From staying active doing Pilates and practicing yoga to having sleepless nights; mom-to-be Smriti Khanna shares her second pregnancy journey

Mom-to-be Smriti Khanna shares her second pregnancy journey, balancing staying active with Pilates and practicing yoga while navigating sleepless nights. Through her vlog, she gave a glimpse into her experiences and challenges, providing inspiration and support for other expectant mothers. Smriti's journey highlights the importance of maintaining physical health and mental well-being during pregnancy. She is soon going to step into her trimester.

The bad news is that you can't do much about it. Yes, that's true. I was lucky enough in my first pregnancy to not get them. Right now, I can't say. Maybe I'll get them towards the end. It hasn't come yet. But the stretch marks are hereditary in most cases. So if your mom or your sister or somebody has had it, then it is a possibility you will also get them. In some cases, they don't come.

The second thing is stretch marks, as the word says, the more stretch marks the skin will have, the more you can control it. Basically, you can control that with your diet or your workouts or whatever. If you keep your weight less, there are chances that your stretch marks may not come. There are some people who only gain 8-9 kgs throughout their pregnancy. And then there are others who are gaining 30-40 kgs. So, imagine how big their stomach is. And baby is only going to be like 3 kgs or whatever. And the rest of the weight is all theirs. In pregnancy, a lot of people say that whatever you eat, whatever you do, now is the time. First priority will be the baby. But I have to keep myself also a priority. Why should I waste my body when I don't need it and my baby doesn't need it? So keeping your weight under control and keeping yourself healthy, especially during this period is more important. So don't eat anything you feel like, don't eat double, which is not necessary. Keep a check on your weight. Third thing to avoid stretch marks or to make them less is, use good moisturizers. Keep the skin there hydrated. Whenever your skin gets stretched, if you keep on constantly moisturizing it, and your skin is hydrated and supple then there are chances that it won't burst.

People have been asking me what are the workouts that I've been following, should pregnant women be working out or they shouldn't be they should they be only on bed? I would say, unless your doctor has advised you to stay on bed, please don't stay on bed. Don't treat yourself like a patient during pregnancy. In fact, make it a point to stay very active. Get up from the bed, even if it's hard. Starting 2-3 months, I agree. It's very tough. There are too many hormonal changes. There are bodily changes. And you are literally lethargic. You can be almost sleeping. You can sleep for 15-15 hours. At that time, any kind of heavy workouts other than just walking or whatever, it's not allowed. Don't stress yourself during that time. But second trimester onwards, from your fourth month, be very active. Your energy will come back. In most cases, I would say. Some people have complicated pregnancy and I do understand. But don't make it complicated for yourself. If you're normal, if you're feeling fine, get up and start walking.

I have been more active during my pregnancy than I've been normally. People who know me know that I don't work out a lot. My husband works out but I don't work out that much. In fact, we fight a lot because of that. I am otherwise healthy. My diet, my nutrition, my walks, I do all that. A little bit of yoga. I am doing Pilates. I am doing thrice a week. I never did Pilates before. I started just before my pregnancy. When I checked with my doctor if I can continue, of course, I didn't do it in the first three months. Then, I started again in the fourth month onwards, after two months. So, I'm doing it thrice a week and I'm so proud of myself. When I do it, I get a sense of achievement that wow, I'm pregnant and I'm doing Pilates. It's such a good workout because it has all the stretches. There are many such workouts, which will actually help you during your pregnancy, at the time of your delivery and later. Swimming is very good for people who have access to the pool. If you can do it regularly, then nothing like it. Once or twice a week is also very good if you can. So that's one workout that you can follow. It's a great form of workout for people who can do it.

I'm doing yoga, which I've recently started again. We end up doing a lot of breathing, meditating, relaxing, affirmations. It's a great class. She's a prenatal yoga expert. And I did it with her during my first pregnancy also. Last time, I was not able to continue after Anayka. This time if I can I might just continue the prenatal sessions into my postnatal sessions because yoga aap kar sakte hain. I think first kuch weeks nahi karte hain also depending on what delivery I have all of that uspe depend karega. When I'm doing yoga with her and when the class is going on I feel very peaceful and very calm at that time.

I have been very busy with work, with Anayka, with my travels, with everything else that's happening around me. And in between that, I have to take time for myself and leave my mind free. I can't do that at all. I can't do that even before going to sleep. I wake up early. I've been insomniac on a lot of nights. I don't sleep properly. There's too much going on. And plus, you know, running the house, managing is just... taking a toll on my mental health so there is some time that I need which is like just me time.

In workouts, walks are very important. During my last pregnancy also I spoke a lot about walking especially because I used to walk a lot during Anayka's time. So I used to do 8-10,000 steps every day. Of course, in the end, I would walk for 1-1.5 hours. Even then, my steps were not complete. Because your speed slows down after the 7th month. In the 8th-9th month. I am not saying that you should do 10,000 or 8,000 steps. But make it a point that you are walking, you are doing something. You should do it for 30-45 minutes. Take out that time for yourself and do it. My walks have really helped me a lot. Also, it helps me stay active. Recently, we were traveling. We were in UK and all. We get there. 10,000, 12,000, 15,000. So I was happy on my vacation also. I was walking full on.

Women who are working, even if you're a housewife, it's very important to get out of the house. When the mind changes, the air changes, the environment changes, you actually feel better. For me also, the same thing happens. Before every event, I think, should I cancel it? Should I just tell them I'm not feeling like it or feeling well or whatever? Because it happens. And sometimes it's just the mood. It's not just actually the health. But you don't feel like it at all. But I really push myself, get up, get ready, go out. And feel so good after that, that okay, there's a sense of achievement. I did some work, went to an event, met people, everything happened. But whatever you all do, I know it'll take that extra effort to get up or get ready. But do that, you'll definitely feel better. I'm going out and doing a lot of things. I've tried to keep myself extremely active.

I'm having a hair fall. I can't do anything. It's stopped now. If you are using anything with retinol, you cannot use that. The products that have no harmful chemicals are also safe. Same with hair. Some hair tonics have some chemicals, sometimes very strong ones. And I don't think that's allowed. So just check.