It was with great relief that I entered the second half of the second trimester. My anxiety about the baby’s and my own health started to lift and I was able to enjoy a chilled out press trip to Jersey followed fairly shortly by my girly trip to Babington House. Getting the all clear on the 20 week scan was an absolutely huge relief and it really felt like it marked the beginning of a new phase and a more enjoyable pregnancy.
As I mentioned, my symptoms weren’t particularly extreme so it was mentally that things were harder. After a quiet and anxious February and March, I was keen to get in a few last trips before flying was no longer possible. With that in mind, we booked our trip to Stockholm and a few nights at Ett Hem, one of my bucket list hotels. I loved Stockholm and it was the perfect babymoon city break – a short flight and a place that felt very clean and safe! However, at around 22 weeks I did start to feel the effects of pregnancy on my body, we had a city tour in a jeep and getting in and out of the car plus walking left my legs, hips and abdomen really aching at the end of the day. I enjoyed casual dinners and early nights – a new me! The old me was always keen to get to the next place, have another drink and stay out late. 
There was still some lingering anxiety as at 22 weeks, I still wasn’t really showing… in the mornings my stomach was only a little rounded and in the evenings I just looked like I’d had a big meal rather than being pregnant. Comparing myself to people on Instagram, I kept questioning where my baby bump was! I also hadn’t felt any movement from baby Silver so it was constantly on my mind if he was ok as again I’d read many people felt the baby earlier than this. But my 20 week scan had confirmed an anterior placenta (this means the placenta is at the front – a totally normal position for it to be in but it makes it harder to feel the baby move) which alleviated some of my worries on this matter.
At this point we’d told all our close friends and family about the pregnancy but I still hadn’t said anything on social media. This was due to my anxiety and wish not to ‘tempt fate’ by making a big announcement. Of course, we could have kept it quiet for the entirety of the pregnancy but as Instagram / blogging is my job it was hard to keep hiding it and there would become a point when hiding behind tables and well placed teapots just wouldn’t work anymore. Plus my passions were beginning to change, I didn’t want to just write hotel and restaurant reviews anymore I wanted to incorporate baby and pregnancy related content to my blog. This was the stuff I was reading about, and I was interested in and as my blog has always reflected my life, I wanted to continue for it to do so.
So it was at this point I decided to have an early pregnancy photoshoot, with my bump looking more like a food baby than an actual baby it took some posing and posturing and bump-emphasising to get the shots, but I was so happy with what we got! I chose the picture that I loved and finally made the announcement at 23 weeks, a hefty 11 weeks after most people choose to break the news. But honestly, finally announcing our special secret on social media was such a relief as I kept worrying someone would accidentally do it for me!
The announcement meant I could finally talk about it on stories, and start writing all my pregnancy posts which I was really excited to do! Of course these diary posts were already sitting in drafts, just waiting to be made public! It was also about this time – the 23 week mark that I started feeling the baby. I guess I expected something a bit more monumental but I was just sitting in bed reading a book when he made himself known. Now I’m feeling him move all the time which is very reassuring!
If you follow me on Instagram you’ll know that it was at the time we took our Stockholm trip that we started the renovations on our flat. I hadn’t mentioned at that point that we were also redoing our spare room to serve as baby Silver’s nursery! But after I announced the pregnancy I announced this too. The two bedrooms were completely stripped of furniture, carpet and fittings all ready for a fresh start. Now, I was very excited to share my renovations both on here and on Instagram and for now and I don’t want to go into too much detail but we’ve actually hit a bit of brick wall with our designer and had no choice but to move on to someone new.
Normally this would be rather a nuisance but with my due date just a few months away and a half finished bedroom, this has caused some stress. At the moment the nursery is painted and has a carpet so that’s ok, we’d always planned to do the rest of it ourselves so we’ll be ordering the furniture soon. Everyone has reassured me newborn babies need very little anyway but even so, I was excited to have a completed nursery. We haven’t started buying too much for baby Silver, save a few clothes and toys out of excitement but I’ve been reading lots of blog posts and watching YouTube videos about newborn essentials. We’ve made nursery appointments both at John Lewis and Mamas and Papas and I’m planning on choosing the essential stuff (pram, baby bath, feeding stuff) at these and then getting it all sent to our flat. I’ll chat about these appointments on Instagram stories so that you know how they’ve turned out.
My family trip to Chewton Glen, followed by our last minute trip to Geneva passed relatively uneventfully… the only thing to note in terms of pregnancy was that by now I was really feeling soreness in my legs, back and stomach plus waves of nausea at night. But again, nothing extreme or really bad. Actually I’d say weeks 23 – 26 were my ‘golden weeks for pregnancy, my bump was growing and I was feeling continuous flutters from baby Silver which went a long way to easing my anxiety but I was still fairly small with minor symptoms so overall feeling good!
I had my whooping cough jab and we attended an (again quite uneventful) 26 week appointment with our doctor. At this point she wrote me a ‘fit to fly’ letter as we had our babymoon coming up and I would be flying back two days after the 28 week mark at when you may need written consent from your doctor to travel.
Every appointment you have your blood pressure done and the nurse weighs you. Admittedly (and I know you shouldn’t think about these things) I was worried about my weight having had trips to Babington House, Stockholm, Chewton Glen and Geneva since my last weigh in but the number on the scales showed I was gaining weight at the correct rate so that was another thing to feel relieved about.
If you watch my Instagram stories, you’ll know that I’ve been finding it a struggle to find clothes to fit that also look stylish and not frumpy. Generally I’ve still stuck to my normal clothes with elasticated waists and more floaty tops but with a few special occasions I needed something a bit more special. For my niece’s Bat Mitzvah, I ended up rejecting all the maternity stuff and falling back on my favourite brand, Kate Spade and in the end I was really happy with what I got, plus I picked up a few dresses perfect for the babymoon. I still have a wedding coming up and my in-laws special anniversary dinner by which time I’ll be thirty-five weeks pregnant… so God knows what I’ll be wearing for that.
On to the babymoon! We fell in love with beautiful Taormina and Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo despite very inconsistent weather! I mentioned in my tips for planning a babymoon that I thought weeks 20 – 25 were the best time to go or your ‘last’ holiday but due to timings we had to go when I was just about to hit 28 weeks and transition into the third trimester. I must say those extra few weeks made all the difference and I’d definitely suggest going on a babymoon earlier in the second trimester, especially as you need ‘fit to fly’ letter for travelling after 28 weeks. Though this wasn’t a problem for me as I have a low risk pregnancy I still definitely didn’t enjoy the three hour flight due to back pain and once we were there bad weather scuppered our plans to just sit by the pool and walking around town left me with back pain too.
One of the major problems I found with travelling late in the second trimester was eating. I could barely finish a meal and despite ordering a starter as a main course, I was still only finishing half a portion and then feeling terrible nausea in the evening. Which was just very annoying as I love Italian food!
At the beginning I felt that everything was going so slowly, my extreme anxiety meant that every appointment and every scan felt so far apart and I was counting down the days until I could see my little bean on screen again! But now there’s suddenly a feeling of hurtling towards the end and feeling unprepared both practically and mentally! Having said that I still can’t wait to see what the third trimester holds for us… nursery appointments, NCT classes, and my baby shower!
