I've been so excited to do a second & third trimester guide, and now that ellie has arrived, I thought I'd reflect on what got me through those two seasons in life. As you might remember, my first trimester (which really went til week 20 or so) was a doozy, hence that guide is a "survival guide." The final twenty weeks were much more do-able (although I will do a post on going past your due date, cause that wasn't quite as fun! :). Pregnancy is quite the journey & these were some of the things that gave me comfort along the way:
1. hot showers. not good for our water bill, but absolutely fantastic at re-centering me. i don't know if it was also because this season for me were colder months, but nothing made me feel better than a lloonngg hot shower (many thanks to ryan for not complaining about essentially having no hot water for himself for months...)
2. pineapple. and mango. really any tropical fruit. especially during the very final weeks, i was craving these fruits i normally didn't buy (i'm usually a blueberry, raspberry, apple, strawberry kind of girl). i joked ellie wanted me to feel like i was on a tropical vacation for my final weeks of pregnancy (ha!). it also helped me conquer my fear of cutting a pineapple (i was a pro by the end!).
3. oatmeal. holy moly i loved this stuff. i was soooo hungry when i woke up & this just became my favorite morning (& often times late night) staple. i also discovered this amazing brand of oatmeal, which is my new go to! i love it with a little honey.
4. oprah. confession: i have never been a big oprah fan. i came to that conclusion without ever watching her show, which was pretty unfair. that said, my pregnancy happened to coincide with her final season & that was quite the treat. when i was feeling really crummy, it was wonderful to get a respite with her show & i came to love her. i'm excited about her new show "the next chapter" while i nurse ellie!
5. lucy yoga pants. when i finally felt well enough to do yoga, it became one of the most encouraging, helpful things i could do to take care of my body. i've always been a fan of lucy yoga pants, but they became a staple (well beyong when i was actually doing yoga) of my maternity wardrobe.
6. old movies. sort of like oprah, when i was feeling most rotten, watching an old movie was an escape for me. they're entertaining, light hearted, uplifting and netflix on demand has a bunch of them. i think my favorite was desk set. i actually watched it a few times!
(not pictured)
7. cottage cheese. no idea why, but i craved this like nothing else. can't even admit how often this was my snack. it does have lots of protein & calcium!
8. body pillow. my only hope of sleeping at night!
9. prenatal massage. if you can, i think this is especially essential in the last ten weeks. it did wonders for my comfort & well being. if you're local, i LOVE this place.
for all you mamas to be, i hope some of these are helpful to you. that said, my guess is some of these are specific to me (doubt you all will have my love for cottage cheese :) & so i think my biggest learning was just how much pregnancy forced me to really listen to my body. for that, i'm oh so grateful. my last two recommendations would be lots of date nights & foot rubs from your husband -- they made it a really sweet season in life.
alright you other new mamas, what got you through the second & third trimester? i'd love to hear!
baby love 
