Second Trimester Symptoms Nobody Warns You About

The second trimester is supposed to be the easy one, and mostly it was - but it came with its own strange, specific list.

Congestion and dry mouth

Congestion and sinus headaches showed up with no cold anywhere near me - covered in full on the Pregnancy Rhinitis post. A dry throat came with it, possibly tied to gestational diabetes screening territory, and this combination helped: chewing sugar-free gum or sugar-free hard candy to encourage saliva, drinking lots of water, sucking on ice chips, running a humidifier at night, keeping up good oral hygiene, using a dry-mouth mouthwash, and skipping coffee.

The visible changes

Far fewer bathroom trips than the first trimester - a small relief. Belly growth became genuinely noticeable, and Linea Nigra, a dark line running down the belly from increased hormones, showed up and faded on its own after birth.

The odd, unexplained ones

• Blurry vision - subtitles on TV occasionally looked slightly blurry.
• Forgetfulness - showed up and wasn't worth fighting.
• Nosebleeds - from the same increased blood volume that causes so much else this trimester; vessels in the nose can rupture. Startling, but normal.
• Rashes - on the stomach and breast for a short stretch; a prescribed cream cleared it up.
• Achy legs - for me this was a dehydration sign specifically. More water, more stretching.

Braxton Hicks arrive

False labour contractions can start showing up in the second or third trimester - irregular, and they fade. Nothing to do about them except notice them.