I’m 28 weeks pregnant today which means I’m officially in my third trimester! This pregnancy has absolutely flown by relative to my first. I think it’s in part because I’ve been so much less sick and also because, even though we’re at home all day every day, I’m running around after our first child and there’s just much less time for me to sit around wondering and worrying about every little thing pertaining to pregnancy, labor and delivery, postpartum recovery, life with two under two, etc.
A big focus for me in this chapter of life is learning to focus on what I can control and learning to table the things I can’t. (Can you tell I started therapy when I was in the throes of post-weaning depression?! It’s been the greatest gift to myself.) It’s a constant work in progress, especially in the midst of an ongoing pandemic, but it feels better to say “I don’t know yet” or “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there” when it comes to questions like having family and friends come visit the baby after he’s born, when we’ll all be able to be vaccinated, figuring out how our childcare needs will shift once we have two kids, etc. We just don’t know yet and I’m trying to accept the uncertainty and focus on what I do know vs. try to force things that are out of my control.
In many ways, this gift of perspective is one of the things I’m most looking forward to about having another baby so soon after our first. There are things I know now that I didn’t the first time around: that neither labor nor postpartum recovery lasts forever, that for every “last” there’s an exciting new “first” around the corner, that it’s okay to take it easy and soak up those newborn snuggles guilt-free because before we know it, we’ll be chasing another busy toddler around the house and pining for the days when he’d fall asleep in our arms.
Two Under two
My third trimester with Teddy revolved around moving us into our new house, having carpets ripped out and floors stained, painting every bit of wall and trim I could get my hands on, wallpapering and decorating the nursery, and basically keeping as busy as humanly possible right up until the day he made his debut. Somehow it looks like my third trimester with baby #2 will actually be reasonably similar — we’ve started construction on our hall bathroom remodel, we’re having windows replaced in Teddy’s new bedroom so we won’t be able to paint or start decorating in there for probably another six weeks (leaving us six-ish weeks to get him settled), and we’re embarking on a massive backyard overhaul that will be under construction right through baby #2’s due date. If there’s a way to do nesting without embracing total chaos, clearly I’ve yet to learn it! 🙂
My second trimester wasn’t without its aches and pains (mostly hip and lower back pain, which makes it hard to run around after Teddy! Thank God for heating pads), but in general I feel so fortunate to be experiencing a healthy and hyperemesis-free pregnancy — it is truly night and day from my first and I know I may not be so lucky with future pregnancies so I’m determined to make the most of it! I definitely got some energy back these past few months but still indulged in some naps when I could — I’m working on feeling less guilty about admitting when my body needs a break vs. trying to power through. Between Will working from home, my parents living with us, and hiring a part-time nanny, I really feel like we have an incredible support system going into baby #2’s arrival and I’m so, so, so grateful for our little “village.”
Here are a few highlights from my second trimester. You can see how they compare to my second trimester with Teddy here!
Finding out the baby’s sex: We found out around 10-11 weeks this time (so actually during the first trimester!) and I was and am absolutely over the moon to be having another baby boy. I’m the oldest of four kids and our family is two girls followed by two boys so I love the idea of having two of the same sex back to back and can’t wait for lots of coordinating little boy outfits in the years to come!
Feeling the baby kick: My favorite thing about pregnancy, hands down. Even when it happens in the dead of night when I’d prefer to be sleeping, it is just such a miracle to feel those little kicks and punches and it never gets old!
My bump popping: Everyone said this would happen sooner with baby #2 than it had with our first (which happened at 18-19 weeks), but I think it was closer to 20-21 weeks this time around that I started to look truly pregnant. What did pop much sooner this time was my belly button — I had an outie by my third trimester with Teddy, but that happened way sooner this time around — you can totally see it in the first photo above!
Staying active: Because I was battling daily nausea and vomiting when I was pregnant with Teddy, it was all I could manage to work out once or twice a week during my first pregnancy. This time my mom and I have been aiming for four workouts a week (a combination of Obé Fitness, Melissa Wood Health, and classes on our Myx bike) and even though I’m not doing anything super strenuous, it feels so good just to move my body and feel like I’m going into labor and postpartum feeling as strong as I can both physically and mentally.
(after Teddy hit his head on our coffee table ? new ottoman arriving soon!)
Naming the baby… and then naming him again: I had a name I liked a lot, but it wasn’t high on Will’s list and I really wanted it to feel like a joint decision for something so important, so we spent a lot of the second trimester trying on different names before one night it just came to us and we both just knew. I won’t be sharing until the baby is here, but his first and middle names are family names that I know we will never regret using!
Weight gain: It’s hard to say exactly how much weight I’ve gained so far this pregnancy because I was still breastfeeding Teddy for the first two months and I knew some of the weight I had lost would come back as soon as I stopped breastfeeding. I think I’m up around 20 pounds from my lowest weight while breastfeeding which is pretty similar to my 22 pound weight gain in my second trimester with Teddy. I feel like it’s as much in my boobs and butt as it is in my actual bump! This is another thing I have better perspective on with my second pregnancy — I’m just eating what feels good, moving my body when I’m up to it, and feeling optimistic about getting back into a regular workout routine (both for my physical and mental health) a couple months after the baby is here.
My OB & Me: One of the doctors in my new practice just started a new venture that provides pregnancy resources like candid week-by-week video conversations between Shieva (the OB) and Jenny (her pregnant business partner) as well as access to a private Facebook community of expecting moms, a comprehensive 200-page e-book, and an at-home kit that includes a fetal doppler to listen to baby’s heartbeat at home (very cool when your partner isn’t able to attend office visits due to Covid!). Dr. Ghofrany’s energy is incredible and unbelievably reassuring — I would have killed for access like this as a first-time mom and even more so if I’d been pregnant with Teddy during this time of isolation and quarantine. If you’re expecting and want to learn more, you can browse their various membership offerings here!
More pregnancy posts you might like:
- My first trimester recap with Teddy
- What was on our baby registry with Teddy (reusing all of it for baby #2!)
- A comprehensive maternity jeans review
- My second trimester recap with Teddy
- My third trimester recap with Teddy
- Teddy’s birth story
- My postpartum recovery essentials
- Our nursery reveal
- My first trimester recap with baby #2
