I am a little over 4 weeks into the 3rd trimester now. It’s been fun.
No seriously, this has been a milestone for me though. I am just so amazed that I have been able to carry this lively little boy to reach 32 and a half weeks so far!
It is definitely not all fairy tales – as much as I wished it was I have noticed SO many changes the last few weeks. People always say the third trimester is just as hard as the first, and it wasn’t an instant “We are third trimester and all shit started then” It probably took 2 weeks before all those terrible pregnancy symptoms came creeping back in new forms.
- Acid reflux – this began, although not routine yet (and hopefully doesn’t become routine) it’s quite uncomfortable when it strikes! Especially during night time
- CAN’T SLEEP – I feel like this happens in waves – 5 days of no sleep or constant interupted sleep followed by 2 days of a little bit of sleep
- Yet SO TIRED – can’t sleep but yet you are so damn tired! I am not a napper by nature at all, but even the hardest of fights I put up to avoid a nap just strike me down like a hangover can – you can’t NOT give in to the nap. Your body doesn’t let you
- ACHING back – oh my gosh this has been bad lately, my lower back right now is immensely hurting when I sit, when I stand – ouch.
- Fluid buildup – your hear about it, you see it on your pregnant friends at time but then when you get it – wowee it makes me feel like a puffy fish! My engagement ring officially had to come off, otherwise it would have to be cut off later. Their is fluid on my arms, on my legs – when you bend down it feels like the skin behind your knees is going to pop from water pressure! It’s such a weird feeling!
- Weight gain – so far I am a little over 10kgs of extra fluid, baby, placenta, and hopefully not fat! I have been lucky all my weight goes to my tummy to supply all the nutrients this accurately measured baby in their needs! It is a bit shocking seeing a number on the scales you have never seen in your life, but in saying that I just have to remember that fluid is dropped quickly, I am giving him all that he needs and this is how my body responds and that it is okay! I am healthy, he is healthy and once baby is out we can go from there!
- Stretch Marks – I am definitely not a magical unicorn like some women! I do have stretch marks! I have them on my booty under my underwear – so you may never actually see them, unless I wear a cheeky bottom! but I have some red stretchmarks that formed on my bum from 16 weeks and slowly have grown over the duration. I have oiled every night a pure almond oil from 5+ weeks on my boobs and belly, but I did forget my butt! I didn’t know we should oil our bums. I started oiling it once the stretch marks showed. I am hoping though because of a coffee scrub and continued oiling twice a day that they will be reduced quickly after birth but I won’t get caught up on it. Everyones bodies responds differently and again I am just so lucky
- Diet – What do I eat? Well you can pretty much look up the recipe tab of what I cook and eat! Me and my partner do eat 95% clean meals to be honest. However, there is definitely days where I eat Nutella, or cheese and crackers and a lovely raspberry drink when we go to the movies!
- Exercise – This totally changed for me while pregnant, pre-pregnancy I was at the gym with my friend tay 5+ days a week and doing F45! When I fell pregnant I had to completely slow – my body just told me it couldn’t take it, I couldn’t take it. I thought I’d be able to pick up exercise again during different stages of the pregnancy but my body was responding otherwise – with worse pain so I had to change that up. Instead, I walk my dog, attend yoga once a week or once a fortnight, and I swim laps in our pool 3 x a week.
Hospital Scare
Last week, I ended up in hospital. Watching Federer vs Nadal seemed to have made me a little more anxious than I knew ha-ha! Just kidding. At 31 weeks though, I was experiencing contractions 8 minutes apart for a couple of hours, accompanied by bleeding. This was scary! I managed to fall asleep and they eased but the moment I woke up they returned – although inconsistent I was still bleeding and they were still there.
Hospital began monitoring me and bubs heart rate was quite high, my cervix was still sealed and same with my waters! (that’s good news!) I was still having frequent contractions which they couldn’t pin-point the cause. They did manage to find the cause of the bleeding which was the pressure of baby on scar tissue causing a bleed – it can be common in some pregnancies but was nerve racking when I hadn’t experienced any of this earlier. Once contractions eased, heart rate eased and I was allowed to go home. I just have to be super careful to take it easy, and perhaps not watch any grand finals again? ha ha. None the less though a week and a half later and the contractions only come once or twice a day very irregularly and can now be classified as “Braxton Hicks” because the intensity is a lot lower so that is GOOD news!
Preparing for Labour
Labour prep has begun! For birth, I opted out of writing a formal “birth plan” I don’t want to have a plan and be disappointed if it doesn’t happen that way because at the end I just want our baby to be brought into the world the safest way possible.
What I have organised though, is that we are birthing through a birth centre – This is a “drug free zone” (eep scary!) but mainly I chose the birth centre as we are able to have a supervised water birth and at each antenatal you get the same two midwives (kind of like having selected a private obstetrician) except you have your own midwives from each appointment, during the birth and for your post care!
The water birth is something I have always just imagined myself doing when it comes to labour. I won’t lie, I am not a person who deals with pain very well. I am just a person who prepares myself well, so I have prepared myself for every situation – If I need an epidural, a c-section I will be open to it – this will involve me being transferred up to the delivery suite but I will still have my same midwives with me throughout (oh and my partner! he will be there by my side the whole time too!)
Anyways, I have started just as of today taking raspberry leaf tablets to help assist the softening of the cervix for delivery – so that hopefully a natural labour without drugs is more achievable and once I reach the end of 36 weeks I will begin taking evening primrose oil tablets to double assist my body. I read books on birth techniques, I watch videos on hypno-birthing skills and am hopeful that all the preparation combined can allow me to enjoy the experience through the pain.
I will keep you updated! Love to know what else you would like to hear about? x