Hello, Second Trimester

Ahhh trimester two — my favorite of the pregnancy cycle. This trimester I was excited to way goodbye to my nausea and welcome, in its place, a renewed sense of energy. We had a lot of fun things filling up this time period which definitely made it fly by particularly fast. Keep reading for my week-by-week recap and scroll to the bottom of this post to shop some of my favorite pregnancy purchases from this trimester.

Week-By-Week Recap

Week 14: The cat was officially out of the bag and I started re-immersing myself in the role of an expectant mother. Similar to my first experience, it was really refreshing to have the world in on the secret. (No one tells you how difficult it can be to “hide” a pregnancy when you’re spending all of your time either trying not to throw up or passed out asleep).

Week 15 & 16: Andy and I spent much of this time getting ready for a small gender reveal party we were throwing for our close family members. At some point during this time, the three of us also came down with the WORST stomach bug we have ever experienced. Poor little Alden got it first before it then hit myself and, finally, Andy. I was getting sick every 20 minutes for 8 hours straight before I finally called my birthing center for advice. I couldn’t keep down even the tiniest sip of water and was starting to feel incredibly thirsty and was concerned about dehydration. Following the nurse’s advice, Andy and I ended up going to the ER at 3 am where I was given Zofran to manage the constant vomiting. This helped to stave off any fear of dehydration and made waiting out the bug much, much more tolerable. (P.S.: It’s crazy how much scarier everything becomes when you’re pregnant. Even a simple stomach bug can throw you for a loop!)

Week 17: The highlight of this week was absolutely the aforementioned gender reveal party! Similar to my pregnancy with Alden, Andy and I found out the baby’s gender prior to the party and enjoyed reading the test results just the two of us. When we found out we were having a daughter we both shed some tears. Of course we would have been over-the-moon excited either way — it was just so thrilling to start visualizing the baby as a girl and start referring to her by her name between the two of us.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Emilee Janitz (@emileejanitz)

For our small family party we kept it simple with a brunch spread (French toast casserole was definitely a winner I will keep in mind for future events), some homemade decorations and a raffle for guests to try and guess the gender before it was announced. For the big reveal, one of my best friends made a gorgeous tie dye Milk Bar-inspired cake filled with pink candies that poured out when we cut the cake for our guests. This reveal was distinctly different from what we did at Alden’s party (confetti canons) which made it even more special!

Click here to read my blog post filled with tips on throwing a gender reveal party!

Week 18: Soon after the gender reveal party I felt the baby kick for the first time! If it was my first pregnancy I might not have noticed it (so light and fluttery), but this time around I knew what to be on the lookout for.

Week 19: Nothing much to report this week other than little girl’s kicks getting much stronger.

Week 20: Not long after the Easter holiday we all came down with COVID. Alden unfortunately had it the worst among us and even ended up in the E.R. Thankfully everyone made it through A-OK and now we can be grateful that we’ll all have some level of natural immunity before the baby arrives. As you can image, much of this week was spent nursing ourselves and our little guy back to health. Once we started to feel better (but were still in quarantine) I used some of my time on the couch to create a baby registry and design invitations for our casual baby shower. (Pro tip: Canva has a bunch of baby shower invite designs available for either free or basically free).

Week 21: COVID recovery was still in progress. During some of Alden’s nap times I was able to order some supplies for our baby shower and sort through Alden’s old baby clothing. I thought I had shopped fairly gender neutral — turns out, I was wrong. While we do have some items on-hand that will be suitable for baby girl, we also definitely have some shopping ahead of us. Not that I’m complaining!

During this week my appetite also became MAMMOTH. My weight gain had so far been “on track” with 10 lbs gained but I wasn’t confident that I would be following the “approved” curve for much longer. Mama was (and remains to be) HUNGRY.

Week 22: This week I was treated by Andy and Alden to a wonderful Mother’s Day. The day included a diner breakfast, a gifts of plants, Andy vacuuming out my car and washing the exterior, and several uninterrupted hours, during which I was able to just sit on the couch and read (so glorious). Oh and there was ice cream — lots of ice cream. I am a lucky woman.

Week 23: During this week we experienced a sincere turn of the weather — summer had arrived! I spent as much time outside as possible, soaking up quiet moments of relaxing outdoors with a book knowing that those days will be coming to an end in September.

Week 24: For a few weeks we had been teaching Alden that there was a baby in my belly. This week he really started to grasp the concept and would say “baby” before either pointing at, hugging or kissing my midsection. It’s those small moments that really make parenthood worth it (and more).

I also spent a solid portion of this week researching new cameras. For years now I’ve been wanting something compact that I could transport more easily than my large-ish Canon Rebel. It probably sounds silly but in some situations I just feel awkward lugging a giant camera around! I finally landed on a basically-new, mint condition Sony Alpha A6000 that I found on eBay. I’m definitely planning to bring it to the hospital with us this fall!

This week I also had my first piece published on Motherly! I first started reading the site shortly after Alden was born and knew that, one day, I really wanted to become a part of the writing community. After submitting a number of pieces over the last year and a half (and having them rejected) this felt like such an accomplishment. Read the story here.

Week 25: This week was spent preparing for our town’s largest event: The Sherburne Pageant of Bands. During this event, high school bands from across the state travel to our hometown for a weekend full of music and revelry. The highlight of the weekend is a several-hour marching band parade that runs through the center of town. Being as Andy and I live right on the main street of our town, we put a lot of time into spiffing up the front of our house. Family members come over and we enjoy an afternoon full of music accompanied by a casual lunch spread. Having been cancelled for the last two years due to COVID, this was Alden’s first Pageant which made the event extra special.

I also spent this week packing for our upcoming family trip: a beachside adventure to Connecticut.

Week 26: Ahhh vacation — truly, all I ever wanted. Andy, Alden and I had the best time relaxing on the quiet coast of Connecticut. We spent hours at the beach and ate more than our fill of lobster. We also took advantage of a rainy morning to hit up the Mystic Aquarium which was only a half hour’s drive from where we were staying. Alden loved looking at all of the “pretty fish” and was especially enchanted by the beluga whales.

Every time we go away together as a family we reflect on what a great bonding experience it is. Andy and I were especially grateful to get away one last time as a family of three before our newest addition joins us in September (and travel gets a tad more complicated).

Week 27: With vacation officially over, I really started focusing in on getting Alden’s toddler room done. This week I started curating some items to purchase and picked out paint samples. We’re eager to transition him to his new room so that we can be confident he’s well adjusted before his little sister gets here and starts using his current room. I’m also eager to get the nursery prepped and officially ready for her arrival! Laundry to do, diapers to organize — you know the drill.

Final Thoughts

It’s funny — this time around, baby prep feels less about actually prepping for the baby and, instead, prepping our lives around her arrival. With all of our baby gear essentials in hand and a nursery that’s (almost) ready to go, there has definitely been a larger focus on completing the projects that will make transitioning to two children as seamless as possible and checking off items that we know we will soon struggle to find time for (which, to be fair, has been a lot of self care).

But while the prepping experience may be different, the excitement is the same. Andy and I find ourselves saying to each other on a daily basis “I can’t believe we’re going to have a daughter,” and “I can’t wait to meet her.” If you ever read this one day, darling daughter, just know that you have always been so, so loved.

Second Trimester Purchases

* This post contains affiliate links.