An Overdue Pregnancy Announcement! 1st and 2nd Trimester Recap

All the nitty-gritty details of my 2nd pregnancy!

Considering I'm already 29 weeks pregnant, I've been meaning to write this post for months! As I expected, and have heard from other moms of multiple kids, I'm a little more distracted this time around as I continue to chase after my 2 year old daughter Harper. (You can read all about my pregnancy with Harper and her birth story here!) Thankfully, I've been taking notes since finding out I was pregnant back in December, so I have lots to share today.

How far along am I?

The day I share this blog post I'll be 29 weeks pregnant. I just left the second trimester and my due date seems to be fast approaching!

Boy or girl?

It's a boy! Despite being on lockdown here in Malaysia, I was able to keep my ultrasound appointment to find out the sex of the baby. However, this time I had my doctor keep it a surprise and text the gender to my friend who is a baker. She make the most beautiful gender reveal cake for us and we were able to cut it open with all of our family joining in on Facetime. It was so fun to be surprised together, not only as a couple, but as an entire family.

Funny story about the cake. My friend and I had a miscommunication about the size. I said I wanted a two tier cake when I really meant I wanted a two layer cake! I had also told her that we didn't need the cake to be too big considering it would just be our family enjoying it as we were social distancing. She was confused, but didn't clarify, so we ended up with a ginormous two tier cake, 6 layers in all! We ended up giving most of it to the guards at our complex to enjoy as we couldn't finish it all ourselves!

Finding out I was pregnant

Brett and I had been trying to conceive for longer than we expected. We were actually visiting family in Nashville, Tennessee when I started feeling really nauseous. I knew I was pregnant when I couldn't finish my usual favorite chocolate oatmeal. I was exhausted, had no appetite and couldn't think about food.

The day we found out I was pregnant (December 4th) was a bittersweet day. It was the day we were planning to fly back to Malaysia after a month-long stay in Nashville. I took the test first thing in the morning and was so excited to finally see two lines! I didn't do anything exciting to tell Brett, but just hid the test behind a chair and had him go look at it as soon as he woke up. However, we couldn't celebrate long as we needed to be in full-on packing mode to head back to Malaysia.

The reason we were in America in the first place was to spend time with Brett's mom who had just undergone an intense whipple procedure for pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, the day we told them we were pregnant was also the day we found out her cancer had spread to her liver. A few hours after receiving all this new information we boarded our flight back to Malaysia, wrestling with all kinds of emotions.

1st trimester symptoms

I felt fairly similar during this first trimester as I did with Harper. Thankfully the intense nausea I had right when I found I was pregnant eased up a bit. However I still felt nauseous throughout the day and was constantly nibbling on food to keep it at bay. I didn't have much of an appetite, but still had to eat fairly regularly to make sure the intense nausea didn't return.

Towards the end of January I started dealing with pour digestions on-and-off. Some days it was diarrhea and other days it just felt like my body couldn't digest my food. I remember feeling abnormally full and uncomfortable after eating dinner and felt like I was trying to sleep with a massive food baby every night. I remember feeling really discouraged one night as I felt massive and really uncomfortable and the thought of having 5 more months to go scared me. All this forced me to try to eat more earlier in the day and stick to smaller dinners.

Throughout the first trimester I was pretty exhausted and needed a nap most afternoons to make it through the day.

Second trimester symptoms

My nausea and poor digestions decreased more and more the farther I got into my 2nd trimester. I also stopped napping everyday which was amazing as I could spend Harper's nap time getting other things done.

Just like when I was pregnant with Harper, I have so many boogers! Just keeping it real.

My hair is healthy and long (thanks to salons being closed) and it takes forever to get greasy.

I also have amazing skin just like I did during Harper's pregnancy. I'm one of those people who usually struggles with adult acne, but when I'm pregnant and breast feeding my skin clears up and is super smooth! Yay!

One major symptom that I had during this pregnancy that I didn't experience when pregnant with Harper was intense body odor. Seriously, I stunk so bad for a couple months during my second trimester. I would apply deodorant multiple times a day, but it didn't help much. Brett would walk by me and grimace. I was also super sweaty. Sweat would drip from my armpits even when I was just sitting around the house. I laughed when we found out we were having a boy because it seemed to make these symptoms make sense!

Exercise

Just like when I was pregnant with Harper, I have thankfully been able to stay really active. I've been able to do some form of activity most days, even during my first trimester and when we weren't allowed to leave our apartment due to lockdown.

On average I switch off between doing a weighted HASfit workout and walking/running in our apartment hallway. I also try to walk the stairs a few times a month and love it as it is the best way to get my heart rate up. Now that we are allowed to go outside again, I have maintained this basic schedule, but instead of walking or running in our hallway, I go outside.

Just in the last couple weeks I have decided to stop jogging. After I jog, I feel like I'm getting SPD symptoms: I feel like I bruised my crotch and it's really painful to walk. So now I just stick to walking around our neighborhood or walking the stairs.

I would love for our pool to open back up so I can swim laps, but right now it's still roped off!

Food cravings and aversions

I definitely had certain foods that I loved and hated during my 1st trimester. Below I'll list out some of my favorite and least favorite foods during my 1st trimester:

Cravings: Bland oatmeal, marmite avocado toast, noodles, anything spicy/rich, chickpea tuna salad, juicy and sour fruits and drinks, Mexican food...

Aversions: Coffee, any non-fruity drink, sweeter foods like dessert, peanut butter toast...

You can see a full week of what I ate during my 1st trimester in the video below!

The 2nd trimester felt fairly normal as far as my appetite and food preferences. Now in my 3rd trimester I feel completely back to normal in regards to food preferences, other than having less stomach space in the evenings.

Being pregnant amidst Covid-19

I definitely had some moments of anxiety during the worst of Malaysia's Covid-19 cases, but honestly not as much as I expected. We spent about 2 months on lockdown here in Malaysia and most of that time we couldn't even leave our house. Most days I wouldn't even think about Covid (other than being super bored inside) and because we've been stuck inside so much I haven't had to worry about catching it. As Malaysia has started to open back up, I just try to be smart about when I go out in public, wash my hands a ton and wear a mask.

Bump photos:

Health care in Malaysia

I have been so fortunate to have a wonderful OBGYN here in Malaysia. She is definitely thorough and I feel like I've already had more ultrasounds done this pregnancy than Harper's entire pregnancy. Every time we get to see our son she is so excited and joyful with us. She is also great at talking through what we're seeing on the screen and answering any questions we have. This time around, I didn't have to take the gestational diabetes test which was nice too.

Where am I giving birth?

The answer to this question is one we are dying to know as well. Originally we planned to go back to the states to have our son. Then, as Covid started to get worse in America and ease up here in Malaysia, it felt better to give birth here. However, now we are dealing with visa issues and closed borders, so unless we get a visa extension, we will have to head back to the states to give birth. If we go to America, I will give birth at Vanderbilt in Nashville just like I did with Harper.

While I really want to be able to come back to my own home here in Malaysia and not have to travel a bunch around our son's birth like we had to do with Harper, I feel blessed to have two great options. Now it's just a waiting game!

---

Okay, I think that'll all for now! If you have any specific questions, I'd love to hear from you down below!