Feeling great

Just like clockwork, the nausea disappeared shortly after 12 weeks, and I can eat most foods again. Although I still have a problem with broccoli and chicken and vegetable stir fry for some reason (yuck).

I’m feeling a lot better. I have more energy, feel less sluggish, and more like myself again which is really nice. The gyms have reopened again after lockdown! (YAY!) And I’ve been enjoying getting back into regular exercise using a pregnancy safe exercise plan. There are lots of fantastic apps for pregnancy workouts. Most charge a free after the initial trial period, but I also like to use You Tube to access free pregnancy exercise and yoga videos.

Time for maternity clothes

The second trimester is the most enjoyable part of pregnancy, as not only does the nausea settle and energy levels improve, now is the time when you start to develop an obvious ‘baby bump’. There is an awkward stage around 12 weeks where your regular clothes are too tight, but you’re still too small for maternity clothes. I find buying a few extra T-shirts (non-maternity) in 2 sizes up from your regular pre-pregnancy size is helpful during this stage. Loose fitting tops are great for comfort, but it’s also good to invest in some stretchy tops (e.g tank top) as these will be able to stretch over your growing bump for most of the second and early third trimester. You can also buy a waistband extender which you can clip on to your regular pants, however the elastic waistband on maternity pants is just sooooo comfortable. I highly recommend investing in some maternity pants/jeans early on. Some style have a stretchy waistband that can be rolled down, so you can continue to wear them post-partum also.

Supplement review

I’ve been struggling to remember to take the second prenatal vitamin (the bottle advises 1 capsule, twice a day) and between the multivitamin, the fish oil, iron and calcium, I feel like I’m constantly taking pills and I keep forgetting some. I was also having some issues with the prenatal multivitamin, as it kept getting stuck in my throat due to the large capsule size! So, I’ve just switched to Max Biocare’s Procare Diamond Plus, which I’m loving as it’s one a day, and also contains omega-3 DHA/EPA, plus 24mg of iron bisglycinate. So it reduces my supplement intake almost in half! I’ve also found it so much easier to swallow because the capsule itself is quite slim.

I’m still taking Max Biocare Iron Up (I still need extra iron on top of what’s in Procare Diamond Plus), and calcium. In addition, I was actually having a bit of trouble swallowing all the tablets, and I would find myself gagging when trying to take the calcium tablets. For this reason, I prefer to take a chewable supplement where possible, such as Max Biocare’s Auscalmax.

from an Expert Author

Diana Newman

BHSc Nutr Med, MNutr – Nutritionist

Diana is a registered nutritionist with close to 10 years’ experience in the industry working as a clinical nutritionist. She completed her undergraduate in Nutritional Medicine, followed by a Master’s Degree in Human Nutrition through Deakin University and is a member of the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA) and Nutrition Society Australia (NSA).

Diana’s area of clinical expertise lies in digestive disorders, cardio metabolic conditions, fertility, pregnancy and infant nutrition. Diana is also a mum to 2 year old identical twin girls, and has spent recent years completing additional training in fertility and pregnancy nutrition through Monash University and Well College Global.

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