My Second Trimester - Planning and Preparation
Bumpdate with Imo
Gosh, what a difference it makes removing morning sickness and anxiety from your daily life! I’m sitting down here at the end of my Second Trimester, reading through how I felt during the First Trimester and it already feels like a blur.
After our scan at 13 weeks and seeing our little babe wriggling around and strong heartbeat I really started to feel the anxiety wash away.
I recall so many friends saying to me - “Just you wait the second trimester is really great, you’ll love it!” i’d just nod my head and think yea sure, I just peed my pants this morning while vomiting.
And then just like that I hit the 15 week mark and the nausea stopped… and definitely feeling like one of the lucky ones because I have plenty of friends who have felt pretty rubbish all the way throughout.
Knowing that so far we were having a safe pregnancy I felt like I could plan again and with my new lease on life (not throwing up at the site of the kitchen sink) I got stuck back into feeling creative and motivated again with work.
Work brings me so much joy so being able to jump back onto the computer or into the workshop was really great.
Some days i’d completely forget I was even pregnant until a little wriggle would remind me “Hey mum, I’m still here!!”
Design & Building:
I have always dreamed of designing and styling a nursery and in the future kid’s rooms! A totally new brief and chance to create something really playful and completely different. When designing the furniture for our nursery we created pieces that could fit in any room of the house and grow with our family - for example the Baby Change Tray can be removed from the Chest of Drawers and the Rocking Chair will sit beautifully in the living room once we’ve graduated from breastfeeding. The cot has been designed so that the side rails can be removed and become a toddler bed, meaning it can be used for years.
We’ve designed these pieces with the hope that they will be passed on from our children to future generations. Click here to check out our finished DIY Nursery.
Nursery Plan & Design
Alongside designing the furniture for our nursery we were designing our first home! Our land settled during our Second Trimester and we worked with an amazing local architect and builder to come up with a house design that will suit our growing family which you can check it out here.
Preparation:
There were a couple of things I purchased, after recommendations from friends and research I picked up a SNOO Bassinet second hand from Facebook Marketplace. SNOO is a responsive baby cot that boosts a baby’s sleep by combining gentle rocking with soothing white noise and snug, safe swaddling. Created by Dr. Harvey Karp, SNOO helps babies by imitating the calming sensations of the womb. For Al and I “sleep” felt like a great investment and from what i’d read and been told this was a purchase worth it’s weight in gold - i’ll let you know how it goes!
For Al and I “sleep” felt like a great investment and from what i’d read and been told this was a purchase worth it’s weight in gold - i’ll let you know how it goes!
Nicole Gleeson - Rhythm First Aid
I remember one day scrolling on Instagram when I saw a post advertising an Infant and Child First Aid Course at The Ko Creative Studio in Geelong. I immediately booked without hesitating and told Al that we were signed up.
The course was a half day run by Nicole Gleeson, a Paediatric Emergency Nurse who started Rhythm First Aid with the goal to educate and empower people through passionate first aid training. Al and I left thinking “wow, we knew nothing about anything”.
I particularly liked the resources that Nicole provided - who to call and apps to use (rather than just relying on vague and scary Google searches) and also how to respond when someone is choking. We both now feel confident that we’d know what to do if an emergency situation was to arise.
Nicole delivers informative information in an informal environment, it’s engaging and beautifully presented. I’d suggest attending a course in your 2nd trimester, I think I would have been far too sick in my 1st trimester and far too uncomfortable in my 3rd - you want to be able to get down on the ground and practice your CPR skills!
Infant & Child First Aid Course
Reading Reccomendation
Reading:
I was lent a great book by my cousin called “Beyond the Birth Plan: Getting Real about Pain and Power” by Rhea Dempsey which is all about emotional preparation for pregnancy, birth and beyond. It gave great insight into the birth system in Australia and how you can best equip yourself to have a positive and empowering experience.
I also read -
Active Birth Skills by Juju Sundin
Breastfeeding and Parenting by Sue Cox
Travel:
In January we travelled to Cairns to visit my family and friends, which was really nice as we hadn’t been back since September 2019 and we were well overdue for the catch up. Al and I made the most of our trip, exploring waterfalls, beaches and the reef every day - read our Guide to Tropical North Queensland Here.
My high school girlfriends surprised me with a baby shower which was lovely. They shared pregnancy, birth and motherhood tips and I feel very lucky to be able to experience this journey alongside them.
Health:
My 20 week scan picked up that I had a marginal cord insertion which is where the umbilical cord attaches to the side of the placenta instead of the central placental mass. This means the risks of preeclampsia, abruption of the placenta, placenta previa, fetal growth restriction, preterm birth and fetal death are increased, as well as the risk of maternal complications in the 3rd and 4th stages of labour. I was told I would have extra scans and monitoring to keep an eye on the baby's growth but not to worry. I felt confident that the baby and I would be fine, plus her constant wriggling definitely kept my mind at ease.
Towards the end of my second trimester I started to experience uncomfortable back and hip pain on my left side. I did prenatal reformer pilates at Surf Coast Pilates which definitely helped ease the discomfort! I later discovered that the pain was most likely due to bub sitting in breech position with her bum sitting right on my cervix, back tucked into my left side and head right up under my ribs. - more on this in my Third Trimester Blog Post.
Overall my Second Trimester was great, I loved watching my body change and my belly grow. I loved feeling her kicks and then Al feeling them too.
More on Pregnancy
HEY! WE’RE AL + IMO
We’re a husband and wife duo, building our dream life one DIY project at a time. We are proudly self-taught, furniture-makers, business owners, designers and stylists.
DIY RUNS IN OUR DNA
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