Pregnant in Korea: Weeks 13-27

If you missed it, click here to read Pregnant in Korea: Weeks 1-12

The second trimester began at the beginning of December 2018 and it was a busy couple of months! 

As I mentioned in my post about the first trimester, I didn't have any morning sickness but I did have quite a bit of fatigue. Luckily the fatigue subsided and I was able to feel somewhat human again with the start of trimester 2. The beginning of a two-month-long winter vacation also helped.

Week 13

We held off sharing the news with friends and family until week 13 and the timing worked perfectly to match my mom's birthday! If you might recall this was the time when Canada Post was on strike so my initial plan was foiled -- I hid a sonogram in a birthday card, but ended up making a video instead. The effect was the same, and it wasn't a competition, but my mom had the best reaction hands down 🙃

Week 14

We made the news *social media official*

Week 15

Our monthly hospital visits during the second trimester were pretty much all routine -- check in, ultrasound, the end. It must have been around this time that I started taking vitamin D and iron supplements - all supplied free by the Korean government through the health centre.

Week 17

Around week 17 my school's semester came to an end and I dealt with grading and paperwork all while packing and preparing to move to a new apartment! We relocated to slightly larger place within Mokpo. Five days after moving in, we were off on our babymoon in Osaka (post on that to come!).

(A photo of us atop Osaka's Harukas 300 on New Year's Eve - the Korean says "In the new year, we will definitely... become parents".)

Week 19

It was around this time when Moo was too big to be caught in one shot on the ultrasound! This is also around the time when I started to feel kicks -- although PH wasn't able to feel them until week 20. It truly is one of the more bizarre experiences/feelings. The movements have become more obvious now, but at first it felt like the flick of a fishes tail. 

Week 21

Cue the nesting! Dissatisfied with the bare walls, we decided to paint a mural. It wasn't planned to be *Canadiana*, but PH said it reminded him of the Rocky Mountains. I decided to also make a mobile to go with the theme. It's still a work in progress, but see below for the deconstructed preview. 

Week 23

Routine ultrasound at week 23 ~ We started to be able to see Moo's face! Though it's too early to really tell, I took a poll of who he looks like so far. What do you think?

Week 27

Our last ultrasound during the second trimester was a bit of a busy one. In addition to the regular ultrasound, I also had the routine test for gestational diabetes (all clear!). I also had to get the RhoGAM injection due to my having an RH- blood type. As I mentioned in my post about the first trimester, I don't know all the science behind the issue but it has something to do with incompatibility of RH- and RH+ blood. If Moo has RH- blood as well (which we won't know in advance), there would be no problem but the RhoGAM injection is given just in case his blood type is RH+ and will stop my body from creating antibodies which would attack his red blood cells. Fun!

At the time of this ultrasound (which is our most recent at this point), Moo was measuring about 25cm and 1.4kg. 

As of the writing of this post, all is well in our neighbourhood. We're into the third trimester with about 10 weeks to go. Moo enjoys chocolate, chicken, and pulverizing my insides at 1am.

Pregnant in Korea: Weeks 28-38

Pregnant in Korea: The Birth Story