I recently started my third trimester and so I took some time to reflect back on the second. I spent eight of these weeks on a cardiac rotation that kept me busy from sun up to sun down, and so most of the items I needed to keep me comfortable were classically food / hydration / sleep . I felt like I had way more energy than I did even pre-pregnancy this trimester. We moved to a new home, and I worked a lot of hours at work! Now that I've started the third trimester, that energy unfortunately has declined.
The past three months I saw my belly pop, and felt baby kick a lot more. Because I wear scrubs every day, I didn't really need to invest in a whole new maternity wardrobe. It was important to keep my favorite compression socks on daily, and my bathrooms close by :) . I did buy one pair of new yoga leggings, two new bras, and some stretchy ribbed sweater dresses from ASOS.com (very affordable maternity section!).
Here's what I used the most during trimester two.
I debated so long if I wanted to invest in a pregnancy pillow. The only pains I've felt so far in my six months come from my hips when I don't use this pillow at night. I was worried I would never get the hip pain gone at night and then my sister's sister in law loaned me this pillow and it eased all the pain. A regular pillow between your legs for some reason just doesn't work (trust me!). I like this version too because it doesn't take up a lot of space in the bed like other large pregnancy pillows do.
I started this during trimester one and have done my best to do a few workouts each week since. They are thirty minutes each and are divided out into each trimester. They focus on strength training, and safe abdominal exercises to help push baby out. They also work on endurance and breathing, and strengthen arms/booty/legs along the way. Instead of HIIT they even do LIIT "Labor intensive interval training" which is a not fun way of simulating the surges of labor, but I know it's doing something because it's definitely a workout! This is only available through beachbody.com I'm not a coach or anything but I'm sure one of your friends is.
The Align and Align Pants II are not maternity pants but definitely do the job and are not tight on that growing bump. The material is silky soft , they aren't see though, and best of all, they are not constricting at the waist. I tried to wear my old leggings and they are just too tight on my bump it's uncomfortable. I did order a size up in these pants and I'm glad I did!
This clay mask has been so good for my chin acne. I'm not sure if it's due to the constant mask wearing or the pregnancy, but I think it's the pregnancy. Nothing I do has been able to get rid of it completely but this mask tames it tremendously.
My saving grace the last few months has been this water bottle. I try and drink two full volumes a day! I have had Braxton Hicks contractions multiple times a day since week 18 and staying hydrated is one way I can keep these down. Plus I have an unquenchable thirst now that I'm farther along!
For my first trimester must haves - click here.
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