Congratulations on your pregnancy! Each life is a miracle, and each pregnancy brings its exciting moments and challenges. The first trimester is full of wonder and joy, mixed with some morning sickness (or in some cases, A LOT of morning sickness!) The third trimester is usually filled with feelings of anticipation, more excitement, more sickness, feeling so large, and rushing around to do last minute jobs.
So what exactly happens in the second trimester? Many women report feeling the best in their second trimester, but it can seem kind of long while you await your precious gift. This post will give you a few ideas about habits and things you can do when you start your second trimester.
Fill Your Brain with Baby Knowledge
There are so many great topics to read as you prepare for what’s ahead. You could learn about baby development in the womb, as a baby, and past infancy. You could read books on parenting and stories from others. And you can research baby gear. You have more time on your hands than you will in just a few short months, so now is an excellent time to learn about any and all baby related things.
Build Good Habits
This is one of my top pieces of advice because of its weighty importance. You will never have all your time to yourself again (or if you already have kids, you still have more time now than you will when the baby is born).
Now is the time to build the good habits that you have wanted to for some time now. For example, if you’ve always been late to appointments/work/everywhere and have been thinking you want to improve in that area, NOW is the time to work on being more timely. Work on becoming the version of you that you want your children to see. Of course, you will never be perfect and will always have room to grow, but if you feel like you could build better habits, now is the best time.
Start Hobbies
Now is the time to do any of those hobbies that you’ve wanted to do but been holding off on(unless it’s dangerous to the baby). If you’ve been wanting to finish a scrapbook leftover from your wedding, finish it now. If you love to crochet and haven’t had the time to do it, do it now…because you are way less likely to do it later.
I’m not saying you don’t have time to do any of your hobbies with a baby, but it will be much more challenging to find the time. Once the baby is born and he/she closes those innocent little eyes, you have the option to sleep (you really need to, at least the first month), or cook, or clean, or shower, or run errands, or exercise, or eat, or do anything commitment related. It’s hard sometimes to decide how to spend the nap time when there is so much to do, especially if your baby doesn’t sleep very long. So for me, my hobbies aren’t a priority right now, and I am perfectly okay with that. But if you have any hobbies you are dying to try, now is the time.
Spend Time with Your Partner
One of the phrases my husband and I heard most while I was pregnant was “your life is really about to change!” We always thought that was such a weird phrase because we became pregnant knowing what having a baby would mean and in the hopes that it would change. People mean well when they say it, and it is true, your life does change.
One of the ways it changes is the time you spend with your significant other. Not only is there less time with a baby, but you will have another person whom you think about all the time and want to talk about. So it’s possible that when the baby comes, you forget how to have fun alone and rely on talking about the baby or bringing the baby along to have fun.
So, this is an excellent time to spend a lot of time with your partner to continue to strengthen your relationship. Do things both of you like to do and perhaps even make a plan on how you will spend time together once the baby arrives. Talk about things besides baby topics and nurture your friendship.
Prepare Your House
The “nesting” stage is a real and very natural stage pregnant women experience to prepare their house for the baby. Use this time in your second trimester to deep clean your house, decorate the nursery, organize, and even babyproof if you are feeling motivated. It is much easier to prepare your home when your baby bump isn’t preventing you from getting around.
It can also be helpful to prepare other things that are coming up, such as making up a baby shower guest list, buying thank you cards to send after the baby shower, or anything else you think might be hard to complete in the third trimester. If the Christmas season is occurring during your third trimester, I suggest finishing some of those holiday tasks now before you have less energy and motivation to.
Rest! Rest! Rest!
I don’t think I can emphasize this tip enough. If this is your first baby, take advantage of the time you have just to rest. Seriously. I know you probably hear that a lot, but it’s because your body NEEDS to rest! You are growing a human and it takes a lot out of you. During the second trimester of my first pregnancy, I had a cold five times, had a kidney stone, and was in a minor car accident.
I also started having heartburn/acid reflux (that increased during the third trimester). My body needed to rest and I was so thankful that I could. Besides physical rest, you need to mentally and emotionally rest before the baby comes. It is not going to do anyone any good if you are too overwhelmed during and after your pregnancy.
Exercise
You might have hoped you would read a pregnancy post that didn’t include exercise, but no such luck. It is essential. Now is the time to build the priority of exercising, even when you feel tired, so that you continue to exercise after the baby is born. By exercising during pregnancy, you will help to decrease your aches and pains, boost your mood, and many other beneficial things. I know it can be hard to get the energy or motivation to work out, but you will be so glad you did in the long run.
Enjoy Your Pregnancy!
This might be easier said than done, especially if you still have morning sickness. Nine months is a long time to feel sick, and the feeling to hurl at everything you eat gets really old, really fast. But in the grand scheme of your life, this pregnancy is short.
Enjoy the things that happen only while you are pregnant, like feeling the baby move. Someday your child will be old and not like the constant closeness with you, so soak it up now! Communicate and bond with your baby by talking, singing, or reading out loud.
Write letters to your baby letting him/her know how excited you are, what has been happening, or dreams you have of your future together. Play games with your baby and encourage him/her to kick in response. Have fun choosing baby names and decorating the nursery, both of which can become tiring and annoying. Don’t forget to include your partner in all the fun!
The second trimester may be your favorite season of your pregnancy yet, or it may just drag on and on. Take this time to enjoy each change that comes only with pregnancy, prepare, prepare, and prepare some more, and complete anything you may not have time for later. Because before you know it, your little one is going to be entering this world and life will never be the same.
