So I totally had plans of writing this blog post recapping my second trimester quite a bit ago, but then our two precious boys decided to surprise us and arrive at only 30 weeks and 4 days! If you missed my post introducing them, you can check that out here. I promise to share their birth story soon! Right now they are still in the NICU and growing!
So instead of this just being a second trimester recap, it is really the rest of my pregnancy recap because I was only in my 3rd trimester for two and a half weeks!
You can read my first trimester recap here.
Weekly(ish) Overview:
Week 13: Thankfully my morning sickness started to really die down to just in the morning, and then in the next week or so I didn’t have any sickness! Around this time I was in the blissful stage of being pregnant but not feeling pregnant!
Week 16: I started to get my energy and gumption back which was so great! Also, I started going back into the office for work (extreme quarantine was letting up). So it really all timed out perfectly!
Week 17: I started to notice how much I was growing. It seemed like daily my stomach was popping out more and more! Also in this time period, my only pregnancy symptoms seemed to be a bloody nose, post nasal drip, and a sore throat.
Week 18: We went in for the anatomy scan. Everything looked good except for a soft spot on baby A’s heart, which is nothing to be concerned about, but can be a marker for Down Syndrome. We ended up getting genetic testing done. The first test came back high risk for DS (1/200 chance) and after a very long and scary few days, the next test came back and we found out we were in the clear! We also got the envelope with the genders inside this week! At 18 weeks and 5 days I felt my first movement. It was not the flutters you hear people talking about, definite hard kicks. Todd was able to feel it too!
Week 19: We found out the gender!!! Todd and I both had dreamed it was two boys, but were pretty sure we were having either a boy and a girl or two girls! We were so shocked! So thankful we have our reactions recorded. I also got some maternity pictures done (all the ones in this post) with Michela Watson Photography, which I am so thankful I did because the ones I had planned later on did not happen because of the boys coming early! You can check out our gender reveal party here.
Week 20: I definitely 100% “popped.” I grew a lot! Also this week we officially decided on our boys names! Arrow was a name we had picked out for a long time, but weren’t sure if we were going to use it until now, and Todd completely came up with Rhodes Judah on his own.
Week 21: I entered the nesting phase. We painted the nursery and worked on finishing our bedroom.
Week 22: Todd got to come to an ultrasound with me (FINALLY!) to see the boys! The boys were in a T position with baby B up across my ribs. So I started experiencing bladder and rib kicks all in one! We also went on our babymoon. This week I started having a hard time putting on shoes, so Todd was the real MVP!
Week 23: I started having Braxton Hicks contractions (which I found very annoying lol). Also, I continued having nose bleeds.
Week 24 I finally bought some baby clothing items. Also, had to pack away my wedding ring and switch for my qalo band. Not because of swelling, but because of weight gain. I also started to grow out of some of my maternity clothes. I also started going to the chiropractor to make sure I stayed in-line.
Week 25-28: I didn’t record much in my journal so I don’t remember much. Pretty much the same: braxton hicks, baby kicks, gaining weight, etc. Although somewhere in this time frame heartburn kicked itself up a notch and Tums became my best friend. Also, around week 28 I started to feel pregnant, not miserable, but definitely would feel it more than I did in the past. I also passed my Gestational Diabetes test, but found out I was slightly anemic so I started taking iron supplements. I also had an appetite of a champ. I realized this when I ate 4 pieces of pizza and I was still hungry!
Week 29: I officially stopped working this week! Also, I took a quick trip to the hospital after having high blood pressure at the docs office. Turns out I just had white coat syndrome and my blood pressure was normal. Also, this is when we started monitoring Baby B’s growth more carefully. Ended up at the doctor about every other day!
Week 30: I started to not be able to get comfortable sometimes, I hated almost all my clothing, and I was easily winded, however I don’t think I ever made it to the miserable phase! I think my feet started to swell a tiny bit this week, but nothing major!
Overall I feel like the pregnancy part itself was pretty easy on me, especially for twins. I had no preterm labor signs, and I was never miserable! I think if both boys would have been getting what they needed inside the womb, I would have probably have made it closer to 38 weeks, but I guess we will never know!
