I have shared about my pregnancy symptoms during my first trimester previously. In this post, I will share a little of my experience during my 2nd trimester. But to be fair, what they said is true. That second trimester is much better than the first.
Pregnancy symptoms (second trimester)
Firstly, feeling extremely tired all the time has gone. I still feel tired of course and would take naps if I can but my energy level has definitely increased. Most exciting of all is my nausea and vomiting have all disappeared as well. Woohoo!
Pimples
On the contrary, however, there are a few new symptoms I have experienced. The first is my pimples which mostly keep appearing on my forehead. I totally ignored them in the beginning but after a few weeks, they are very noticeable. They are not that bad actually as they are just small ones. However, they have become annoyingly abundant in number, and they kind of overlap each other.
I feel like a teenager again although I haven’t really had these many pimples ever in my life. Maybe one or two huge ones at one point especially during menstruation but that is it. Personally, though, I don’t mind as I understand it is just a part of pregnancy probably caused by my increased crazy hormones. And luckily, I am a much older, more mature, and secure woman now that I can’t be bothered at all.
Bum/Back pain
Another symptom I am feeling that needed more professional help is my bum pain. When I stay in one position for a long time and then try to change position, I feel this intense sharp pain in my bum. The location we determined is prominently around where the sciatic nerve is.
It is very intense sometimes. Changing position from sitting on the couch to standing up to walking to the toilet, for example, I would freeze because of pain for a few minutes until it subsides a bit. Then I would stretch and move a little bit then walk like an old person. Sometimes, the husband would take pity on me. He would act like my stick or walking frame to help carry the load I guess which is very sweet of him.
I had it for a few weeks. The good thing is that I have my midwife appointment that week. When she asked me if I have any other pregnancy issues, I urgently told her about the bum pain. She booked me for a Physiotherapy visit and told me someone will give me a call to confirm the appointment soon.
Physio appointment
Together with the husband, we went to that appointment as I also noticed the pain is happening more frequently. I would not deny the fact though that it was aggravated due to the nature of my work. Especially when I work on long days I would certainly expect bum pain at the end of the shift. Worse the pain when I get home that all I want to do after is lay in bed.
The Physiotherapist who had seen me, Antonija, got my history and then made an assessment of the problem. She asked me to do some stretches then she determined the problem. As she explained to us, the muscle called Piriformis, which is situated on top of the sciatic nerve is a bit stiff. It needs loosening up by doing some stretching/exercises.
To give a better illustration, I found this photo online about the Piriformis muscle. And the problem is specifically called ‘Piriformis Syndrome.
The photo was taken from spineuniverse.com.
She advised me to do specific stretches a few minutes a day that targeted that specific muscle. You can view some of the exercises through this link. She also recommended we buy a gym ball to help with the pelvic muscles and strengthen the core muscles which we did right after that appointment.
To this day, the gym ball has truly helped a lot with all the pain I am experiencing. No wonder I always see them being used with pregnant women during labor because they truly work.
Darkening of skin
One last symptom I would like to add is the darkening of my skin particularly in my neck and underarm. They are not pleasant to look at, I know and I apologize to those of you reading this. I have noticed them before with other pregnant women but I never expected that it would be happening to me as well. Oh well, another part of pregnancy I guess.
If there is one thing I am sure of in this phase of my pregnancy, it that is I will take all of the pain, pimples, and darkening of skin for my growing baby. I am willing to take whatever comes in this pregnancy if it means keeping and making sure the baby is safe and healthy. I am certain that is what all future moms will do too.
