My 2nd trimester Update! Favourite things & thoughts

The more my pregnancy progresses the better I feel! ( I am sure this won't remain true in the final weeks/days) but for now, I feel more energised and fitter every week. Soooo good after all the sickness of the first trimester.

My skin has been perfectly clear, glowing and supple, my nails are growing faster than I clip or file them. My favourite food has been Green Smoothies! I have one every day for breakfast. I also really loved avocados and mangoes! No weird cravings. Smell has gone back to normal.

The only thing seems to be that I am a little more clumsy than usual. is that a thing?

I keep dropping things and my dear husband has a lot of fun.

I have just been feeling very calm and happy most of the time, no crazy mood swings or anything.
I contribute this to eating very well (no junk, no sugar etc) as well as exercising and also keeping up with work. I have taken on slightly less work now in the third trimester as I have more midwife appointments and also don't want to overexert myself.

My exercise routine was easy to keep up and I added evening walks and swims to the schedule which has been amazing. We have had a very hot Summer over here so far and I am not going to lie, the heat is not really comfortable when pregnant, it does make me feel sluggish and slow.
I have been doing 5 workouts a week, plus normal walks and swims. It really helped my posture with the growing belly and weight of the growing boobs.

My favourite beauty products have been:

~ Coconut Oil! I use it on wet skin in the shower all over my body.
~ My Edible Beauty skin care range, it's just perfect, swooooon!
Over Summer I have been using the Serum mostly on it's own, which makes my skin glow and keep it hydrated. When I need extra protection or spend a lot of time outdoors I also use the tinted moisturiser. Of course, I cleanse twice daily and use the exfoliant 1-2 times a week.
~ Vanessa Megan Pregnancy Perfume
~ Wild Rose Body Wash by Weleda
~ Face Tan Water by Eco Tan ( I think I have to write a separate review about this!)
~ Liquid Minerals Foundation By Jane Iredale

Books:
Ina May's Guide To Breastfeeding
Simplicity Parenting
Heaven On Earth A Handbook for Parents Of Young Children
 all the beautiful baby & children books we received at our recent baby shower!

Foods: Green Smoothies! Every Morning!
Fresh Baby Spinach Salads with Avocado (!) chickpeas & tofu
Mangoes!!! And Melons!

Clothes: Spell dresses, forever and ever, so comfy in the heat. And so much room for the belly! But I can also continue to wear them next summer without a big belly!

We have also started our nesting! That little nursery is complete by now and we have almost all things ticked off our list. Only a last few bits and pieces, which makes me feel really calm and good. I think it helped both of us to really get our head around that our baby girl will be living with us real soon!

I really enjoy being pregnant and am excited about the third trimester.

Bump Update: Favourite Books & Prenatal Excercise

This second trimester is so much fun. I am feeling great and my energy is back.
 While I am still working my normal and pretty busy schedule, every free minute is spent with baby/pregnancy related things.

I am making smoothies every morning, eating heaps of fresh organic fruits & veggies and I am back to my lively self.

We will probably only do this once, so I am enjoying taking it all in and making the most out of this special time. Every week this little bump is growing...it all seems to happen so fast.

I have been reading a great deal about pregnancy, birth and parenting. My favourites so far are:

Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful by Gurmukh
Simplicity Parenting
You Are Your Child's First Teacher
Ina May's Guide To Childbirth
Gentle Birth , Gentle Mothering

It's all so exciting and I am so hungry for Information right now.

And while have been doing my Kundalini Yoga Meditations (many great ones are also in Gurmukhs Book above) I was craving a little more Aerobic exercise than just my usual yoga to replace my running.

I have never been to a gym in my life and I am not usually into funky workouts but I really started enjoying my "Expecting More" prenatal home videos by Sarah Hayley. There are dance style cardio workouts, strength & sculpt classes and combined workouts. They all have a great intensity and really make me sweat, yet they are gentle and safe enough for pregnancy. I have been following the suggested schedule of 5 workouts a week and two days off.I replace her "Salutations" with actual prenatal Yoga but stick to the other workouts. It has given me so much energy and really perked me up.
The real downside is the music in those videos, but after I learned all the moves I can now play my own music with it and just keep the video on silent.

I also went for my first swim of the season this week and hope to get to the beach a lot in the coming months, the cool water felt amazing!

If you are pregnant, planning to be or have a friend that is, I hope this was somewhat helpful.

I am by no means an expert and the above are just my personal opinions and experiences.

My first trimester round up

Have you heard the big tiny news? It has already changed everything...
I am officially through the first trimester, so I am about to feel fantastic, or at least that's what everyone is telling me.

After feeling amazing and glowing and grateful for two weeks after finding out I was pregnant, nausea and fatigue kicked in.

I was beyond surprised how these early weeks have knocked me off my socks and just put my life on hold while our baby was doing all this amazing growing.
My intention was to just keep feeling healthy and fabulous and to stay fit right from the start.
But easier said than done. I had to surrender and give my body all the rest it demanded. I was somehow able to work but then afterwards I was just too tired to keep my eyes open.
It didn't help that I had a lot of travel, super early starts and extra busy days this time of year when all I really wanted was snacks and naps. It really felt like having nasty flu/stomach bug/virus that just won't go away.
None of the general advice of trying ginger etc. helped my nausea at all. None did the constant snacking, although without snacking I did feel worse.
The only thing that helped was lying down, curled up in bed and closing my eyes.
Sometimes something really sour would help a little like eating an Umeboshi Plum.
Another saviour was practising Kundalini Yoga meditations, even short and simple ones. Together with a very gentle practice with lots of rest.
Connecting to the few close friends and family that knew our news from the start was so great and helpful too.

Taking a vegan, organic whole foods prenatal vitamin every day (which I started a few months before I was pregnant) made me feel at ease about my nutrition on days that I wasn't able to eat as well as I had planned. The MyKind Organics Prenatal Multi were the best I could find.
I also take the B12 Spray from the same brand. I also took a vegan DHA supplement.
On mornings when I wasn't able to get much down I made myself a breakfast smoothie in the Vitamix.
By adding some vegan protein powder, it was a full meal, while also making sure I got my fruit and veggies.
I felt like my body had gone on autopilot and just did its own thing.
And when this body needed sleep there was no way I could keep my eyes open.

I had so many great plans for the blog and lot's lined up, but hey, I had to grow this baby and wasn't able to do both at the same time. I didn't expect this at all, I thought I keep going, as usual, doing lot's of things at a time and just going to bed a little earlier. Little did I know...

Even though feeling nauseous and tired I still somehow enjoyed the first trimester somewhat.
I always reminded myself that I was doing my best. While I was lying in bed, I started to read some great books about birth, pregnancy etc.
I really loved

My cravings were for carbs I wanted Sourdough and Potatoes at all times! I didn't like anything raw, except Oranges.
I am not usually a picky eater so this must have all been pretty confusing to the husband.
Cooking has been off limits, it was either Dave that had to cook or we actually just had something very basic..

The smell of coffee makes me sick as well, so I won't go near it. 

I have definitely learned a lot about surrendering already, about letting go and about prioritising in these early weeks.

I also started to show and quite a few clothes no longer fit. I love that little bump but it needed some bigger clothes.
So I went for an online shopping spree ordering new flowy Summer clothes, swimwear and new bras....because a few things have changed over here.

Here is to the second trimester...the fun one! It's so good to feel better while I am typing this :)
P.S: We are already loving this little Plum so so much.