Pregnancy update numero dos! For those of you struggling through your first trimester, trust me, there is relief coming soon! The second trimester is a godsend! Between the normalization of blood sugar numbers and the farewell to food aversions and morning sickness you’ll feel like a new woman.

There is so much to look forward to in this second trimester too…finding out gender, feeling baby’s first kicks, and if ultrasounds are your jam then you’ll get to see your little seed on the big screen.

In terms of type 1 diabetes, there are a lot of tests and decisions to be made in the 2nd trimester; like will you take a daily aspirin, will you get genetic screening done,  a fetal echocardiogram, and will you get a level 1 and level 2 anatomy scan or just level 1? You might also be asked to do a 24hr urine sample to test for protein (so they can have baseline for your 3rd trimester urine samples). You might also have some blood work done to test your iron levels and your OB will probably want another a1c even tho we all know that at this stage in the game your weekly Dexcom readings tell a lot more about your control than your a1c.

If you missed my first pregnancy update check it out here. If you’ve already seen it, then let’s get right into my second pregnancy update featuring weeks 13-20!

Pregnancy Update: Weeks 13-20

Baby’s Size (and my size)

Week 14 

Baby is the size of a lemon & I’m up 5lbs (160lbs)

Week 17

Baby is the size of a pomegranate & I’m up 8lbs (163lbs)

Week 19

Baby is the size of a zucchini & I’m up 8lbs (163lbs)

Week 20

Baby is the size of a endive & I’m up 8lbs (163)

Insulin Needs

Week 13

No change to insulin needs.

Week 14-16

Small increase to all areas (Correction factor, I:C ratio, and Basal) but nothing drastic. Sugars were hovering in 140-150 mg/dL range so I just needed a small adjustment to bring me down into the 80-120 mg/dL range.

Week 17-20

More small tweaks to all areas (Correction factor, I:C ratio, and Basal), but nothing crazy. To give you an idea, my total basal (background insulin) went from to 10 units (pre conception) to 11.85 units by 20 weeks. My biggest change was to be more aggressive with my I:C in the morning from 1:6 to 1:3.

Symptoms

Week 13
Nausea & headaches are finally showing signs of stopping! All other symptoms are going away too.

Week 14
I feel amazing during the day! Finally, some relief! I do still feel icky at night, but it’s nowhere near what it used to be.

Week 15
Now I know what they mean by the “2nd Trimester Glow”. I feel like I am flying above the clouds. I feel better, I’m motivated, my skin is clearing up, and my mood is so uplifting again!

I’ve felt random “pops” in my belly that haven’t been related to gas and they’ve been in my uterus area so I’m thinking that’s baby 🙂

Week 16
Bump is finally starting to pop, though some days it’s more noticeable than others. I notice that I get pretty winded just walking up stairs, which is crazy since I’ve only gained 7lbs so far. I also fill up really fast, but am hungry again just an hour or so later. I have also noticed heart flutters/a random fast heart beat when I bend over then stand up fast.

Little pops are becoming more frequent, I feel them about once every other day. Definitely baby moving 🙂

Week 17
Lots of gas this week, sorry if that’s TMI! I have also noticed an increase in fluids…of all kinds (also TMI).

I’ve started feeling a butterfly/fluttery feeling in my belly this week, along with more frequent, and stronger, pops.

Week 18-20
Feeling lots of daily movement now! Especially after I drink something cold or have a high blood sugar.

Food Aversions

Week 13
Preparing food is still a weakness of mine along with cooked vegetables and chicken. But the aversions aren’t as strong as before. And it turns out, I can’t stomach tacos.

Week 14
I don’t know what it is about the simple thought of preparing food. But this still gets me in the evenings. I’m able to tolerate veggies and chicken more than last week.

Week 15
And the food preparation aversion saga continues. I still feel sick at the thought of preparing food, but it’s only in the evenings and slowly starting to fade away. Still can’t stomach tacos.

Week 16 & 17
Ground meat is making me queasy and I haven’t been able to do my morning sausage and eggs (because of the sausage). So lots of oatmeal mornings here. Get my low carb oatless oatmeal recipe here. 

Week 18-20
No food aversions other than cooked broccoli.

Food Cravings

13 Weeks
Fruit, hot dogs, chocolate smoothies, peanut butter & jelly

14 Weeks
Berry smoothies, hot dogs, pumpkin cookies

15 Weeks
Watermelon & pineapple, dates, oranges (what’s up with all the sugar cravings??)

16-20 Weeks
Give me all the fruit! Berries and oranges are what I want most and my shamrock shake smoothie (get the recipe here)

Sleep

13 Weeks
Sleep is still pretty amazing! I sleep solid throughout the night, but once I’m up (which is usually at 5am) I have a hard time falling back asleep.

14 & 15 Weeks
I’ve been sleeping great! No issues here 🙂

16 Weeks
Started tossing and turning this week, but still getting a good 8-9 hours a night and only waking up to pee right before I wake up for the day.

17 Weeks
Tossing and turning was getting pretty intense. I tried using a body pillow but that didn’t help much. What did help was propping up my pillow slightly. Now I only toss 2-3x night. All those extra fluids were making me super congested.

Week 18-20
Still tossing and turning occasionally, but overall still sleeping really well.

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