Trimester 2: the fun side of growing a baby

The 2nd trimester – the fun side of growing a baby.

I didn’t feel like I really saw the benefits of the 2nd trimester until around week 16 when the nausea subsided, the exhaustion dissipated and I started to feel like my normal self again while my belly continued to grow.

I was definitely enjoying working from home and being able to make all my meals and not try and rush out the door early in the morning to hit the traffic.

I thought the 2nd trimester would also mean less low blood glucose levels (BGLs) but I felt like I was still struggling with these as the weeks went on.

The only pro to this was being able to continue to eat a lot of carbs.

I was enjoying a mix of oatmeal or berry protein smoothies for breakfast. Salad or rice bowls for lunch and our continued assortment of dinners – homemade veggie burgers, tofu and rice, tofu tacos, homemade nachos and peanut veggie stir frys.

I was able to cook a lot of the dinner meals too, working from home.

I was still waiting for some random cravings to hit me. The only one that I really got in the 2ndtrimester was pickles!

I would eat them at almost any time of the day and definitely with my lunch.

The 2nd trimester also meant some good runs, albeit slow. We continued running the trails on the weekends and took advantage of the cool mornings while they were still around. Yuki loved running with mum and dad, not fully knowing that there would be a new addition to the family in the coming months.

Every doctor’s appointment we went to we passed with flying colors. Baby was doing great, growing within the normal range and starting to move more (although it was very subtle movements in my belly at first).

My endo was really happy with my BGLs (would have liked a few less lows), but was supportive and trusted me in making most of my diabetes management decisions.
His goal at this stage was to work on convincing me to use an insulin drip during labor. Something I was open to but not 100% convinced. I liked the idea of not having to manage or worry about my BGLs while I was also focusing on going through labor, but I was adverse to having a drip connected to me, potentially restricting my movement.

This is something I have come around to and will talk about more in my third trimester blog post.

We had also started Bradley Method Birthing Classes this trimester. We had been recommended these by our friend Leigh, so I was excited to learn about the natural birthing process and what to anticipate during birth.

These were virtual with about 10 other parent-to-be couples every Sunday for 2.5 hours.

We had homework to complete during the week and I really enjoyed the high level of engagement in the classes and learning so much about childbirth that I honestly didn’t know about at all.

My birth physician is an MFM/OBGYN from UCLA and we had discussed the standard protocol of induction around 39 weeks for pregnant women with type 1 diabetes.
As we learnt so much during our Bradley Classes I began engaging in conversations with my OB about other birthing options for type 1s than the induction protocol. She was open to discussing options and said “most things are negotiable” – definitely making me feel more comfortable in having her as my physician.

I also felt my healthy and active lifestyle and incredibly tight management of my diabetes put me at the same risk level as pregnant women without diabetes. My A1c by the end of the 2ndtrimester was 4.6%. Again, from great control but also more lows than I wanted.

Showing my OB my great diabetes management and control and with the baby doing so well gave me a lot of leverage and open discussions on birth options. I even shared my birth plan with my OB at the end of the 2ndtrimester and she was aligned with everything on there!

Definitely gave me some great confidence to continue a healthy pregnancy.

Apart from continuing running 5-6 days a week I was also doing some light weight training and other pregnancy exercises every evening after dinner.

Exercising after dinner also really helped manage any post-dinner BGL spikes. I could catch them before my BGLS went over 120 mg/dL.

Each evening I would do squats, 10lb dumbbell exercises, pelvic rocks and Kegel exercises – these exercises would change as my belly got bigger in the third trimester.
I would do a circuit of these for about 20-30mins.

Something we weren’t sure we would be able to do would be a getaway trip or a babymoon.

We drove down to San Diego and managed a short weekend getaway babymoon.

We took Yuki with us – our first trip away with her and it was actually really fun. We stayed at a dog-friendly hotel and she loved coming with us everywhere!

We arrived late in the evening on Friday night, had takeout in our hotel room and watched TV in bed way too late knowing we would get up early for a morning trail run.

We ran at a popular trail about 20 mins drive outside of San Diego City.

We ate at as many outdoor vegan restaurants we could fit into our days, went to a dog friendly beach – Yuki loved it!

And we even went on a paddle boat out on the harbor which Yuki wasn’t too sure about.

Guys, I am not too sure about this whole boat thing.

We drove back on Sunday evening and really enjoyed just the time to get away amongst the craziness of COVID and the current situation.

And surprisingly with all the takeout food my BGLs managed to stay pretty stable.

As the third trimester crept up on us so quickly we were grateful for what seemed like a never-ending supply of gifts from family and friends showing up at our door. The UPS lady and Amazon delivery must have thought we were going a little crazy during COVID and shopping out of control!

We really enjoyed setting up the nursery and getting everything prepared. Peanut was definitely going to be spoilt from Day 1.

As I write this blog post, Peanut is due to arrive any day now, so I will try and squeeze in a recap of my third trimester before baby’s arrival. Keep your eye out and thanks for reading this far!

*For my next post I promise more screenshots of my BGLs for my type 1’s out there. I didn’t capture any from my Dexcom in my 2nd trimester.