First Time Mom - Second Trimester

This post will be a little different than others, but it's about the newest stage of my life and I want you all to follow along on this journey! This post was originally written for The Lake Country Mom blog, but I want my followers to be able to see it as well. 

Picking up where I left off in my last post about my first pregnancy, I have completed my second trimester and Baby A is only a few short weeks away from arriving. But I wouldn’t have made it through this second trimester without all of the support and love from family and friends. My husband and I have dubbed this time frame the “helpful trimester.”

My husband and I aren’t big on New Year’s resolutions, but knew we needed to get a plan in place to make sure we were prepared for Baby A’s arrival. It was only fitting with the timing, that we created this plan right around January 1. We broke the list down by months until the arrival and gave ourselves work to complete in each of those months without overwhelming ourselves or family if they were able to help.

Our first task was the relocation of bedrooms for the girls so the nursery would be on the main floor. Violet was a little hesitant to move downstairs to the toy room, but we sold her on all the perks and she quickly turned around. Sam would be taking over her sister’s room because it was a little larger, and the nursery would be Sam’s old room.

Before we could move anyone, we had to consolidate the contents of the toy room downstairs into our office/workout room. It has since become the catch-all room that will be sorted out after we are settle with the baby. We also knew painting was going to be a big task, but it was even bigger than we realized. The previous owners had some very bold paint colors for some of the rooms in the house. The toy room had fire engine red walls, ceiling, and even the closet. And Violet’s room had four bold colored walls – pink, blue, green, and purple. My husband and I tackled the priming of the toy room together (two coats) and my father and husband painted it Violet’s color of choice, a light pink/purple. Both of my parents helped move all of her belongings into her room and we were able to surprise her with the completed project.

Sam’s new room also needed primer before painting and my parents again stepped in and helped out on this so I wasn’t the one painting. Sam’s room is now a gorgeous turquoise – think ’57 Chevy. The girls and their dad were able to move her furniture across the hall into the new room and set it up just how she wanted it.

With those large tasks out of the way, we could focus setting up the nursery. The theme of the nursery is planes, trains, and trucks, but more vintage than modern. Of course I found some amazing ideas on Pinterest that I wanted completed for the nursery, and my father-in-law and husband were able to make one of those happen and built a project together on a weekend.

I found a crib and dresser on an amazing deal and my parents are helping refinish part of the dresser. My brother and sister-in-law have been saving their baby items for when I finally had my baby and we received so many things from them, we will need to do two trips to get it all. And I received a complete maternity wardrobe from my sister-in-law. I can’t even begin to figure out how much money this has saved me. Old friends and new are also offering us items and borrowing us things that they have for our little guy and we are so unbelievably grateful for all the support and help we have received. I can’t say it enough--it really does take a village to raise a little one.

As for the second trimester for me growing my little boy, it had a few ups and downs. I had one really scary day where pain came out of nowhere very quick and fast and kept increasing in intensity. I wasn’t sure if it was contractions or not, and so my doctor’s office, Moreland OB-GYN, told me to come in right away. It was confirmed that I wasn’t having contractions and after hearing my baby’s strong, steady heartbeat, my husband and I were put at ease. Though I didn’t get a confirmation as to the exact source of the pain, and sometimes there is just undiagnosed pains in pregnancy, it was considered to be from over-doing it with the painting and moving that caused my pain. The pain subsided after I took two days of bed rest, but it was extremely scary. They definitely don’t tell you about all the things that happen to your body in all the books you read, but I rely on my Dr. office and my friends who have been pregnant to help me decipher what is a concern and what is normal, but not necessarily comfortable.

My emotions are mostly up and I find myself smiling, laughing, and more energize most days. But don’t let me watch any show with animals where they can be in any sort of distress or I will be a weeping puddle of tears. Animals have always pulled at my heart, but it seems that has intensified.

I don’t have any crazy cravings, just mainly drawn to sweets over savory items but I’ll eat just about anything that I can 😊 I have no food aversions and have been doing a decent job of making sure I am covering all the necessary food groups and caloric intakes asked of me by my doctor to have a very healthy baby boy. I do miss lunch meat and sushi and can’t wait to have it after Baby A arrives. The last second trimester ultrasound showed that he was in the 55 percentile and about a week ahead in size. This is the time the doctor said you don’t want an overachiever and average is great.

I have been seeing my doctor every two weeks and have been for a lot longer than a typical pregnancy. I am at an advanced age for being pregnant at 37 years old. And because of my struggles getting pregnant and miscarrying, they are watching me extra close.

Second trimester means that you are finally feeling the baby move and it took me a little longer than some to understand kicks from what feels like bubbles in your belly at first. But now he is a kicking machine and right at the end of my second trimester, my husband was finally able to feel the kicks for the first time. It’s a very cool feeling and brings reassurance that he is strong and that he is there.

As I close in on the end of my pregnancy, I plan to share on my third trimester and the arrival of Baby A with all of you. He will be here before I know it, and my life will be changed forever. I can’t wait to finally meet my little boy who has already stolen my heart.