This post is long overdue! (Pun kinda intended.) As I write this post, I’m almost at the end of my third and last trimester. At the beginning of my third trimester, we had a lot going on so I just didn’t get a chance to sit down and draft this post. But better late than never, right?
The Golden Trimester
A lot of people say that the second trimester is the “golden” trimester because morning sickness goes away and you start actually looking pregnant – yet aren’t so huge that you’re uncomfortable. That was definitely true for me! By the beginning of the second trimester, my morning sickness had worn off and I was getting my energy back.
It was great timing because around that time is when we had a bunch of family in Germany! My mom had been there for a few weeks, but then my dad, brother Jordan, his wife Sydni, and their 4-month-old daughter Emmie arrived. We spent about a week together exploring Germany and Prague. (We went to the Czech Republic because my sister Abby was there for a summer music festival and had a concert.)
Second Trimester Symptoms
The second trimester wasn’t all fun and games though, because with pregnancy still comes pregnancy symptoms. Despite morning sickness being gone, I still struggled with an extreme sense of smell and propensity to gag. I even had several dry-heaving spells.
I’d also wake up in the mornings feeling absolutely parched! Having water on my nightstand was a must so I could sip it every time I got up to use the toilet. I also continued with the “banana trick” that a friend told me about. Eating part or all of a banana before even getting out of bed helped tide me over (and quell my gaggy feelings) until I could grab breakfast.
Another symptom that began plaguing me was stomach issues, particularly feeling bloated and gassy. Sometimes the gas was SO painful! But I preferred to suffer with that rather than feeling nauseated and utterly fatigued. In early October I got my first (and hopefully only) illness of my pregnancy: a very bad cold that left me fatigued, coughing, and not wanting to do much. (Mark also had it.)
My Favorite Things About the Second Trimester
A couple of the most delightful things about the second trimester were that: 1) finding baby’s heartbeat with my home Doppler was much easier, and 2) I began feeling and even seeing baby’s movements! I had waited so long to feel that sensation and it was so precious. It was also wonderful having my energy mostly back and no food aversions!
I did still have slight cravings, which ranged from Asian food to carb-filled items like chips and salsa and homemade baked goods. My go-to breakfast was oatmeal and yogurt, and I was able to eat meat with no problem! (If you remember my first trimester update, meat was my biggest aversion.)
The most exciting thing about the second trimester was finding out that I was pregnant with a baby BOY! Mark and I got to very clearly see it at my almost-16 week ultrasound. Later that day, we did an exciting gender reveal to our family and friends via FaceTime and Facebook Live, which you can watch below! We have named him but won’t be announcing it publicly until he is born. I’m so in love with his name though!!
Traveling Europe While Pregnant
Having more energy in the second trimester was awesome because it was filled with traveling! In the summer, we got word that our time in Germany was limited and we’d be moving back to the United States before the end of the year! Mark was accepted into a Masters of Science program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. So we wanted to pack in the travel and see as many places in Europe as possible. Our little boy is already so well-traveled!
We drove to Prague a second time, for Abby’s final concert of the Prague Summer Nights music festival. On the way there, we stopped in Berlin and then in Poland for some serious Polish pottery shopping. After all my family left, our next trip was to Greece for Mark’s 33rd birthday, around my week 18. We split our time between Athens and the island of Santorini. I was able to pace myself with a walking tour of the Acropolis in the Greek summer heat, and took a seat whenever I could. (Pro tip: bring a handheld battery-operated fan!) I even was adventurous and took a small boat tour around Santorini island.
In week 22, we spent Labor Day weekend in Portugal! We saw Lisbon, Nazare, and Fatima, and stayed at a gorgeous Marriott resort on the coast. Portugal was definitely one of our favorite places! A couple weeks after that, we drove down to the Munich area for Oktoberfest and visiting the Andechs monastery where the monks brew their own beer. At the end of week 27, we left for our final “hurrah” to the Naples area of Italy. By then, my baby belly was extremely obvious and it was really neat getting special attention because of being pregnant. One of our Italian waiters insisted that he give us free tiramisu “for the baby!”
Moving From Overseas While Pregnant
Finally, near the very end of the second trimester, we received official military orders for our PCS (permanent change of station) back to the U.S.! We had about a month to get everything done, hence why I didn’t have a chance to write this second trimester update. It was absolutely crazy doing all this stuff while getting to be massively pregnant, but hey that’s military life for ya!
The “nesting” instinct did kick in for me in the late second trimester, but I mostly had to ignore it. Instead of setting up house for a new baby, we were packing up everything and moving! (I did start knitting a baby blanket, which helped quell that instinct a little.) In week 27, all our household goods got packed up and shipped, and also our vehicle. Thus our living-out-of-suitcases saga began. We had barely any baby stuff at this time, because I didn’t want to buy a bunch of stuff and then not be able to access it! That has proven to be a good move, because at the time of this writing we are STILL living out of suitcases in a hotel in California.
Prenatal Care and Must-Have Items
I continued with my German prenatal care, which I relished. Having an ultrasound every month was a dream come true! I barely passed the initial glucose tolerance test, but thankfully my doctor didn’t think it necessary to do the second challenge. He continued to monitor my progesterone level and I continued with progesterone suppositories as directed by my NaProTECHNOLOGY OB/GYN back in Texas. I finally had an ideal natural progesterone level near the end of the second trimester, and I stopped taking the medication after we arrived back in the U.S. in late October.
I do have a list of second trimester must-have’s, but I’ll do a separate post on that. (If you’re super curious, you can check out my YouTube video.) Some of them overlap from first trimester must-haves, but there are definitely some new things!
The Rest of the Journey
The second trimester was a whirlwind but also felt drawn-out at times. The third trimester has proven to be similarly busy, yet it feels like it’s flying by. Before we know it, our baby boy will be here! Because I want to document my third trimester from start to finish, I won’t write it until baby is born. However, I will hopefully be more timely about it since I also want to document his birth story!
Thank you all for journeying with us through this pregnancy! It’s so exciting to share not only because I’ve dreamed of this for YEARS, but because pregnancy is such a beautiful thing in itself. I hope that this encourages those of you who are either in the trenches of the first trimester or who are struggling to become pregnant. While I know that not everyone who faces infertility will become pregnant, there IS hope! I would love to share resources with you if you are interested. Leave me a comment below or shoot me an email: malori(at)warriorlifewellness.com