My Second Pregnancy Experience

Thank you for checking out our second blog in this little look-back series! In case you missed it, you can read about My First Pregnancy Experience and then pop back in over here to get all the details on my second. As previously announced, The Serenity Household is preparing to welcome its third edition! That led us to dig into the archives a bit and see what comes out of it. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

The First Trimester

I had a much better first trimester experience the second time around, although it was tougher on my husband. I had intense food aversions as well as intense cravings. I did not feel sick on a regular basis, but if anyone as much as uttered a name of a food item my body deemed unworthy, I would have a physical gagging reaction. I could not cook. I could not look in the refrigerator. I had to leave the room if a show we were watching mentioned or displayed the wrong type of food item. My body was being a total diva and Kyle had to call before coming home every day to ask what I would be eating that night because of how specific my meals had to be. The night my Big Bacon from Jack’s came to me with no honey mustard to dip my fries in, I felt tears well up behind my eyes that I even I thought were ridiculous. Alas, I had no control though and so they came. After the initial ultrasound, my doctor had a possible concern. It was suggested that we get a blood test that would give us some answers. As expected my needle phobia did rear its ugly head once again, but I survived it. I was told not to Google anything or worry for the next week as we waited for the results. Of course I did worry and then eventually I did Google. If I’m being honest, knowing the stats concerning the diseases my doctor had mentioned actually put me in a better headspace. I am glad I did it. After that week, we found out that our baby would be born perfectly healthy and, obviously, we were so thankful to have that peace of mind.

The Second & Third Trimester

Once the health of our baby was no longer a concern, it was pretty much smooth sailing. My skin that had been amazing during my first pregnancy decided to be a complete nuisance until finally clearing up during week sixteen. My heartburn was not nearly as bad or difficult to manage as it had been in my previous pregnancy. Our sweet baby kicked just enough to let me know that everything was going well. I never felt in any danger of reenacting the Alien movie scene. I gained less weight this time. The way the weight was distributed worked better for me, so there was less strain on my joints as well as my back. The one crazy thing this child would do was sink down low. This baby would sink down into my hips causing them to lock up and rendering me unable to move my legs. Because of this, I never took my first child anywhere alone. We always had someone else go with us on our little outings just in case I became frozen.

At the thirty-seven weeks, I was feeling good! My body felt a little heavier than usual, but not strained. The heartburn wasn’t fun, but it was manageable. I had a few more things I wanted to get done before baby came. I was happy to let the child stay in the oven a little longer, but alas, the Lord had a different plan. I was hit with a burst of energy one afternoon. My mom always says that the moment you feel that burst of energy, get ready because baby is coming. Kyle came home to me scrubbing the floors and he asked how much longer I thought we had. As my busy bee self was going full Cinderella all over our hardwoods, my instincts were screaming, “TOMORROW!” My state of denial was not even that strong, but I thought that if I said anything other than “Eh, about a week?” I would definitely go into labor that night. So, I said what I wanted instead of the truth, and shocker… it didn’t make the truth any less true. Under the dark of night, at two o’clock in the morning I woke up having contractions. The real contractions, and so it began…