Second Trimester.
My 2nd Trimester has been great! My hormones started to level out and my body was finally understanding it was pregnant. My headaches were gone! Praise!
I’m going to be using weeks to explain when I was having which symptoms. A full term pregnancy is 40 weeks.
Bump
By week 15, I started to feel a baby bump! I loved it! During my first trimester, I felt like crap and wasn’t showing. I had no reminder that yes I am pregnant and there’s a little one coming. I still wasn’t at a point where anyone could tell I was pregnant, but I could! It was different than I expected, I had a small round ball on my belly. It was most noticeable in the morning while laying in bed. It wasn’t like my whole tummy was expanding yet.
Sleep
My hips and back started to cause me some pain around week 16, it started to effect my sleep. I would toss and turn all night. Since my bump was still small, I could still somewhat sleep on my belly. My doctor told me I should not sleep on my back. It has taken some adjusting. Some nights I would wake up in a panic, not sure how long I had been on my back.
Sleeping on your back while pregnant could put pressure on certain arteries that could decrease blood flow to the baby. So yes! I would stress out about sleeping! Some women love pregnancy pillows. I tried one out. It was a bit overwhelming for me, so I’ve opted to using a small throw pillow to make sure I don’t roll all the way on my back.
Gender Reveal
Around week 13, our ultrasound technician told us that she would be able to give us her guess of the gender of the baby. It would only be 60% for sure! I was ready to go for it and Garrett said “No, we have to wait until it’s 100%!” haha I was sad, but I did understand. We scheduled our appointment for our Anatomy Scan at week 19. It happened to fall on New Years Eve. An anatomy scan is longer than a normal ultrasound. Every single inch or more like centimeter is checked on the baby. Spine, brain, length of arms, toes, fingers, everything! We went into our appointment excited and so nervous. The ultrasound technician waited until the very end to tell us we were expecting a baby GIRL!
Okay so I am going to be honest. Garrett and I were wanting a boy first. This was a quick lesson that we aren’t in control and God gives us want we need, not what we want. It took us a few days to process , but that happens when you build expectations you have no control over! Anyway, we are SO over the moon about having a baby girl! I cannot wait to see Garrett with a daughter. Ugh, my heart is going to melt over and over again. Oh! and her name is Lyla Rose Mehrguth.
Heart Spot
At our anatomy scan we didn’t only find out we were having a girl, we also found out that she had a little spot on her heart. The doctor did a phenomenal good of not freaking me out when she told me. She explained that a spot on the heart has actually became very normal. A spot on the heart has recently been found in lots babies before birth. They are born healthy and go on live perfectly healthy lives. The doctor even told me both her babies have a spot on their hearts and they are living great lives. This all definitely helped me stay calm, but I was still scared. I had no idea what was happening. I didn’t fully understand what the spot meant and now I had to call Garrett and tell him without freaking him out!
I did the unthinkable and went to Google and did some research. Yes, I know this is the last thing you should ever do, but actually turn out great! I read that the parents that had experienced the same had babies that were perfectly fine. Some of the babies even had the spot disappear after a few weeks!
A spot on on a baby’s heart is one of the hundreds of markers for down syndrome. This is what made it scary for soon to be parents.
The doctor let us know she was not concerned at all. Especially since everything else on the ultrasound looked great! But she did say we could run some extra tests if we would like. Earlier in my pregnancy, Garrett and I had decided not do any genetic testing. We wanted to spend the rest of my pregnancy enjoying every second. We didn't want to spend the 2nd half of my pregnancy worrying. When we found out about the spot on her heart, we did go ahead and moved forward with genetic testing and another ultrasound.
Genetic Testing
The day after we found out of Lyla’s spot, I had to get some blood drawn for the genetic testing we wanted to get done. This was actually the last day I could do it, because it needed to be done before my 20 week mark. The blood work is sent to the state for testing so it takes some time to get the results. About 2 weeks later, I got a call from our doctor’s office. My heart raced as I picked up the phone, but it was all good news and everything came back completely normal.