Weight Gain?
I gained a lot of weight especially at the beginning of the 2nd trimester. I would say I gained about 40 lbs. for my whole pregnancy. I was hoping to be around 50lbs if I went full term. (Recommended weight gain is different when you are having twins!)
Weirdest Craving?
Not necessarily weird but my two biggest cravings were Oreo cheesecake blizzards from Dairy Queen and grilled cheeses.
Anything I was completely surprised by?
I did not expect kicks or braxton hicks contractions to feel like they did. Not sure what I expected, but it did surprise me.
Also I didn’t realize my rib cage would expand so much; things that cinched in right under the bust didn’t fit me anymore.
I also tended to gain weight in my actual back (or I’ve heard you can carry towards your back as well, which I think totally could have been the case since I had two babies!). This made me dislike tight pregnancy tops unless they were darker in color.
Also somewhere in the 2nd trimester I went from being told, “WOW how far along are you!? You are going to be big!” To “WOW how far along are you!? You don’t look like you’re carrying two babies!” I don’t know when the switch happened but it was funny to me. I think it was because I showed earlier than most.
Stretch Marks?
Nope! I was actually really surprised (I bet I would have gotten them if I went full term). However, I did get the dark line on my belly.
Must Haves?
Coming in the top spot is my pregnancy pillow. I seriously cannot say enough good things about this. I might still be sleeping with it…
Flowy dresses because I was pregnant when it was in the 90’s most days and I hated pants after about week 17.
A belly band. This smoothed things out…definitely a necessity for thinner dresses.
I continued to take and enjoy my prenatal pills. I also lived on tums towards the end.
Because of my expanding rib cage, these bras were way more comfortable!
When I stopped being able to buckle my shoes, I finally caved and bought a pair of these for easy on and off shoes.
What Items did you purchase for the babies?
I really held off on buying many items. I plan to share my hospital bag & the nursery soon, in which both posts I will share all the special items we bought them there.
However, we have been blessed so much with wonderful friends & family who have bought or given us money to buy so many of our must haves. A few of these items are:
Uppababy Vista 2 Double stroller
Did you work out during the second trimester?
Nope! My job had me on my feet a good bit, so I did quite a bit of walking, but I have heard that in a twin pregnancy your body is working overtime even more, so then need to stay active isn’t as strong. I just wanted to keep the babies in!
How was being pregnant during a pandemic?
Confusing. I found out I was pregnant at the beginning of March and then two weeks later everything went crazy. Once things started to open back up in my second trimester I had a hard time deciding what we should “allow” ourselves to do. Should we go out to a restaurant? Should we have a game night with friends? etc. I will say we loosened up toward the middle of my second trimester but then tightened the reigns towards the end because our fear was getting it and me being in the hospital or Todd not being allowed to be at their births!
Also, there was a bit of sadness over basic “first world problems” as we call them. Todd wasn’t there for my first appointment, or any appointments until I was 22 weeks. Todd & I weren’t able to go out on a bigger babymoon, we didn’t really go on many “last dates” (don’t worry we did still go on some, just wasn’t the same!), our gender reveal and baby shower had to be social distant style. Todd and I didn’t go and register or shop for baby items in a store. Also, I didn’t really see much of my family during my pregnancy because of being in quarantine.
While all of these were things I totally never expected being the norm during my first pregnancy, I totally realize that they are not that big of a deal and so many people had to give up SO much more. So overall I am very thankful!
What did you do to prepare for birth during your second trimester?
I was super worried the whole time about pre-term labor (and good thing I was!) So I tried to do a few things earlier than most pregnancy checklists/books would tell you too. Honestly I would recommend the same if you are having multiples!
Ways I prepared:
-Got my breast pump through insurance
-bought & packed everything for my hospital bag (and bag for Todd!)
– watched online birth classes (although I ended up not using anything we learned! LOL)
-made my registry super early (was done about a week after gender reveal)
-finished reading my week by week pregnancy book early
-made a postpartum kit
-scheduled new born pictures
That about sums up my second trimester and remaining of my pregnancy! Let me know if you have any other questions I didn’t answer!
-Kasey
Photography: Michela Watson Photography
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