The Second Trimester

I have now officially been pregnant long enough to forget exactly how many weeks pregnant I am. Good thing I have a cool daily journal that my brother bought me to read each day what our growing fetus is up to, and record my weight gain (sarcastic yay) and thoughts (honest yay). I would give my bro Jason a shout out here... except he would never know because he has abandoned email and the Internet. Something about the government. Yes, I come from crazy folk stock. I'm probably the sanest one yet (which my family will no doubt deny). Hopefully troutface will be even saner still.

So, as of tomorrow I am 14 weeks pregnant and am entering my second trimester. troutface's skin is pink, his liver is producing bile, he is producing hormones like insulin, he has tooth sockets and hair follicles, he has sperm or eggs now depending on whether he is actually a he or turns out to be a she, he is practicing breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, he has produced little baby poop in his intestines (called meconium), his movements are becoming more controlled, and he can even suck his thumb starting this week. Supposedly, I will be able to feel him move somewhere from now to week 20. This is called the "quickening." He is now 3-3.5 cm long.

Women in their second trimester report having more energy. I think it's true, but still I am more tired than before I was pregnant. Also, my skin is really dry, which is normal for pregnancy I guess but not at all normal for me. My body's production of relaxin peaks this week -- that's the hormone that stretches every muscle and ligament in my body, so I am more flexible right now. I can't tell really though, cuz when I do yoga I don't do poses that twist or compress my torso. But I do notice pains where my ligaments around my uterus are stretching and my organs are moving around.

And, I am noticing pregnancy brain. It is especially acute when I am tired and hungry (so that can't really be called pregnancy brain), but last weekend we went to the coast, and I was driving as we left Portland Friday evening. There was a lot of traffic, and I was missing turns right in my own neighborhood, I forgot my vitamins and we had to go back home for them, and I couldn't really figure out how to get home. It was kind of a mess, but Brady was very patient. He tried saying things like, "Take 26th Ave" but then I would miss 26th. So he resorted to just saying, "left here," "now go straight," "right here." That seemed to work better.

Got stories from your own bout with pregnancy brain? Post them in the comments. I would like to hear them. =)