Heart Palpitations
Around week 20, I started to notice what felt like my heart was either skipping a beat or speeding up out of no where. It would only last a couple seconds, but it would catch my breath and scare me. I asked my doctor about it. She said they were heart palpitations and completely normal while pregnant. She encouraged me to stay as hydrated possible.
Baby Kicks
Now as I look back I probably started feeling baby girl about week 16, but I wasn’t positive it was her. Around week 21 I knew without a doubt her little feet were kicking me. Baby movements have been one of my favorite things! At first I would only feel her if I was laying down, but as she kept growing I started feeling her all the time. She’s super active!
Weight Gain
My doctor has been pretty intense about making sure I was not gaining too much weight. I know this may not sound good to everyone. I have loved it because she holds me accountable and helps me stay focused. She made me aware that any weight gained in the first 20 weeks is much harder to get off after baby arrives than weight gained in the last 20 weeks. The day I found out I was pregnant I was weighing 139 lbs. Even though I didn’t workout much in my first trimester, I wasn’t eating much so I ended up losing 7 lbs.
Right around week 20, I had gained a little weight and was weighing 137 lbs. I hadn’t reached my original weight yet, I started to gain some weight after week 20. By the end of my 2nd trimester (week 27) I weighed 146 lbs.
With all that said, this is my pregnancy journey with weight gain. Everyone’s body is SO different. Every pregnancy is SO different. And every woman’s body is perfect no matter what stage of motherhood you are at!
Working Out
Once my headaches were gone I felt so much better! Better enough to start working out. I started slow, only once a week, built to two, three, four, and finally five days a week. I go to Burn BootCamp in Costa Mesa and it’s definitely a community of fit moms. I was going to this gym a few months before I got pregnant so my doctor was totally okay with me continuing there. The doctor actually begged me to workout out throughout my pregnancy. She said there’s a huge difference between the women who workout and those who don’t. When it comes to labor time, delivery, and recovery working out helps. I was willing to take whatever I can get, so I made my goal to start to push myself when I was feeling good. If I ever had pain or didn’t feel well, I would stop or modify. Not only the coaches, but the other athletes at Burn Boot Camp have been amazing and so encouraging. There’s some moms about to pop and they are killing their workouts!
Heart Ultrasound
We got great news in regards to the genetic testing, but now it was time to take a closer look at her heart. We were sent to a specialist for the heart ultrasound. I was called in right away and the technician started to take a look before the doctor came in. She was able to confirm baby was indeed a GIRL! haha I asked her to check, I wanted to be sure! Moving on, Lyla didn’t want to get into the right position to see her heart. I didn’t mind, I loved watching her move around on the screen. After an hour and a half of moving around and trying out different angles, the doctor said he was no longer able to see the spot! He couldn’t deny it was never there because sometimes they do go away. What a relief! And how good is our God?!
Glucose Test
Around week 24, every pregnant woman has to do what’s called a glucose test. This is to see if the woman has developed diabetes during her pregnancy. Also how her body is processing sugar. I went into a Quest Diagnostics. I got my blood drawn then was given an extremely sweet drink. I had about 5 minutes to drink it. I definitely have a sweet tooth, but this drink was so sweet it made me a bit nauseas. An hour later I had my blood drawn and then again an hour later. I was there about 2.5 hours. Glucose tests are done by the state so it takes longer to receive the results. 2 weeks later, I got a call from the doctors office. I hadn’t developed gestational diabetes, which was great news!
Lower Abdominal Pain
Around week 26, right at the end of my 2nd trimester, I started to have pretty severe lower abdominal pain. It felt as if Lyla was really low. I was worried she was trying to come out. The pain got worse so I decided to give the doctor a call. I already had my check up appointment scheduled, but they decided to have me come in a few days early just to make sure. The doctor smiled and said it was completely normal. It’s possible Lyla had a bigger growth spurt than normal and my body wasn’t ready for it. My lower abdomen was having a hard time carrying her. All the muscles and ligaments in that area were under lots of pressure. She suggested a support band. I bought a cheap one on amazon for about $10 and wear it as much as possible, especially during my workouts!
Third Trimester here I come!
