Third Trimester

Grace

Once I entered the third trimester I was feeling pretty awful if I’m being honest. My SI joints and sciatic pain were so bad I was in pain a lot of the time. I was getting tired again and had to take a nap every day at lunch time. Sitting in my chair for work was getting more and more uncomfortable so I started sitting on my yoga ball and that helped alleviate some of the discomfort and pain. When it came to cravings all I wanted was french toast for breakfast lunch and dinner. I still couldn’t think about chicken or avocado. Sleeping was getting so uncomfortable because I was tossing and turning with hip discomfort all night (I’m not a side sleeper so that was real rough). But luckily I was only getting up once or twice to pee in the night where I feel like a lot of women are all up peeing all night long. I also was enjoying feeling her kick and move in my belly. Sometimes it actually hurt me pretty badly, but I was so thankful for that experience and I felt like we were bonding and connecting even before she was born. While I did have a lot of pain and discomfort, I was also getting so excited to finally hold Parker in my arms. 

I was very afraid of tearing and I wanted to do anything I could to avoid it at all costs (so ironic considering I had a 4th degree tear lol). I did some pelvic floor work but I mainly just wanted a hot compress during birth because that was what I was told helps the most - but during the chaos of birth I forgot to ask for it. I was listening to podcasts and birth meditations to help me mentally prepare for labor and birth. I’m not really one to be into “woo woo” meditations but the ones I listened to actually got me feeling confident and pumped for birth. I highly recommend trying a birth mediation playlist to prepare yourself mentally. Towards the end, I was eating dates and curb walking everyday to try to get the show on the road. I don’t know if it actually did anything or not, but she was so low I felt like I had a grapefruit in between my legs the last week or so and I only pushed for 50 minutes when I was in labor. I was scared to give birth, so trying to be confident in my ability to do this and staying as calm as possible was how I got through the end of my third trimester. 

I was in nesting mode HARD and had been for a while. I wanted our house to be super deep cleaned, her nursery was all ready to go, all of her laundry had been done and everything sanitized. We also had a freezer full of food/meals so we didn’t have to worry about food for a while after she got here.  It’s crazy when you have your first baby. I felt like we had mostly everything we needed but was feeling a little antsy about getting some more things I thought we may need. In reality though, you really don’t need much for a newborn. Much less than I thought. 

Meesh

I was so impatient those last weeks. I was getting bigger and bigger and the reality of having a baby was starting to feel real. I also really enjoyed being pregnant. I never got super uncomfortable, except at night. I had such a hard time sleeping and would wake up every couple of hours. Thank god for Unisom <3. The last 2 weeks of my pregnancy I got stretch marks which realllllly sucked. 2 years later, they are light but still somewhat noticeable if you look hard. To this day, I miss feeling her kick and move inside me and miss the anticipation leading up to my due date. The 3rd tri was all about nesting. Cleaning EVERYTHING those last couple of weeks and painting and setting up her cutie little nursery was so fun. I would find myself just sitting in her room. I don’t have much to say about the 3rd trimester, but if you can, enjoy it! Go out and do things, have fun, go on dates with your partner. It won't be long until you have a little one in tow. 

Mon

Giving birth at 34 weeks I didn’t have a full third trimester, and I never got to the point of I’m just so done being pregnant like I hear many moms get to. I honestly felt sad about not being pregnant anymore and missed having them with me everywhere and feeling them kick, especially since they were in the NICU. 

Overall physically I felt pretty great in my third trimester. The only thing I remember being really hard was sleeping. I would wake up and feel wide awake at about 2 AM. My doctor recommended a safe sleeping pill and I decided to take it because I was just so tired. I also remember getting bad reflux at this time. A lot of food just didn’t feel good to eat and I remember eating a lot of bland foods. 

I knew I was going to have a C-section and I looked at some blogs as to how to best prepare and what to expect. The biggest takeaway I got was to walk as soon as you can and to bring good c-section undies. I think that was all really great advice but all the other stuff just kind of freaked me out. I don’t think you need to know exactly what to expect because it’s different for everyone.