Second Trimester

When everyone started telling me that the second trimester was so much better than the first, I was hesitant to believe them. My morning sickness seemed to be never ending, but the truth of the matter was that the second trimester was much better and went a lot quicker than my first trimester. Here are some things we learned in the second trimester.

Skin

If you read my blog about our first trimester you would have read about sensitive skin, acne and a whole bunch of new tackles with finding the right routine for my hormonal skin. I wish I could say that my #sensitiveskin got better in my second trimester but it continues to be a wonder. Some days my skin can handle a little face lotion others it blows up, red, and hot from it.

Not to mention coming into second trimester I started getting darker pigments on my face which I later found out to be the #maskofpregnancy. For those of you who aren't familiar with this lovely condition, the mask of pregnancy, otherwise known as #melasma, occurs when a steep rise of estrogen and progesterone stimulate excess levels of melanin production, or hyperpigmentation. Although it's not as common in lighter colored skin, it can appear.

The reason its called the mask of pregnancy is because, it appears as dark, blotchy confetti like patches on the skin and is typically symmetrical across the cheeks and nose, but can also be found on the forehead or upper lip. Your freckles or moles will most likely also appear darker and you'll probably also have a dark line down the center of your abdomen, called the #lineanigra. Don't be surprised if you areoles also become a deeper shade!

Another issue I had with sensitive skin was jewelry. Now I'm not a huge jewelry person to begin with but I had an industrial ear piercing that would get irritated by the second trimester. Eventually I just gave up and took it out!

Genetic Screening

Now if this is your first baby like us, you probably have done or want to do all the genetic screenings you can! Because, who doesn't want to go into panic if their child is going to come out "normal". Like the wide eyed new parents we are to be we choose to do all the screenings, and when I say all I think we've done all that are possible.

Since we are "older" parents we choose to do a #trisomy screening. Which is typically both an ultrasound and a blood test. Our ultrasound came back without any concerns, however our blood test came back with an increased risk for trisomy 13 (#Patausyndrome) , 18 (#Edwardssyndrome) & 21(#Downsyndrome). We were in a panic and since our ultrasound had come back "normal" we opted for another blood test with a higher accuracy rating. Those few weeks of waiting were torture. We googled, read, and really dove deep into the rabbit hole with worry of what this would mean for our family. We were totally freaked. Concerned that our baby wouldn't even make it, that we would have our baby but only for a few short days, or months. We finally got our second results to know that we were in the "clear" but only to find that I was a silent carrier of #AlphaThessalemia.

Again our brains spiraled and we prayed that Jay was not a carrier as well. Luckily, Jay is not a carrier and our worries were once again put to bed, only to impatiently wait on our next screening for #Gestationaldiabetes.

Bathroom Wonders

So I'd love to tell you this gets better with the trimesters but I'd be lying. I think bathroom woes comes and go some days or weeks it's great, while others you try to force as many probiotic, prebiotic, and fiber as you can to help ease the tension of a full abdomen and stretching babe.