LIFE

Relief

The second trimester was when I finally started to feel more like myself gain. Around week 18, almost all signs of nausea vanished. I still had and do have pretty extreme food aversions, but I will gladly embrace that over constant vomiting and extreme fatigue.

Really, I just felt so much gratitude flood in with the second trimester. I was more appreciative of my body and that it was growing a tiny soul. This may also have something to do with the fact that I started to see a more pronounced “bump”.

When Sh*t Hit the Fan

I’m definitely always trying to become a more positive person, since I’m naturally much more pessimistic. BUT, I would feel disingenuous if I didn’t address the struggles that came with being pregnant and the changes that occurred during Covid.

It was not and still is not all rainbows and butterflies, and that’s OK. There are millions of people in the world with bigger and much worse issues.

Being pregnant during the pandemic limited time with loved ones and threw lots of curve balls. For example, I was about to sign an offer letter for an awesome new job when the next day the state shut down, and the position was cancelled. James thankfully was able to keep his job and work from home. So far we have learned to adjust and have been hanging in there with the support of loved ones.

Skyping and more frequent calls with family have become much more regular and I hope they stick around. New recipes made their way into my repertoire and I found a I found a new appreciation for my flower and veggie garden. We ate radishes for days and enjoyed watching the poppies and ranunculus bloom.

Keeping a mindful grip on reality was key for my sanity and always started with taking a few slow minutes in the morning.

Keeping Busy

Occupying our minds was key for the second trimester of pregnancy. Since Simon will be our first child, we spent a lot of time learning all things baby. Here are some of the things we did to keep busy:

• Birthing Class- We took an online birthing class provided by our hospital since the in-person classes were cancelled. I hope one day we can look back and laugh at what a strange thing it is to practice labor breathing exercises with total strangers over a video chat.
• Bouquet and Veggie Garden- James built us two raised beds in our backyard where we grew our first cut flower and veggie patches. I do not have much of a green thumb, but I came to love visiting with the plants every morning and evening, and figuring out what they needed. We already have our fall planting season all planned out.
• Crafting- I’ve always been into crafting, so that’s naturally how I spent a little of our new free time. Between job hunting and worrying about whether I’d be a good mom, I snuck in a couple DIY’s for Simon’s nursery. I participated in the One Room Challenge for the design and build out process of the nursery.

The second trimester was a real treat and a curve ball at the same time. While our new babe isn’t here yet, I felt like I learned a ton about being a parent and I grew as a person. James and I navigated through circumstances that we never fathomed would happened, but we were in it with the rest of the world!

You can check out my first trimester post here and stay up to date with all our daily posts here!