You know all the great things you hear about pregnancy: the glowing skin, cute baby bump, full hair and long nails, second trimester which is by far my favorite pregnancy stage came with all of these for me.

Goodbye Nausea

My second trimester was a dream. The nausea finally stopped and my appetite returned, I could eat properly once again. Although I still couldn't eat fruits and chicken, I was able to keep other stuff down and boy had I missed the taste of food. Every time I ate without throwing up, I gave thanks to God and promised never again to take another bite for granted.  I think I went overboard for a bit though and had to reign myself in because all the things I wanted to eat were not necessarily good for me. By the end of my second trimester, I had gone from 56kg back to 62kg. I felt like myself again.

Glowing Skin and Pregnancy Body

I was getting a lot of compliments about my skin and lips. My skin was legit glowing, my boobs were bigger and my lips were fuller and always looked like I had lipstick on.

I had been crying all first trimester that my baby bump was just a blimp and would spend hours in front of the mirror trying to see if it had increased at all. So when my bump finally became obvious, I was ecstatic. I loved the way it looked in clothes and styling my baby bump was a thing I enjoyed doing. I would try out different outfits just to see how they looked. In hindsight, I should have taken more pictures of this experience.  I was never really one for wearing body-hugging clothes so my clothes still fit. Most of the clothes I had looked even better with the bump and I really didn't need to buy new maternity clothes.

I loved the way my body looked and I don't think I've ever felt as beautiful as I did this trimester. I had a lot of energy and would spend hours in the kitchen cooking various dishes. It goes without saying that this was also my husband's favorite trimester. I started my blog during this period and was really excited to share all that I had been experiencing.

Baby Movement

I felt my baby move for the first time. At first, I thought it was gas because it was more of a flutter than anything. When it kept happening, I realized it was actually my baby and I got really emotional. Started having short conversations with the baby although I couldn't have as much as I would have liked to because I was still salivating.

Feeling my baby move is one of the best feelings in the world. It always blew my mind how an actual human being was growing within me, eating what I ate, sleeping, and basically living life. I felt like I was a part of a miracle. It truly was a gift I didn't take for granted.

The Lows

It wasn't all rosy though. It brought with it the worst heartburn I had ever experienced in my entire life. Heartburn is something I was used to before getting pregnant. Foods like beans, MoinMoin, and pottage had always triggered it so when I heard that heartburn was a pregnancy symptom I wasn't really worried cause it was nothing new or so I thought.  

Pregnancy heartburn is however a different ballgame. It always felt like I had swallowed battery acid that kept moving about in my insides. Happened mostly whenever I tried to lie down and this affected my sleeping pattern in no small way. Still haven't found any working remedy for this and I am open to suggestions.

Sleeping was getting more uncomfortable with each passing day and I would sometimes wake up with cramps on the side I slept on. Towards the end of the second trimester, the baby's soft movements became more intense and there was a day I actually cried because my baby had decided that my rib was a football.

Conclusion

If my entire pregnancy was made up of just my second-trimester symptoms, I would probably be getting pregnant for a living. Seriously though, it was a blast and filled with a lot of energy and laughter. It definitely was a welcome change from the nightmare that was my first trimester and an experience I would willingly go through again.