Bye-Bye, 2nd Tri {PinkBlush Giveaway}

"Life is short. Wear your party pants!"

(Loretta Laroche)

Or your pretty PinkBlush lace and pleated chiffon maxi dress! Learn more and enter my giveaway of $75 to PinkBlush -- maternity and non-maternity apparel, including plus sizes -- at the end of this post. (You'll also see 2 other PinkBlush maternity pieces, which were part of a purchase I made right after I found out I was pregnant, in other photos below.)

Looking back on "2nd Half of 2nd Trimester in My Build-A-Baby Workshop" from my pregnancy with Ava in 2014, I can see many differences between that pregnancy and this current one. For starters, we're back on the east coast. Life is not quite the same now, with a highly spirited 19-month-old toddler I have to keep alive. There are no prenatal yoga classes or massages happening, I haven't purchased anything for the new baby girl yet, and we aren't planning any type of mini babymoon. But all is good. As of today, I'm starting my 3rd trimester already, and everything is moving along so quickly.

And we're sharing her name! Lila Yena Son. With our firstborn, I chose the first name (Ava) and Sam chose the middle name (Yejin), and with our soon-to-be secondborn, Sam chose the first name (Lila) and I chose the middle name (Yena). If we were having a boy, we planned to name him Joel.

I like the name Lila for similar reasons that I like the name Ava. It's short and sweet, simple yet feminine, and works well for an adorable baby girl as well as a mature woman. Its origins are debated, but according to various sources, can mean "beauty" in Sanskrit, "dark-haired" in Arabic, "night," "playful or amusing," or refer to the lilac flower or the color lilac.

Yena is her Korean name. As in Yejin, ye refers to Jesus and also to "art" or "talent and ability," and na can mean "elegant, graceful, delicate."

21 Weeks

• Baby is the size of an endive.
• As digestive system preps for the outside world, baby is manufacturing meconium; baby girl's womb is already stocked up with a lifetime supply of 6 million eggs (will drop to around 1 million by birth).
• We traveled to Michigan for the weekend to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday and see other relatives. I also felt like I expanded a lot this week, and began to feel more movement.
• Symptoms: Became more uncomfortable lying down at night; back pain.

In Michigan with Ava and the gorgeous peonies at 21w4d

At church in Michigan at 21w5d {PinkBlush sweater}

22 Weeks

• Baby is the size of a coconut.
• Is sleeping in cycles, about 12-14 hours a day; has more developed eyes and lips, looking even more like a newborn.
• I started to feel kicks/punches, and my congestion started to improve greatly after we returned from Michigan.

Photo booth at Sam's residency event at 22w4d 

Outside the American Museum of Natural History at 22w6d {PinkBlush sweater}

23 Weeks

• Baby is the size of a grapefruit.
• Face is fully formed; forming nipples; listening to our voices, my heartbeat, and loud outside noises.
• Sam was able to feel kicks externally.
• Symptoms: Leg cramp (left calf), vivid dreams, aching back when sleeping.

Picking strawberries at 23w4d

24 Weeks, V-Day

• Appointment on June 7, 2016 (24w0d): Weight, blood pressure, urine sample taken. NP measured me and checked baby's heart rate (163 bpm); gave me bottle of lemon-lime drink to take before next appointment, when blood test will check for glucose, hemoglobin, and HIV.
• Baby is the size of a cantaloupe.
• Is almost a foot long; skin is becoming more opaque, and has a new pink glow from the small capillaries that have recently formed.
• Symptoms: Increased back discomfort at night.
• This week, I went to see Beyoncé in concert, and also took a day trip to Philadelphia with Sam and Ava.

24w3d at Rutgers Gardens (Ava's hand down my shirt)

Rocky Balboa statue in Philly at 24w6d

25 Weeks

• Baby is the size of a cauliflower.
• Sense of equilibrium is kicking in, and she knows which way is up and which is down; also growing more fat and more hair.
• Able to see movement outside of belly.
• Symptoms: Leg cramp (right calf), much more frequent trips to the bathroom.
• Cravings: Brownies, honey mustard and onion pretzels, cookie dough.

Hope Hill Lavender Farm at 25w3d (my paleness!)

26 Weeks, 2/3 of the way there

• Baby is the size of a bunch of kale.
• Her eyes will soon start to open, and her eyelashes are now grown too; she's getting her immune system ready for life on the outside by soaking up my antibodies; and she's taking breaths of amniotic fluid.
• Photos from the last day of my 2nd trimester are below, followed by information on the PinkBlush giveaway! (Please excuse the fact that I obviously only know 1 pregnant lady pose, which is the requisite hands-on-belly position.)

PinkBlush Giveaway Details and Rules

To celebrate this milestone of reaching the 3rd trimester, I'm giving away a $75 gift card to PinkBlush -- and you don't have to be pregnant to enter, because PinkBlush has affordable maternity and non-maternity women's fashions in all sizes! I discovered PinkBlush on Instagram several months ago, and as mentioned at the beginning of this post, I ordered a whole bunch of tops and dresses from them when I first found out I was pregnant.

2 ways to enter:

1. Comment on this blog post below -- or --
2. Visit my Instagram and follow @redpoppypinkpeony -- since changed to @simplysharonson -- like the posted photo, and leave any comment, or tag a friend for an extra entry.

Bonus entry if you enter on both the blog and Instagram. That's all!

The giveaway is open for the next 7 days, until the end of next Tuesday. The winner will be contacted by Wednesday morning. Please note: If you have won a PinkBlush giveaway within the last 3 months, you will not be eligible. Good luck!