Enjoying the Second Trimester

Before we leave California I desperately wanted some beachy maternity pictures and I wanted to work with our family photographer one more time (she is amazing!). She has literally done 5 projects with our family in the 2 years that we have lived here, so to say I love working with her is an understatement.

So here are 30ish photos of me doing the same 4 poses and holding my small baby bump because technically one waits until the 3rd and final trimester to take maternity photos.

I am still planning on taking the traditional “about to pop” maternity photos here in September and Mike will be obligated to be there. But 1) I was having an “off” day when I booked this shoot and I just wanted to feel pretty/do something for just me and 2) like I said above, I wanted to document beach life one last time before we move to Cajun Country.

I actually think it’ll be fun to have these beachy second trimester photos and the New Orleans third trimester photos. I’ll have to find a new photographer as soon as we get settled and I’ll have her pick a super local/fun location for the 3rd trimester shoot.

But quick pregnancy update while I’m here, we are officially 25 weeks and little man’s kicks are getting much stronger and he is definitely awake for longer periods of time, he also favors my right side and frequently makes my belly look lopsided.
Definitely want him to keep cooking, however we have hit a small milestone called “viability” – meaning if he was born past this point, with some intense medical interventions and a long NICU stay, he would statistically have a good chance at surviving.

I have also noticed his kicks and movements are deep in my pelvis, making me think he is breech – which I know isn’t a huge concern this early. I irrationally told Mike the other night, “WHAT IF HE GETS USED TO BEING HEAD UP, LIKES IT, THEN DOESN’T WANT TO GO HEAD DOWN WHEN IT’S TIME?!” The pregnancy emotions are real y’all LOL. That being said, I started working on some spinning babies techniques and I plan on staying on top of my chiro adjustments.

We are a week away from our big drive/move to New Orleans. I want to just “get it over with” and drive as much of it as possible on day 1 and arrive by day 2. It’s a total of 26 hours but I have a feeling my hips and the need to use the bathroom aren’t going to work in my favor to drive long stretches without stopping.

Within the next month we have lots to look forward to, not only the big move, but we FINALLY get to meet our home birth midwife! She has seriously been amazing so far, even though our relationship has only been virtual since I found her prior to our IVF embryo transfer. We also have the baby shower coming up!! I have planned my little heart out for the shower, so I am excited to see it finally all come together and to see all of my family and friends.

Unfortunately, I don’t think Mike will be able to attend or accompany me to Kansas for the shower. Due to various military policies surrounding Covid, I don’t think they are going to approve him any out of state leave. But we will make the best of it one way or the other.

I can’t believe so much is changing and we are almost done with the second trimester.

That’s all for now!

Enjoy!