SARINA CRUZ

So, I’ve successfully made it to (almost) the end of my second trimester! Next week I’ll be 28 weeks pregnant and it’s seriously gone by SO fast. I asked you guys on Instagram about some ideas for a second trimester bump update blog post and there were a lot of great ideas! So now I present to you… some of my favorite things for pregnancy so far, and my suggestions for how to combat nausea, stress, and fatigue. I hope this helps you in some way, and if you’d tried/try any of these products let me know!

Prenatal Supplements

New Chapter Perfect Prenatal Vitamins – My friend Collette recommended these prenatals to me and I’m so glad she did! They’re made with Certified Organic VegetabIes & Herbs, Non-GMO Project Verified, Vegetarian, Certified Kosher, Certified Gluten Free, Sugar Free, No Synthetic Fillers, No Animal Gelatin

New Chapter Prenatal DHA – 100% wild-caught alaskan salmon oil

Favorite Pregnancy Apps

The Bump Pregnancy Countdown App – Out of the ones I’ve tried, get this one for sure. The graphics and design are modern and pretty, plus the “see your baby in 3D” feature is the coolest!

What to Expect Pregnancy & Baby Tracker App – I started out with this one and got The Bump app after a friend recommended I try it instead. They were right, get The Bump app. If you’re like me, The What to Expect App is nice to also have if you want to double up on information and resources.

Maternity Clothing

PinkBlush – I lucked out and got a lot of cute stuff from here during their Black Friday sale. Everything I’ve ordered from Pink Blush is so comfortable and fits really well, plus many of their items are designed so that they can be worn before, during, and after pregnancy so you can get more use out of them.

Destination Maternity – They sell the best maternity overalls and I really love their maternity/nursing bras

Books

The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth – My cousin bought this for me and it’s the only pregnancy book that’s held my interest and explained things in a way I understand. Information is presented in easy-to-digest bites, the illustrations are super cute and make the book more fun to read, and I LOVE the positive affirmations in each chapter. I highly recommend this book!

The Whole 9 Months: A Week-By-Week Pregnancy Nutrition Guide with Recipes for a Healthy Start – My cousin also bought me this book and I’m super grateful. It is NOT, I repeat, NOT easy to eat healthy during pregnancy… at least for me. While I can’t stay that I’ve followed this book for all of my meals (ha!), I will say that I’ve tried a few of the recipes so far and they are yummy. More so, I just love the idea of having recipes recommended for each stage of your pregnancy while I try to motivate myself to eat all the healthy goods. Also, Jennifer Lang, MD is an OB/GYN and gynecologic oncologist. During her years in private practice, she specialized in integrative and preventative medicine, and natural birth options. If you need one more reason why to get this book, Jessica Alba recommends it – lol

Gear & Stretch Mark Creams

Heat Therapy Pillow – I haven’t experienced too many crazy pregnancy symptoms, but lower back pain is definitely my enemy. One of my students bought me this for Christmas but I can’t find the exact one online so I’ve linked a similar one on Amazon. Pop it in the microwave and enjoyyy

Leachco Snoogle Total Body Pillow (I don’t even need to explain this one. Get a pregnancy pillow ASAP. The is the one I got and it’s been a saving grace)

Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks and Pregnancy Skin Care – Just call this one “Ol’ Reliable”. If this has a scent, it’s not really noticeable. It’s not too thick, has a lower price point, and it gets the job done… plus, I love the convenience of the nozzle.

Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Belly Butter – Shea Butter and Vitamin E – This one has a medium price point and feels really good on my skin. It’s also unscented and not too thick, but definitely a little creamier than the Palmer’s formula. I wish this had a nozzle!)

Mama Mio The Tummy Rub Butter – I would consider this to be expensive for a stretch mark cream that I need more and more of all the time. It’s also SUPER thick and definitely has a scent that you may or may not like. I’ll pass on this in the future

Resource

Charlotte Nicole Online Guides – Nicole is extremely knowledgeable in pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. I met her years ago at a wedding Daniel and I photographed, and she is just the sweetest ever! Nicole has several digital PDF downloads for sale on her website:

• Essential Oils for Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum
• Nutrition During Pregnancy
• Self-Care During Pregnancy, Birth & Postpartum
• Natural Relief for Pregnancy & Postpartum
• Prepping Fridge & Pantry Before Baby
• Registry Items You Need
• Or you can purchase all of her informational guides in a bundle

I’ve read through every single one of her guides and they are each chock-full of invaluable information. Being a first-time mama I really have no idea what I’m doing, and let’s face it, Google has just WAY TOO MUCH information for one person to process. Nicole’s PDFs have helped immensely in providing me the information I need without being too overwhelming. Each guide is easy to read and digest information, and her suggestions are specific and actually helpful. She also has free printable birth affirmations and monthly motherhood encouragement if you sign up with your email!

Nausea, Stress, and Fatigue

These are just MY experiences and what has worked for ME (but I hope they work for you, too!)

1. Nausea. I’ve been incredibly lucky to not have experienced much nausea during my pregnancy so unfortunately I don’t really have any suggestions for this. I had hardcore meat aversions and couldn’t stand the thought of it during my entire first trimester. During that time ginger ale, saltine crackers, pickles, ICE COLD water in my Hydro Flask, and cold fruits were my bestsest friends in the whole world.
2. Stress. I’m fortunate to not have a stressful job so my stress levels are usually pretty low, but I can’t emphasize enough HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO WORKOUT. Exercise has always been my number one go-to stress reliever (maybe that’s why I don’t experience high levels of stress?) I understand that everyone’s pregnancies are different and you may not have been very active before getting pregnant, but you really should get some type of exercise (please first ask your doctor what type of activity they recommend for you). I can’t imagine going through this pregnancy without exercising to help manage my mental and physical health. Nowadays, I limit my cardio to incline walking on a treadmill or something similar. I also still continue to lift weights (just nothing TOO crazy) and I avoid things like plyo’s that get my heart rate too high. I always track my workouts with my Polar heart rate monitor to make sure my heart rate is safe for the baby. You should be able to still hold a conversation while working out, and if you’re too hot then the baby is too hot.
3. Fatigue in the first trimester was NO JOKE. Mustering enough energy to get my workouts done was a task in itself, but once the second trimester hit I got allllll of my energy back. Here are some things that worked for me to help combat the fatigue:

• Drink A LOT of water throughout the day. Seriously, tons. I feel like it’s been better for me to focus more on drinking it earlier in the day and start tapering off the amount I drink towards the evening. That way I hopefully (fingers crossed) don’t have to get up to pee all. night. long.
• Nap as much as you can. If you have the opportunity, sleep. Just feeling a little tired but not sure if you should nap? Sleep. Stock up on it as much as you can right now gurrrl.
• Eating often throughout the day. As I mentioned earlier, if I don’t eat frequently enough I start to feel sick. It’s the same with fatigue, and if I eat often throughout the day I notice my energy levels are manageable. Don’t go long periods of time without eating something!
• Workout. I know it sounds stupid to workout when you’re feeling tired, but just do it. You will feel a refreshing burst of energy from working out, even when you feel tired. It’s helped me balance myself physically and mentally, and with all of those crazy hormones messing me up I need all the help I can get.

If you enjoyed this Second Trimester Bump Update, tell me and I’ll do another one for my third trimester! As always, let me know if you have any other topics you’d like me to cover and I’ll do my best. Thanks you guys!