Healthy Green Pregnancy – The 2nd Trimester

I’m 28 weeks along now with this pregnancy, so I’m officially into my third trimester! And have to say that, thankfully, my second trimester was so much better than the first.

While I know this is not true for all women, when most pregnant mamas reach that 12 week mark, the change seems almost instantaneous. I remember saying to my husband that I finally felt like myself again.

The second trimester of pregnancy is usually a sweet respite period between the exhausted and nauseous first trimester, and the uncomfortable, and just ready to meet your baby, third trimester. And it’s a great time to continue, or even begin, healthy and green activities and plans that will benefit your pregnancy.

(This was me at 21 weeks. Sorry for the bad self portrait – I’m still learning, and isn’t it sad that this is one of my only belly pics this pregnancy – each baby gets fewer and fewer pictures!)

Continuing Your Natural and Green Pregnancy in the 2nd Trimester

· Exercise

Although I have not taken my own advice on this one as much as I’ve wanted to, the second trimester is a good time to ease back into some physical activity if you’ve been too exhausted/sick during the first trimester to keep up with exercising. Of course, this should always be done with the supervision of your doctor or midwife. I have Lindsay Brin’s Complete Pregnancy Workout DVD set, and really like that there are different workouts for each trimester, and that they also include a yoga section. (I’m also looking forward to using the Postnatal Bootcamp DVD after the baby is born.)

There are so many great reasons to exercise during pregnancy, that if your pregnancy is going smoothly and you get the go-ahead from your care provider, you should definitely try to fit exercise into your weekly schedule.

· Healthy Eating

While healthy eating during the first trimester can be a challenge, the second trimester usually brings a relief from the nausea, sickness and exhaustion, making healthy food choices much easier. Increased energy means you can spend more time in the kitchen creating healthy meals and snacks. And you may be able to add foods that you had aversions to during the first trimester, back into your diet again. We’ll cover more about healthy eating during the second trimester next week – along with a great giveaway!

· Reading and Research

Now is the time to start reading about pregnancy and birth, if you haven’t already. I think that it is really important to educate yourself about birth so that you can make the best and most informed decision for yourself, your baby, and your family that you can. 

It may seem premature to be reading and learning about labor and birth at this point, but I actually think it’s a little bit better to read about it now, when it’s still pretty far off. If you wait to read about labor and birth until your just a few weeks away, all of that information could easily be overwhelming. Check out my recommended Pregnancy Reading List!

· Beginning Birth Plan

As your doing your reading and researching, now is a great time to begin thinking about your birth plan. Obviously you don’t have to have it all set in stone before you reach week 28, but it’s still important to start thinking about and visualizing the kind of birth that you want.

This is a great time to ask questions like — Do I want to use a doula? Do I want to have a water birth? Who do I want to be in the delivery room with me, besides my husband, if anyone? Thinking through some of these issues now will save you the stress of having to decide some of them at the last minute (when everyone and their mother thinks they should be able to be in the room with you when the baby is actually born). I’ll be talking more about birth plans in a future post too.

· Beginning Plans for Post-Baby

I’ve already been thinking about things like my newborn cloth diaper stash, nursing gear, and postpartum recovery for the past six weeks, or so. I want to make sure that I have everything I need on hand ahead of time, so I don’t have to scramble to get things together after the baby is born.

I’m also thinking about making some meals to stash in the freezer for those weeks after the baby is born, and I know we’ll also be blessed with meals from our amazing friends and church family.

Notice for all these things I just said I’m starting to think about them. You don’t have to go crazy trying to get all your planning done during the second trimester, but the reality is this may be the best time as far as your energy levels are concerned. While you’ll probably need some things to keep your mind and body occupied during the last few weeks, you also don’t want to save up all of these tasks until then – especially if your baby makes an early appearance!

What did you find to be most important to do during your second trimester?

• Read More in the Healthy Green Pregnancy Series:
  • Surviving the First Trimester
  • Healthy Green Pregnancy – It Starts Now!
  • Eating for Two
  • Pregnancy Reading List

*Disclosure – There are affiliate links in this post. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I’ll receive a small commission. Thanks for supporting Live Renewed!