11 Jul The Fifth Month is Time for Shopping

You’re officially half way there!

You’re probably wondering how on earth time has moved so fast, or maybe you’re wondering why it’s moving so slowly either way. You are at a very important milestone. Halfway through your pregnancy! Take a minute to really consider how it feels… When your pregnancy started there was a lot going on, raging hormones, itchy boobs, a growing belly and while your body is nowhere near done with all the growing, it really is pretty much downhill from this point.

TIME TO GO SHOPPING

One of the highlights from month five has to be shopping for maternity clothing. Now that your belly is officially out there, you get to head to the store and dress it up. Trust me when I say, nothing quite prepares you for that first time you look in the mirror and realise, “holy cow, there it is. I am seriously pregnant”.

THE DOWNSIDE OF THE GROWING BUMP

But with this growing belly, came one surprising, negative change to my body…It was at around month five and six that I started to struggle with my changing body. My doctor would constantly remind me that my body was my baby’s first home and as such it was my job as the landlord, to treat it well, look after it and care for it because it was holding the most precious cargo. During pregnancy, our bodies change and grow in the most incredible ways, these changes can sometimes be so drastic that our minds struggle to keep up. Having a positive body image during this time is absolutely vital.

One of my biggest challenges sprung from one very visible change to my body, stretch marks. Boy, I tried every oil and lotion on the market and nothing worked. I was using tissue oil from day one, but still, those dreadful, angry, red stripes popped up everywhere from my belly to my armpits (I’m not even kidding!). I really struggled to come to terms with what I perceived to be irreversible damage to my body. The more I looked in the mirror the unhappier I felt. I could never take a gorgeous bump selfie because while most other moms had beautiful round bellies to show off, mine with lined with stretch marks.

What’s a girl to do? Well, I can tell you now that my answer is going to seem a bit “away with the fairies” but really, the only thing I could do was come to terms with it. And in doing so I felt like I freed myself a little. By the end of the second trimester my “tiger stripes” didn’t bother me anymore and while I continued to use the creams and oils, I didn’t feel despondent about the fact that they didn’t seem to be working. Now that my body is somewhat recovered, most of my stretch marks are so faint I barely notice them anymore.

BUT YOUR PURPOSE IS NOT TWO-FOLD

Gone are the days of just looking after yourself, and nothing drives that home quite like the second trimester. As your baby becomes less of an abstract thought and more of a moving force inside of you, you really start to grasp the importance of your health and wellbeing. If you are not ok (physically and emotionally) neither is your baby. My biggest lesson during this month was that I needed to be kind to my body. Not just in how I treated it, but how I felt about it too.

RELATED LINKS

• Body Changes | Month 5
• Month 5: Halfway (and Feeling It!)
• Pregnancy: Month 5: What Our Dietitian Has To Say
• Pregnancy: Month 5: A Physiotherapist’s Professional Opinion