sorta worried how this aging shell will drop all the extra pounds after the baby arrives so pray for me. My only consolation is that I gained a lot because of the many changes this body went through. That, and my husband has been super supportive and patient throughout my pregnancy so far.
Observations at 22 Weeks
Ugh, I feel like I’ve been 5 months pregnant for far too long. Damien moves and kicks a lot and the flutters get stronger especially in the evenings. I still have zero food cravings although my appetite increased even more. But I cannot eat too much because of acid reflux.
I still haven’t bought maternity clothes but I feel that I would any day now. I’m starting to feel the pinch as I am plagued with edema combined with the weight gain and a bigger belly. Also, all the other wonderful symptoms that come with the second trimester are in full gear: heartburn, gingivitis, belching, back pain, leg cramps, etc.
I’ve been feeling mild cramping especially at night but my doctor said it’s nothing to be worried about. Lots of activities are also happening inside because little Damien is always having his own little party.
At this point, we are starting to get serious about decorating the nursery. Sometime next month, we should get the nursery pieces that we had made months before. We’ll also get the crib and everything else once we hit the six-month mark.
Observations at 24 Weeks
I’m officially on the last leg of the second trimester! My goodness, it felt like the whole 6 months of being pregnant just flew by. Since we’re nearing the meet and greet with Little Damien, we’ve started looking into major items for the nursery.
First off, the nursery pieces that we had made has arrived last week. I know the pieces look huge but they were crammed in one end of the nursery. The changing station has no knobs yet because I’ll be getting cool ones soon. The house-shaped shelves are too adorable but I only needed one so the other one, I’ll find some use for it. The bed frame is meant for the yaya.
We’ve also started hunting for nursery appliances. We compare rates because these are hella expensive, jujuju. Once that’s done it’s just a matter of getting everything installed and arranged. As for decors, I found a couple of suppliers that specialize in cute baby decors. I’m pretty excited for these items though I’m unsure if they deliver here in Tarlac. The crib and the rest, we’ll start shopping for those soon too. Also, baby bump watch!
Isn’t it weird that my 20 weeks bump looked bigger than my 24-week bump? I think at that time, I gained a lot of weight so the bump looked extra huge. We just had a follow-up checkup and the doctor said I only gained 2 kilos this time, to her utter surprise. I can tell she hasn’t gotten over the 6 kilos I gained during the first trimester, lol. So far, I gained a total of 24 pounds already, about 11 kilos. Still processing this and trying to figure out how I’ll lose all the pregnancy weight but oh, well.
She also checked out the result of my blood work and said my glucose level is surprisingly normal, even lower than her expectation. I was so proud, guys, I totally controlled my diet. Well, not totally, just avoided eating too many snacks and stuff. I also tried working out (nothing too intense though) regularly so that helped in some ways.
In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be entering the tail end of the pregnancy and I have mixed feelings about it. It’s like, the idea of being a parent hasn’t sunk in yet and in just a few months, Damien will be here. But still, here’s to hoping things will turn out problem-free as I near the due date! At this point, the hubs and I are enjoying the last few weeks of being just us two.
Observations at 27 Weeks
My joints are always achy and moving around is a pain in the butt, like, in the literal sense. I still feel like my old self though, which is great. I can still wander around the mall for hours although I get breathless most times. Also, I’ve started feeling the weight gain the more I spend time standing up. Like, the pads of my feet are really digging into the ground, you know?
I feel that I gained a lot of weight. I’ll be honest, I started letting go during this period. I figured, this might be the last time I’d get pregnant and I might as well eat all the things. I don’t look at the scale anymore, I don’t need the added trauma. I still do most of the stuff I’ve been doing before getting pregnant. I can still work although I feel lazy most days. I can still give my four cats a bath, still do bits of gardening, etc. I don’t stay active often enough, I feel like.
