I am officially half way there! And a lot has happened since I was 16 weeks pregnant. My belly has definitely grown, we found out the sex of the baby and I have started to feel movement! Not a lot has changed with symptoms and lifestyle. I still am feeling great and the aversions are still the same. I have noticed however that one of my favorite food categories is now an aversion, Mexican food!
We went out to eat Mexican one night and it triggered the pregnancy nausea all over again. This was not indigestion (luckily I haven’t really had any of that) and definitely not food poisoning, I can tell the difference between just feeling sick and feeling pregnant nauseas. Not only is it an aversion, I just don’t crave it. Before I was pregnant I was craving Mexican food like once or twice a week. Not wanting to eat it should have been a sign not to eat it, but I did anyways and regretted it right away.
Other then this disappointing food aversion my eating habits are still the same, still some meat turn offs here and there and still avoiding cheese like the plague. My workouts have continued as usual, but starting to notice my range of motion is decreasing when trying to do different exercises due to the growing belly. I have also noticed that my muscle has started to make a come back! Something about the second trimester is allowing me to gain back some of the muscle I lost immediately in the first trimester.
My thought process is that in the first trimester the placenta isn’t fully formed so the body is taking on all the work of growing the baby and using every energy source your body can give it. Second trimester rolls around though and the placenta helps to take over growing the baby, so I feel like my body doesn’t have to sacrifice so much allowing me to see some of my muscle come back.
(13 weeks, 16 weeks and 20 weeks)
Other then my lifestyle my belly is rounder and firmer and the baby is moving! I felt the first movements around the end of week 18. I was just laying in bed reading and I felt these bubbles popping over and over in my lower abdomen. It felt like nothing I have ever felt before. As the days went on it was happening every few hours, this is a very active baby! The movements then went from bubbles popping to feeling of something pushing on the inside. It is a crazy feeling, but so cool!
The middle of week 19 we found out the sex…… it’s a girl! I had a feeling it was a girl, I don’t know why, but I just had a gut feeling. Everyone else thought it would be a girl too based on how I am carrying, feeling and looking. She is growing fast too! At 19 weeks the average weight of the baby is 8.5 ounces and she is already at 10 ounces! Later that night after finding out, I was in bed and felt the small movement again then all of a sudden on my left side up more towards my belly button I felt a large bulge push on my hand. She is a mover!
I have gotten to the point where I have started to think about things I have to buy, which is overwhelming. We are having the baby shower in November because December is too crazy with birthdays and the holidays and January feels like it is cutting it too close to get everything ready. I am looking forward to getting the nursery set up though sooner than later.
Changes I am experiencing:
Aversions: CHEESE and Mexican food
Cravings: None
Mood: Feel good
Weight gain: 11lbs total so far
Sleep: If I don’t get 9-10 hours I feel exhausted
Things I eat a lot of right now: Apples, about 2 a day and just food in general. Actually getting tired of eating, it feels like a constant thing.
Other: Hunger! Waking up at 5am starving! Also, abdominal muscle soreness when I laugh and try to sit up, feels like I’ve been doing a million ab exercises.