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To those of you who have read my Calling All Mamas post, I wanted to give an update since I became pregnant with my second son. Now as it typically goes, I took about a thousand belly pictures during my first pregnancy, and have taken hardly any of my second. After all, we’ve been busy. But I did take a second this morning to take a post-workout picture. This is me, this morning, at almost 24 weeks and I would say my belly is still pretty small. I was relatively worried about gaining more weight with the second pregnancy or my belly getting uncontrollably big just because it was my second and that’s what everyone says is supposed to happen, right? But guess what, it really hasn’t. As far as weight gain or overall size, this pregnancy has been fairly close to the first one. Although my baby bump made its appearance a little sooner than the last, but it has pretty much caught up to where it was the last time. I credit this to my diet and nutrition tips and workouts that I have continued doing since I had my first son. So far, they still work!
Now, as everyone knows and every healthcare provider will tell you, EVERY PREGNANCY IS DIFFERENT. So, I can’t say that everything has been the same with this pregnancy as it was last time. Quite honestly, my first pregnancy was a breeze! Besides a few symptoms here and there, I wasn’t really ever sick, I had energy, minus a few weeks in the beginning, and my belly was so small, it really didn’t keep me from doing anything I wanted to do or weigh me down while I was doing it. This pregnancy, however, I did get sick about 24/7 for the whole first trimester. But, instead of taking nausea medications or chemicals, I kept it at bay with probiotics, ginger supplements, ginger candy, and lemon-ginger tea. These are what I used and they seemed to work well. The candy was especially useful for instant relief in last minute situations when I had waited too long to eat something and would be gagging at my work desk.
As far as exercise goes, I have been much more tired this time around, but I have maintained a constant exercise routine. My rule is at least 30 minutes a day and 1 rest day a week, but I usually break the rest day rule and at least go for a casual walk. For the most part, I have been walking and doing my Total Body Workouts. I have noticed that as good as exercise made me feel last time, it has made a WORLD of difference this pregnancy. For example, some days I am just too tired to workout and think I’m just going to skip a day. It never fails that by the afternoon, I feel so anxious, emotional and stir-crazy that I can’t stand it and I have to do at least 15 minutes of some sort of heart pumping exercise routine. And guess what…I instantly feel better! What’s that line about endorphins make you happy that we’ve all heard time and time again? Well, it’s 100% right! I literally feel normal again after I get my blood moving and I have no doubt that it will help you too.
The point is, having a natural pregnancy is effective and it’s not difficult if you are prepared for it. Now, these remedies may not work for you like they worked for me, but the good news is that they don’t hurt. So you can try any of them and try the tons of other options out there that are natural and healthy remedies and see what works for you. Regardless of how natural it is, especially with different supplements and teas, ALWAYS ask your doctor before trying something new. If you want more information on natural pregnancy remedies, check out my post, 6 Natural Prego Remedies Every Mama Should Know. As always, I hope you enjoy!