How should I feel in the Second Trimester of Pregnancy? - Part 1

Continuing this (hopefully helpful) series of how I felt during my pregnancy, week by week, I’m now going to cover what was happening during the second trimester. (If you missed the first trimester, catch-up here). The first trimester was over in a flash – you often don’t know you’re pregnant until week 6 or 7, then you’re anxious about miscarriage and whether you’ll make it to the first scan…and then telling people!

So when I reached the second trimester, I started to document week by week as changes were occurring thick and fast…

How should I feel in the Second Trimester?

Week 12

Week 12 was my favourite week so far in my pregnancy, mainly because we’d had our first scan so I was able to relax and I felt like we’d reached our first proper milestone. We were entering the second trimester…ooooh…

I was starting to feel more human again. My energy levels were slowly increasing and I wasn’t needing to sleep as soon as I got home from work anymore. Naps on weekends reduced too. My appetite was starting to return and as long as I ate regularly, the sickness seemed to be at bay. I was eating larger portions now too and finishing my plate of food for the first time in weeks.

What I would say is that I noticed that I really did need to eat regularly. If I skipped a meal or lunch was delayed, I really struggled. I mean I crashed quite significantly…my energy levels would deplete, I’d feel sick, queasy and low in sugar. The good thing was I had told my boss and some colleagues by now (as we’d had our first scan) and I was able to be honest about needing regular breaks and a proper lunch.

Headaches kicked in during week 12 of my pregnancy too. I read that this is due to hormones, but probably due to blood sugar levels too (another reason to keep grazing on food). As you’re only allowed to take paracetamol when pregnant, it was sometimes a struggle to shake the headaches and I’d have them all evening until I went to sleep. Not fun.

Physically, I was feeling the occasional twinge in my lower abdomen, almost a bit like a pulled muscle (but not as painful) and my lower back was starting to ache more regularly. Luckily my work are fab and had a special “pregnancy chair” that they rolled-out for me, which gave extra support and comfort while sitting at my desk. I tried to make sure I went for a walk at lunch time too, just to remain supple and try to feel like I’d got at least a bit of exercise.

Week 12 was when I noticed my jeans feeling snug and I wasn’t able to do up my top button, so I got my first pair of maternity jeans and lived in leggings the rest of the time.

When I was 12 + 5 days pregnant, we had our 2nd dating scan (as we were only 11 weeks when we had our first and they couldn’t do all the checks they wanted to), which was far more relaxed than the first and meant we got to meet our little bean again. It also meant we could show-off our photos and announce our pregnancy to the world.

How was week 12 for you? Were you relieved to have made it through the first trimester?

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Week 13

Week 13 came with more energy, more hunger and a growing tummy!

I needed to be on my feet a lot this week, travelling up and down the country for work and although I was feeling more energised and not quite as exhausted, I was aching a lot and feeling the effects of longer days on my feet. I realised I needed to break up weeks like this and make sure I got enough rest whenever I could. The pregnancy chair at work was helping when I was in the office.

I hadn’t felt like I needed to sleep as much in week 13, but struggled in the mornings, which was tough when it was so cold and dark outside.

The headaches still came occasionally and when they did, they were pretty bad and left me just wanting to lie down with my eyes shut. I had 3 this week, so it wasn’t constant, but was tough when they kicked-in during the day.

One thing that was a real change was my insatiable appetite! Although I still didn’t really enjoy thinking about food, I couldn’t get enough of it in my face! I grazed almost constantly on nuts and dried fruit, crackers and Ryvita crisp-breads. And when I ate meals, I’d polish off a full plate (and sometimes go back for seconds). It was actually a nice feeling as I presumed the little bean was taking lots of energy from me to grow, so I wanted to pile it in (being as good as possible wherever I could). Despite that, I maintained my weight, but was ready to probably start gaining from thereon.

The Bump

By week 13, my tummy was forming a small but pronounced bump, so I was grateful for my maternity jeans and leggings and looked forward to getting a “proper” bump (and not just looking like I’d packed in a bowl full of pasta).

How was week 13 for you? Are you noticing a bump yet?

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Week 14

Week 14 was a bit of a non-event really. I didn’t really feel any different and there wasn’t much change in my body – in general, everything seemed to have settled down.

It sounds strange to say it, but I was almost disappointed that I wasn’t feeling very much. At least when you’re sick and off food or even achey, you know something is going on inside you. But week 14 for me, was quiet. I suppose I should count myself lucky to have not be in pain or struggling, but I did hope this was all normal.

One thing that did happen in week 14, was the return of the headache…a sort of tension headache, right round the back of my head and neck too. And my neck has been aching (massage booked for next week!). And mid-week, I was sooooo tired, I couldn’t wait to get to bed, then I fell asleep only to wake an hour later and not be able to return to slumber! So at 12.30am I was wide awake, tossing and turning for hours.

At 3.30am I gave up, went downstairs to sit in front of the telly and hopefully dose on the couch. I finally fell asleep at about 6.30am only to be woken by my work alarm an hour later. Needless to say I was a zombie and the headache was still there, so I couldn’t go into work that day. I finally fell into a proper sleep at about 2pm-4pm, then forced myself to get up so as not to disturb the coming night’s sleep.

But apart from that, I’m normal. Is that normal?

I still hadn’t put any weight on, just maintained…That felt weird too (though I was hardly “skinny” pre-pregnancy so probably can afford to absorb a few lbs). The next milestone would be our 16-week appointment with the midwife, which for us, would actually be when I was 15 wks + 5.