Pregnancy: My second trimester

Hey Friends,

Today I am planning to share my second trimester pregnancy experineces with you guys (for starters, I have shared my first trimester pregnancy experiences here). I know it is a bit late in the day for this, but I never found enough time to go through my medical file and find the requisite information.

This weekend I made that effort, and I am sharing this with all of you, the new moms to be and their families. So, to begin with the second trimester was a breeze compared to the first. I felt better (no more morning or evening sickness, as was the case with me). I felt fit and energetic, even though my tummy wasn't showing much at the beginning of the fourth month, it progressed slowly.

This was time for celebration, as we told all our near and dear ones, who showered us with their blessing and loads of advices. Th eone advice which I followed diligently throuout my pregnancy was drinking atleast one glass of cocunut water everyday. I later learned that it helps with UTIs and also keeps the potassium levels in the body balanaced. Coconut water is also good during the summer months as it prevents heat stroke.

If you are working woman, you should tell your boss or supervisor as well as your collegues during this time, I did this when I started my fifth month. Firstly because it had started showing and secondly I wanted to know about the company policies related to maternity per se. I would like to take this oppurtunity to thank all my collegues and bosses, who helped me and supported me during this phase.

On the medical front, as soon as I entered the fourth month, suddenly my gynae became active. She prescribed some blood tests, which monitor the signs of down's syndrome in the growing fetus along with corresponding blood tests. Also, we went for ultrasounds to monitor the growth of the baby. Both tests were normal for me and the baby was progressing happily. My gynae also prepared a diet chart for me and advised me oral iron and calcium tablets, which I was supposed to take for the next whole year (I found this out later). Thankfully, I didn't have any adverse reactions to iron and I could take them easily. Many women are unable to do this as their body doesn't accept iron in oral form. They have to get it intravenously under these circumstances. She also advised me against eating out and warned me to eat outside food after microwaving it. 

This was also the time, when I started shopping for the coming baby. I got lots of jumpsuits, as my baby was due in August, some cute pajamas and both me and mom-in law started making lots of old cloth nappies for the baby (but we shifted to diapers after the initial 40 days, and the baby managed without rashes, for more on this read here). Got myself new clothes for office wear to last me the coming months.

Also, I began noticing a very peculiar thing, I started craving spicy food, easpecially I started consuming lots of green chilies (even though I couldn't eat these many before) and especially green chutney with lots of green chilies. My husband had to bear the brunt of my cooking, even though he likes his curries hot, I was making food with exceptional quantities of chilies.

Apart from this, my aversion to chemical smeels in personal care products persisted and I could only wait for the aversion to end. In a way I was happy as I got to know about so many natural personal care products and brands, which were actually natural as my body didn't have any aversion to them. Will do a deatiled post about the brands which I was able to use soon.

All in all, I had a very happy second trimester and I could eat anything without guilt and enjoy life to the fullest. Best time for shopping and enjoying!! So, if you are in your first trimester get ready for a nice phase in your pregnancy and if you are in the second enjoy it 'cause the next trimester could jump in some surprises at you.

Take care...