Second Trimester of Pregnancy

The following were the changes and strange feelings that I experienced during the second trimester of my pregnancy:

1. Strong sense of smell.
Even if it was several meters away, I was able to smell almost anything. My nose and stomach was so sensitive that I always felt like throwing up everytime I smelled something. Anything that has smell became unpleasant to my  senses - whether it was a bad smell or a perfume.

I never put on any fragrance since then.

2. Sleepy several times a day.
I usually go to work 45-30 minutes earlier so I could take a nap in the morning. Then at lunch break I would sleep from 12 - 12:45 pm so I could still eat lunch before 1 pm.. Or if I was not so sleepy yet, I would eat lunch first, then sleep until 1 pm.

I can still remember how one of my co-workers arranged the sofa at the office so I could use it to sleep during break periods without any visitor noticing me :)

3. Frequent urinating.
For me, I didn't mind going to the CR frequently. I even made it a habit to drink at least 1 glass of water anytime of the day right after I urinated. This is to prevent UTI and to ensure that I am properly hydrated so that my baby would also have enough fluids to "swim into" :)

4. Constipation.
Although they said it might be normal for a pregnant, I didn't want to experience it for a long time so the first time that I experienced constipation, I decided to include oatmeal in my diet to increase fiber intake and prevent constipation. Luckily, my decision was right. I never experienced it again until I gave birth :)

5. Emotional
Believe it or not, I'm not the "crying" type of person. When my mother died, in 1997, I was able to hold back my tears because I didn't want other people to see me cry.

However, I noticed that when I got pregnant, I became very emotional when triggerred by external factors. I cried when Donaire won in his boxing fight. I cried when I watched Azkals won in their game. I cried over the disney movie Tangled. I cried when I saw some bad news in the TV. I even cried over telenovelas!

I couldn't help it, tears seemed to automatically fell off my eyes. But I still tried to distract myself towards happy thoughts so I can feel good again.

6. Cheerful

Contrary to the saying that most of the pregnants are irritable, I find myself cheerful and happy most of the time. 

It was a bit strange because I am irritable by nature.. When my friends asked my husband whether I became more irritable when I got pregnant, they couldn't believe when my husband answered that I was more cheerful instead.

7. Muscle Cramps

I experienced frequent leg cramps especially at night. I was so lucky to have my husband at my side to immediately ease the pain.

8. Numbness
My left arm and fingers became numb almost everyday but it was gone after I gave birth.

Despite the changes and strange feelings that I experienced during my pregnance, I am still happy and thankful because it was a wonderful experience.. and I know at the end of the last trimester I will be able to hold, hug and kiss my baby - so excited :)

Choosing My OB

I didn't know where to go for my first check up.. The OB that I had before was too far - at Medical City Ortigas and we are already settled in Laguna. One of the OB's that I know did not have clinic hours beyond 6pm so I tried to go to one of the nearby hospitals where an OB was still available even after office hours.

At first, I thought the OB in the hospital was ok. However, upon second and third visit, I noticed that I was barely checked, and that she was giving prescriptions and tons of laboratory tests without verifying my actual condition.. I waited in line for about half an hour but when my turn came, check up was done in less than five minutes!? 

Then I decided to change my OB. I was lucky that the OB that I chose was very accommodating and she really gave enough time to check my condition and explain everything before prescribing anything. Eventhough I had to take leave from work every check up because she had no clinic hours beyond 6pm, it was ok with me because every visit was worth the time..

Everytime I visited my OB, it felt like visiting a friend. She would always remind me the do's and don'ts to keep me and my baby healthy.

I tried my best to do what my OB advised and lucky enough, my pregnancy went well.. I gave birth to a healthy baby girl last October 16, 2011 :)

First Trimester of Pregnancy

I think most of the women out there who experienced (or are experiencing) pregnancy would agree that the first trimester (first three months) is the most challenging (I don't wanna call it difficult) period.

This is because there are many changes occurring in our body as the baby develops, and our body needs to adjust to these changes.

I experienced morning sickness - actually I don't wanna call it just "morning" sickness because almost the whole day I feel nauseated if I smelled something "unpleasant"- be it a good or bad smell, it gives an uncomfortable feeling which triggers nausea and headache anytime of the day.

I also seemed to have a "sour-like" taste in my tastebuds, and feeling sour in my stomach. Being a Chemical Engineer, i thought that eating sweet food might contradict the "sour-taste feeling" (like taking antacids on acidic stomach). I tried to eat sweet fruits such as ripe mango, watermelon and banana. But none of these were able to ease my uncomfortable "sour" feeling.

Later on, a friend of mine told me that what I was experiencing was more of a "craving" - and that I should take food with the same taste that I'm feeling - i.e., if I feel something "sour", I should take sour food (e.g., green mango, dalandan) to "ease the feeling".

At first I was skeptical and I wouldn't wanna do it because personally, I don't like sour fruits. However, because the advise came from a friend who got pregnant twice already, I tried to eat green mango. To my surprise, the uneasy feeling was gone as soon as I took the first bite of green mango! I was really amazed at that time.

I still experienced "megahunger" every 2-3 hours no matter how big or small the main meal that I've taken. I usually wake up at 2 and 4 o'clock in the morning just to eat something that could make my stomach "full" again - bread or rice meals. I'm so thankful to my husband who is very supportive. He wouldn't mind going to the convenience store no matter what time it was just to buy food.

I experienced those things until 4th month of my pregnancy..