Yes, I’m a bit late with talking about my second trimester. (Anyone else noticing my procrastination issues?)

For my excuses today we’re going to combine the standard “busy” line along with the fact that my second trimester was rather easy for the most part.

There’s a lot of different opinions on exactly when each trimester begins and ends. I’m going to call my second trimester 13 weeks to 27 weeks and 6 days. Why? Because I found a nifty little calendar that says so, and it simplifies things. For those wondering: I’m currently 32 weeks and 5 days, I told you I was behind schedule!

One of the most noticeable second trimester events was the change in my size. I’m going to forgo talking about weight gain right now, I promise you’ll get the details at some point.

Here I am at 13 weeks exactly with the beginnings of my baby bump.

Here I am at 27 weeks exactly.

Yes, I’m technically missing the last 6 days of the trimester.

I have some slightly more consistently posed progress pictures for a later post. For now, we’re going to go with a couple of my (increasingly frequent) mirror cell phone selfies. Classy, I know.

A few other significant things took place in the second trimester too.

My favorite? Movement. I mentioned this in my 20 week update, but it was such a huge part of the second trimester I’m going to need to go over it again. There is a tiny human kicking and rolling and preforming all sorts of acrobatic nonsense inside me. And, it is my favorite thing in the whole world. The little dude started early, gracing me with my first tiny kicks around the 16 weeks mark. It’s continued to get better and better. By the end of the second trimester some of his moves were big enough to be seen, not just felt, from the outside. Seeing my belly wiggle was equally amazing and creepy, I told Casey it reminded me of the movie Alien. It still does. Baby doodle also decided it was alright for Casey to feel him kick and wiggle. Other people? Not so much. I spent plenty of time during the second trimester just hanging out enjoying him moving around in there. He is one very active baby.

My least favorite? A trip to the emergency room for bleeding. I’ve read a thousand times that light bleeding is perfectly normal in pregnancy. Did this stop me from totally losing my shit when I saw blood on the toilet paper after peeing? Of course not. I was able to calm down after the first blood sighting. And the second. And the third, after a discussion with my midwife. During my call to the midwife I was told to hydrate (which I had already been doing, it’s my first line of defense for every pregnancy issue) and rest, and to call her if I started cramping or the bleeding increased. I made it to the next day, and what happens? I’m cramping, and my light bleeding turned into bleeding along with dime size clots. I immediately called the midwife and was told to head to the emergency room to check things out.

I was not happy with the doctor there, who pretty much told me because the blood wasn’t soaking through my pants there was nothing to worry about. Which was not the ideal thing to say to the worried pregnant lady. Especially not after using the word miscarriage over 10 times in a single conversation. Ass-hat. They checked the heartbeat, which was strong and perfect, and denied me an ultrasound. I was sent home with an antibiotic prescription for a bladder infection I might have, and told to come back when my pants were soaked in blood.

My lovely midwife was able to see me the next day and confirmed with an ultrasound that everything was just fine. We discussed the antibiotics, and I decided to not take them for a maybe situation. Which was a good decision, I received a call from the hospital at some point, saying that I didn’t have a bladder infection, that the results were because they contaminated my sample.

Blood scare summary: my midwife was fantastic, the hospital sucked, and everything was fine with both baby and I in the end. I never did get a reason for the bleeding other than “it happens sometimes.”

Other less than fantastic parts of the second trimester:

Rib Pain

Heartburn

Headaches

More highlights of the second trimester:

No more morning sickness!

The ability to enjoy food

Way more energy

Watching myself get bigger

The first stranger asking about my due date

The anatomy scan and confirming the gender

Creating my baby registry

I understand why so many people say that the second trimester is their favorite part of pregnancy. I’m not going to comment on that yet, I still have a trimester to go! But, the second trimester really was wonderful.

Now, in the third trimester, it’s a mad dash to get everything ready for this baby! We’re busting ass working on the house, acquiring baby items, and trying to learn more about labor, birth, and newborn care. Ready or not, this baby is going to be here soon.