Second trimester: the return of confidence! Plus, check out my 16-week baby bump watch pic!

Is this what pregnancy "glow" looks like?

I have to say; I was feeling pretty self-conscious in my first trimester of pregnancy. Between early first trimester bloating, the surge of new hormones that make you moody, emotional and acne-prone; there are a lot of things that can make you feel…not yourself. But thankfully, as I’ve entered my second trimester, some things are lookin’ up as far as my confidence is concerned!

One of the confidence killers in early pregnancy, at least for me, was weight gain. Because of early bloating, I was putting on weight but it didn’t look anything like pregnancy yet. I just looked like I was getting chunky. And when you haven’t told anyone at work you’re pregnant, for example, it’s really frustrating trying to cover it up every day. You feel like people are starting to talk, and in my case, they were! But apparently it was because someone thought I was “glowing,” which they in turn took to mean I was pregnant. To this day, I still don’t know what “glowing” really looks like! But now that I’m 16 weeks pregnant, I’m starting to wear more fitted tee shirts under long cardigans so my little bump can peek out occasionally and it looks a little more like an early baby bump than just a spare tire! And now, I feel cute!

Magic in a tube! Pair this with the acne fighting cleanser!

One of the main reasons that my self-esteem took a nose dive over the last two months is because my face broke out like crazy! Even with makeup, it was hard to cover up. A couple weeks ago, some of our friends came to visit for a weekend, and I felt like all I did was complain about my zits! I was feeling so gross and I wanted her to know that I wasn’t just letting myself go – this acne business was not my fault! It’s the hormones! I felt bad for my nonstop rants and apologized for complaining so much. She understood and said; “Courtney, you’re just going through a blah stage.” And she was right! I was feeling so BLAH. I spoke with my doctor about my concerns and she assured me that using Benzoyl Peroxide was a safe topical acne treatment. So I went straight to the grocery store and picked up some Clean & Clear Continuous Control Acne Cleanser and some Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10 acne spot treatment, both with 10% Benzoyl Peroxide. And I’ll tell you, within four days my skin was already improving. It’s a little drying, so you need a good moisturizer, but between the face wash and spot treatment, it really does the trick and zaps those unwanted zits! Now, two weeks later my skin is looking great! It’s not perfect, it never was to be honest, but any imperfection is easily covered up with makeup and I’m feeling leaps and bounds better than I did just two weeks ago! And now, I kinda think I’m glowing – whatever that means!

Sometimes when you’re going through a “blah stage,” you just need something like a new haircut or highlight to give you that boost you need! And I needed that so bad. With all the prenatal vitamins I’ve been taking and water I’ve been consuming, my hair had grown super long and it was looking flat and heavy and the color was brassy. So I went to my hair stylist and asked for a shorter ‘do, new bangs, and to lighten me up a bit! By the time she was done, I was already feeling like a new woman. Between my fresh new haircut, clearing skin, and cute little baby bump, I’m finally feeling like I think you’re supposed to in your second trimester – GREAT! And it doesn’t hurt to go shopping and get yourself some cute maternity jeans and some fun jewelry to boost some every day basic looks like tees and cardigans!

Baby bump watch continues – week 16!

I feel like the weeks are flying by! It seems like every time I turn around I’m taking a new bump watch pic. It was a little strange this week, because I actually weighed myself and saw that I lost about 2 lbs.! I’m not sure why that is, but through the week I do eat pretty healthy, with lots of fruits and veggie snacks, and light breakfast and lunch options. I also drink a lot of water. But of course any weight I lost through the week I probably made up for over the weekend, where I tend to just relax a bit on what I eat.

According to Babycenter.com, over the next few weeks my baby will double in size and grow three inches! He’s about the size of an avocado now, or about 4 ½ inches, and all this growth means I’ll likely be feeling the baby kick any time now.  But like I said last week, it may take longer for me to distinguish between baby movement and hunger pangs until about 20 weeks when the feeling is stronger. I’m sure in the next week or two you’ll be noticing a real change in my bump watch pics. If you’ve ever seen a pregnant girl on a regular basis from the time she finds out she’s pregnant until she gives birth, there’s always that moment when she “pops” and there’s no question whether she’s preggo to the outside world! I wonder what week that will be for me?

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Tagged as: baby bump watch, Babycenter.com, first trimester, maternity, pregnancy, pregnant, second trimester