And just like that, I’m in the last month of my second trimester! I’ve got to say, the second trimester has been altogether pretty lovely. Aside from hurting my back while I was in the USA and a few other niggles here and there, the last few months have been pretty breezy. So what happened in weeks 25-27? Let me fill you in…
Bumpdate: Weeks 25-27
At the start of the month, Ben and I booked a spontaneous little getaway to Victoria’s spa country, which is about 90 minutes from Melbourne. It’s the most lovely spot for a weekend trip – think rolling green hills, mineral springs and cosy little restaurants. A sweet friend had gifted us a voucher to incredible Du Fermier for our wedding so it was the perfect excuse to get out of town for a couple of days.
But I made a bit of a silly mistake… I didn’t bring my pregnancy pillow! Worst decision ever. I had actually planned to bring it but decided at the last minute I was being ridiculous. Surely, I’d be fine without it. You would totally laugh if you actually saw the size of this pillow. Even I’ll admit that it’s kind of ridiculous. BUT it’s also one of the best pregnancy purchases I’ve made and has made it possible to actually get some sleep (a lot harder than you think in pregnancy). So after tossing and turning for hours trying to get comfortable without my pillow, at 2am I dragged myself off to the couch. Lesson learned – that pillow is coming everywhere with me from now on!
Come week 26, it was time to head back to the hospital for the glucose tolerance test. You hear so many people say that this test is awful but honestly it’s not as bad as most people make out (well, for me anyway). At 7:30am I had my first blood test and was then given the glucose drink, which I had to down in five minutes. It was sickly sweet yes, but to me just tasted like sweet cordial. I then had another blood test an hour later and then one final one an hour after that. So three jabs in total. I felt a bit shaky, washed out and ravenous for the rest of the day but aside from that it was totally fine.
I also had a midwife appointment scheduled in between the blood tests which was convenient. I got to see one of the midwives on my team (I’m going through the MIST program at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne). She was just so lovely, warm and friendly and exactly the kind of person I would feel totally comfortable with during the birth. I think there are 5-8 midwives on my team so I’m excited to meet the others in my coming appointments.
This appointment was just a general check up really. She listened to the baby’s heartbeat (I’ll never get over how good this sounds) and measured my tummy. She felt for the baby’s position but it was all curled up on one side so she couldn’t quite tell which bit was what just yet. Hopefully at my next appointment the baby will be more co-operative and they’ll be able to tell me if it’s head down yet. The midwife also booked the rest of my appointments leading up to my due date so it’s good to have all those locked in. I’ll be going in every three weeks until I reach 36 weeks and then it’s a little more frequent.
The other thing I’m really happy about is that my blood pressure is still totally normal and healthy. If you remember, I’d tested high-risk to pre-eclampsia and so needed to carefully monitor it in case it started to rise. I’ve been on a low-dose aspirin, magnesium and calcium supplements since I found out and so far so good. I’m really relieved I’ve made it to the end of the second trimester without anything developing. Now, fingers crossed it stays that way.
26 week bump
Time seems to just be flying by at the moment. I don’t know whether it’s just a second trimester thing? The first trimester dragged on and on but now I feel like the weeks are going by in a blink. Ben and I definitely wanted to go away for a babymoon (our last holiday just the two of us and all) but I suddenly realised that time was running out. I didn’t want to leave it too long and be a total pregasaurus but we just had so much going on that we literally couldn’t find a spare week to go until late August. I’ll be 33 weeks pregnant by then so I’m sure the waddle game will be strong!
Then we were trying to decide where to go… We wanted to stay within Australia but definitely head somewhere warm to escape the Melbourne winter. We toyed with the idea of going up to Noosa or the Whitsundays but ultimately couldn’t resist booking our babymoon in Port Douglas. I honestly just wanted to go back to the Sheraton, lie by the huge pools all day, sun the bump and order mocktails on repeat. Pure bliss. I’m on the countdown already.
Symptom-wise, this month has been pretty good to me. The only thing I can really complain of is my sore hips. At night I’ve been struggling with aching hips from lying on my side. I’m not sure if it’s because all my weight is pushing down on one point or whether it’s just my ligaments stretching, but my hips feel so bruised while I’m trying to sleep. They’re totally fine during the day and don’t bother me, it’s just at night they get sore. I went back to my physio about it and she (painfully!) worked on it, making it feel a bit better. I’m trying to do lots of stretches, hip openers and gentle strengthening exercises to help it too.
Aside from that, I keep waiting for more uncomfortable symptoms to pop up because is it really this normal to feel so good? Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining one bit! I’ve tried to stay pretty active with weekly prenatal yoga, weights sessions as well as daily walks of a couple of kilometres. I’ve also been swimming a couple of times and it feels amazing to be so weightless in the water. I’ll definitely be doing more of that as I get heavier.
So what did I read this month? Well, after our hypnobirthing course last month, I dove into the accompanying book the program is based on: Mindful Hypnobirthing. I found it to be much more practical than the previous hynobirthing book I’d read, Hypnobirthing: The Mongan Method, which was more philosophical in nature. After I finished it, I started regularly listening to the MP3 tracks to prepare (more on that soon!). I also read The Happiest Baby on the Block, which is all about the missing fourth trimester and how recreating the womb environment helps keep babies calmer. It was a super interesting read and makes total, complete sense.
Other than that, we’ve slowly been getting the nursery set up, which I am loving. We’ve hung the first pieces of art on the walls, started organising the drawers and are busy collecting all the little bits and pieces that will go inside. It’s my favourite room in the house and I love spending time in there.
And that’s it for weeks 25-27! I can’t quite believe that the next bumpdate will be about the start of the third trimester! Woah.
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