19 weeks in Richmond
During the first trimester I was literally counting down the hours between ultrasounds. I was so nervous about miscarriage and so sick that it was hard to be myself. Now that I’m in the second trimester, the time is flying by! I remember scheduling our 20-week ultrasound and thinking: That’s so long from now! And the next thing I knew I didn’t have time to count down days because it was already here!
Both Thomas and I were nervous going into the appointment because they scan all the baby’s major organs and look for anything abnormal. We both let out a huge breath we’d been holding when it looked like everything was healthy. I’m a lot more anxious about things going wrong this time around, and I’m well aware that even if they baby is born healthy, the worry never ends.
Baby B (which stands for Baby Brother, Baby Boy, Baby B versus Baby A) was wiggling around a lot in there. He was in a pike position with his hands shooting out in front of him nearly touching his toes! We weren’t able to get a good profile pic, but look at this leg!
VIDEOS
Some more body pics – he’s measuring nearly 3/4 of a pound in weight. Ultrasounds are crazy!
Symptoms
I’ve been feeling really good in general with one major symptom: the SI joint pain persists. I have now seen a body work specialist, a chiropractor (x3) and gotten a deep tissue prenatal massage. I’m trying all methods! My back doesn’t hurt when I’m still, but if I move after resting in a position for a while, particularly if I move fast, it feels like a knife in my lower back. I get off the couch like an old woman! Sitting criss-cross-apple-sauce is nearly impossible, and every time I roll over at night, I’m in pain. Despite the fact that the pain is sharp and uncomfortable, I’d take back pain over nausea any day. I know there are much worse symptoms.
The chiropractor gave me lots of advice that I didn’t want to hear: take a break from strength class, wear tennis shoes at all times, sleep on my back (ugh!), get a new pillow, wear a belly band all day long. I know she is right, but I’m just feeling so normal otherwise that it’s hard for me to make so many (kind of annoying) changes at once. I took a break from strength class last week, and I’ve been making the other changes day by day. I’m feeling so much better this week.
Interestingly, I don’t remember getting SI joint paint until 25-26 weeks last time, but in my 20 week recap on Baby KERF I wrote that I’d been having trouble with it since 15 weeks. I’m still amazed at how similar my two pregnancies have been thus far. (I even describe the urge to do deep stretches when I wake up in my old post and have been having those same crazy stretching cravings!)
Movements!!
I’ve been feeling something in there since about 15 weeks, but it was all very light and unpredictable. Kind of like someone thumping a bowl of Jello. Right at 20 weeks, I started to feel real kicks and rolls nearly every hour. Thomas was even able to feel one from the outside!! I’m SO happy to be feeling the baby move now, and it’s my favorite part of pregnancy.
Sleep + Hunger
I am starting to edge out of being to sleep on my stomach, and therefore giant pillows have taken over my life. I’m sleeping with a king-size pillow between my legs and up my stomach to lean against. It’s so annoying to have to move it under the covers when I need to roll over! The pillows also make me hot. My chiropractor wants me to sleep on my back as much as I can to avoid twisting my back, so that has been hard too. I feel so vulnerable on my back! Like Mazen might karate chop me in the throat or jump on my stomach in the middle of the night : )
I’ve also had a few nights when I have gone to bed feeling a little bit hungry (but didn’t really have any appetite or I was literally too tired to make a snack) and woke up with insomnia. One night I was awake for an hour before going downstairs and swigging some Gatorade from the fridge and that put me back to sleep.
Overall, I’ve felt really hungry these past few weeks yet I haven’t had much of an appetite. I’ll go from not wanting to eat to being ravenous in a matter of minutes. It’s very odd. I’m trying to eat as mindfully as possible and going my hunger cues, plus making sure meals are adequately sized. Strangely I haven’t been craving sweets very much. (That could be related to warm weather.)
^^ I am so weirded out by how much I can make my shape change by sucking in and pushing out! Bodies are so strange! I love to suck in and then slowly push it all out for Thomas and Mazen – it’s like a pregnancy time lapse!
At 21 weeks, I’m feeling so much rounder. I’m turning ‘pregnant on the sides,’ meaning I can feel my uterus on the sides and I’m feeling more three dimensional instead of one flat plane.
Mazen told me the other day that he and Brother already love each other because they are connected through their brains. I have no idea where this idea came from, but it was the cutest thing he’s said so far! Maybe they are actually communicating already!?
According to Baby KERF I might go through a big growth spurt in the next few weeks. I think I started to look much more pregnant at about 24 weeks last time. I’m anxious to see if I follow the same path this time. Overall, I’m thankful that things have gone smoothly thus far. That is all one could ask for.
The baby’s growing so fast! 🙂 And you’re looking great! 😀
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
You are supposed to sleep on your back after 20 weeks as it can impede blood flow to you and baby….
I’ve been told that’s not really thought to be a big deal and you’d just wake up and move if the vena cava gets compressed.
I can totally relate to the “I’ll take pain over nausea any day” mentality. I had nausea for the first 18 weeks, and chronic rib/back pain from week 21 to now (week 33). But the pain is somehow way easier to handle mentally and physically than the nausea. Hang tight – we got this!
Nausea is the worst!!
