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Belly wise…baby’s presence is very apparent. I’m sporting a definite baby bump now, and I can feel a hard mass below my belly button especially when I lie down. It’s still too early to feel baby kick, but sometimes, if I place a gentle hand on my tummy and breathe slowly, I can feel very very slight movements…I suppose this is what the books call quickening (tiny flutters that feel like champagne fizzling)? Also, at different times in the night…before I go to sleep, when I get up to go pee, when I wake up early in the morning, that hard mass appears to be at slightly different locations so looks like baby’s shifting around!

I guess it’s really true that the second trimester is the honeymoon period. Nausea only rears it’s ugly head when I’m feeling particularly tired…I noticed this usually happens on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings when I get up to go to work. I still need afternoon naps on weekends, but 1-2 hours is more than sufficient to recharge. I do start yawning away earlier in the night though, but then I suppose it’s my body telling me to get more rest.

Skin has been getting a little dry, so I’ve been using up my stash of L’occitane moisturizing creams. I’m also deathly afraid of those dratted stretch marks, and after reading some pregnancy forums and hearing recommendations from friends, I’ve started using Clarins’s Tonic Body Treatment Oil. It’s supposed to help prevent stretch marks…although all the pregnancy books that I’ve read thus far have said that there’s practically no way in heaven or hell one can avoid stretch marks - 90% of pregnant women will get them due to the breaking down of elastin and collagen fibers in the skin…so, if you’re gonna get it, you’ll get it…

The oil smells nice, very spa-like, and the sales assistant at Clarins told me to apply it on damp skin after showering by massaging it into my abdomen and thighs, and then rinsing off with cold water. I did that for about 1 week before realizing that my skin was totally absorbing the oil, so now I just dispense with the cold water part. Any difference in skin texture since I started using it? Most definitely…my skin feels really soft and very moisturized, so maybe there’s some hope in that tiny bottle after all! That, and my weight gain, which seems to have slowed down ever since I entered the second trimester…not a bad thing since rapid weight gain aggravates the occurrence of stretch marks.

Digestive system has definitely slowed down and doing a number two is becoming a slight problem now despite drinking a cup of prune juice every night (yes, I’ve increased it from half a cup to one cup!). Gotta ask the doctor this Tuesday if there’s anything else I can do to alleviate the problem. One of my biggest concerns is hemorrhoids/piles. It’s one of the common problems pregnant women suffer due to constipation as well as the additional pressure from the uterus. Both my parents strongly believe in practicing good bowel habits daily, and that’s one of the things that I’ve picked up from them, so this is the one aspect that I’d hope would bypass me. Well, I’ll just eat more prunes and hope things improve from there.

We’re going for another checkup this coming Tuesday, and I’m so extremely excited as I can’t wait to see how much baby has grown! And maybe maybe if we’re extremely lucky, the doctor will be able to tell us if baby’s a boy or girl so I can start going clothes shopping!! Pretty unlikely though as people usually find out their baby’s gender around 20 weeks, and some even later.

Just two more days, precious baby…! Can’t wait!