I remember feeling so, so frustrated that I couldn’t exercise (or do much moving at all) in the last half of my pregnancy but it actually helped me realize something very important: the restorative power of rest and energy conservation and also trusting that my body would let me know when it was ready to move and exercise again. Postpartum movement (I kept it low key with gentle yoga) felt amazing and truly helped me appreciate what our bodies are able to do and recover from. I know it sucks, but living outside of my routine for those few months really showed me that I can get through anything and find a new normal. Plus it forced me to find new ways of taking care of myself which was a good life lesson! Hope this passes quickly for you and you find a rhythm that works for you until then!
UGH – my SI joint pain was way worse the second time around, too – I guess things are just more loose the 2nd go-round. I used something an SI Joint Belt ( like this – https://www.serola.net/serola-sacroiliac-belt) which actually creates some supportive pressure/tension on your hips. Might be better than a belly band? Good luck!
Thanks!
You are adorable!!!!!! It seems so fun to have a record of how it went last time to compare too! I can not make my tummy suck in like that though, every time I see you on IG doing that I’m like how come I can’t do that?!?!? Lmao of all things right? I can push it out but I can’t suck it in lol I AGREE muscular pains suck especially when they interfere with sleep but it’s nothing compared to the nausea and fatigue of the first trimester or in my case 20 weeks lol omg so glad that’s over! Now im off to call the ob because you reminded me I still have not received my photos from are 20 week scam!
I’m so glad your nausea is over!!
I had horrible SI joint paint with my second pregnancy. As soon as the baby was born it went away – like I could feel it release while laying there on the bed and thought it was the greatest feeling ever even having just had a baby! I guess she was just sitting on it and nothing I ever did to try and relive the pain worked. Unfortunately the pain just might be with you for 20 more weeks 🙁 but I hope you can find something to make it better.
That’s cool you felt it release like that!
SO happy to hear you had an excellent doctor appointment!
Hey Kath! Any words of advice for a first time mom in regards to pregnancy? I’m very early on, about 5 weeks,and can’t help but be anxious every single day regarding a miscarriage. I’m absolutely terrified of it happening and can’t fathom how I’ll be able to make it to my first appointment in mid July!
Congrats!! I know the nerves are high in the beginning. Mine were on high alert, especially after having a miscarriage earlier this year. I found this chart to be somewhat comforting because it tells you what your probability of having a baby is by day. And I tried to think about other things and not stress as much as I could. Best of luck!
Do you think you could be a case of the blood sugar being too low causes stuttering ravenous hunger pains that come and go? Also i had no idea you were a stomach sleeper! I cant sleep on my stomach–it atrains my neck and it just doesn’t feel good.
I remember feeling really hungry in the middle of the night, too, even if I’d have a bedtime snack. I got tired of going to the kitchen at 2:00AM so I started keeping a baggie of Cheerios on my nightstand. To this day (nearly six years after my son was born) my husband and I still joke and laugh about me sitting in the dark eating Cheerios in bed in the middle of the right. 🙂
Also, I had different sort of pain, I think, but if I needed to roll over in bed sitting up, keeping my knees together, and switching sides was less painful then rolling over “log roll style”. Obviously kind of annoying to roll over that way, but worth it to save the jab of pain.
That’s how I have to roll over too. And I might just need a juice box in my nightstand!
SI joint pain can be really annoying and hard to deal with. I saw someone else mention a serola belt, and I know a lot of people who have had a lot of relief with that. I also love this website for ways to help maintain pelvic balance during pregnancy. https://spinningbabies.com/start/in-pregnancy/daily-activities/ Good luck!
Thank you!
Have you considered that you may have SPD? A preach support belt really helped me, along with the right shoes. Deep tissue massage also helped, but I would also be cautious about overworking the joint/muscles/nerve – some aches and pains are just a part of pregnancy and we need the break! My sons are 7 years a part and being pregnant at 29 was so different than being pregnant at 36!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/symptoms-and-solutions/symphysis-pubis-dysfunction/amp
I dont think so because I think my chiropractor would have diagnosed this but I will ask at the next visit. I’m actually way better this week!
A study came out earlier this year on the caution about pregnant women sleeping on their backs, it was notable but small in size…
https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/mothers-sleeping-position-and-risk-of-stillbirth/
Glad the anatomy scan went well! I hope they get a great pic of the heart! Very important.
I had nausea pretty much the entire time of my pregnancy and it was the WORST. I wish I had back pain because that I knew how to handle but alas the back pain came after I was hefting a baby. Hope you can continue feeling okay for the entirety of your pregnancy! I’m loving following you along.
Your caption in the third pic with you pushing your tummy out is hilarious! It’s fascinating that you can make it go that far! Glad to hear everything is going smoothly so far, and you+bump are surrounded by love 🙂
I had terrible insomnia for a while and one tip that stayed with me is that waking in the middle of the night can commonly be caused by low level hunger, especially if dinner was four or more hours before sleeping. I started having a cup of yogurt or spoon of nut butter right before bed and have had a lot fewer middle of the night wake ups
I’m a few weeks ahead of you + am loving your updates. I’m pregnant with my first (a little baby girl!) and am so completely excited. I love sharing in your joy! What a beautiful time.
xo, Sincerely Colleen
Congrats!!