Third Trimester Update
Oh hi friends! It's me again -- talking about my 3rd trimester 3 months late but that's what happens when you are heavily pregnant / have a baby, time flies..!
I wrote a long blog post about my first trimester and all it's ups and downs, you can read it here. I also filmed a video update here. During my second trimester I only filmed a video update which you can watch here - if you are curious and want to check it out.
My second trimester was a breeze, I grew rapidly but I was feeling amazing! Then the final home stretch third trimester began...It all went so very fast, I've said this before but once the worries and nausea / aversions of the first trimester subsided it all felt like a breeze, I blinked and I was 37 weeks pregnant ha!
Not quite, but it all felt easy, and *touch wood* I'm a very happy, glowing, feeling like a goddess kind of pregnant person which is a true blessing as I know not everyone feels like that. So I count my lucky stars..! I have loved, LOVED being pregnant.
I would feel her moving during the day, I knew her little patterns and rythms, she would often kick and move around when I woke up in the morning just as if she stretched out to start the day with me, and then she would generally be more active around mealtimes (that's my girl!) and very active in the evening once I was lying down on the sofa or in bed.
We spent hours watching her make waves inside my belly. I spent many more hours in the bath, talking to her, singing to her, making her listen to music, and oiling the belly and my body religiously every day. I have a newfound appreciation for my body, like never before. Seeing it stretch to its limits and growing a human so graciously while keeping me going has just blown me away.
I know a lot of other mum's told me the third trimester might get hard again at some point because you feel so heavy and ready to pop. But truthfully I didn't really feel that way until I reached 37 weeks pregnant. In my head that was my goal as I wasn't allowed to have a homebirth if she had come before 37 weeks, so I was excited to make it until then. It also meant that she was fully cooked and safe to come out whenever she wished to. (I am referring to baby as 'she' now because well... Lyla is here! and you've probably read the birth story already!)
I was sleeping so well my whole pregnancy which again I felt very lucky about. I slept like a baby, despite the many toilet breaks to pee in the night... that pressure on the bladder is no joke! But I would get out of bed, or should I say roll out of bed and walk to the bathroom like a zombie, and come back into bed and luckily fall back asleep very easily. I must say my amazing pregnancy pillow helped a lot - we named her Bertha and she was my saviour ha.
Then 37 weeks rolled around and I did feel like mentally and physically I was READY. If you've been there you know the feeling. You are just eager to meet your baby and anxious but excited to give birth, and it's a very strange limbo where time slows down again and you feel like retracting from the world but also... get this baby out already! haha
Funnily enough, it was once that shift happened in my head that physically I found it to be harder, and I am sure it had a lot to do with my mindset too, but I felt heavier and had some water retention in my legs and feet which hadn't happened until then. Moving around was harder, tying up my shoes was impossible, and if something fell to the ground it was dead to me.
However I kept active throughout, I didn't do any structured workouts towards the end (I loved my Melissa Wood prenatal workouts until well into my 3rd trimester) I stuck to daily long walks with Nemo which made me feel good. Towards the end, I bounced and used my birthing ball to sit on -- it came in very handy during labour! and I continued to do stretches, often just googling random yoga pregnancy videos or doing my Melissa Wood prenatal stretches.
I also went to see an Osteopath from mid-second trimester I believe, and I continued seeing her every 3 to 4 weeks throughout my pregnancy and postnatally now as well. She helped with any back ache that came up, I carried a lot of tension in my shoulders, ribs and lower back but after a session I felt so good! She also helped create space for Lyla to position herself head down and have more room to wiggle. I would highly recommend any pregnant mamas to go see either an osteopath or a chiropractor specialised in pregnancy and women's health (for anyone local, I went to see Elisa at Kuu in Clapton)
I read Ina May's Guide To Childbirth again, reading those birth stories kept me excited and motivated and visualizing what I wanted our birth to feel and look like. I also dipped in and out of The Positive Birth book again anytime I had questions or wanted to remind myself of a certain processes and reading more positive birth stories.
We also completed this Hypnobirthing course in the last few weeks, which was great, despite the first part reiterating a lot of what I knew already after devouring all the books and everything pregnancy and birth-related. I meditated regularly using the Expectful app (can't recommend it enough, for all stages of parenthood!) throughout my pregnancy but tried to do it more often in the last trimester. We watched this documentary, and this one too, both fascinating if you're interested in learning more about the birthing process and how the system often goes against the nature of birth and the power of women, creating more issues in the process. We also finished Courtney Adamo's Blossom course which we had started earlier on in my pregnancy, I found it to be amazing too and would highly recommend it if she runs it again or makes it available.
We packed a hospital bag 'just in case' (which was a good thing in the end haha) and finished prepping for baby's arrival. I washed all her little clothes with a natural no fragrance soap, I used this one, and folded them one by one organising it into a chest of drawers, nesting was in full swing.
We had the main things we needed for her, I stuck to what I had on my list - I shared in this post - and didn't overdo it, as I preferred to wait and see what she needed and what we liked rather than overbuying and it served us well. We both were so giddy to meet her. The last few weeks were spent staying cosy, walking a lot, spending time just the two of us, watching lots of movies and eating a lot of delicious foods.
Talking about eating, one thing that appeared towards the end of my third trimester which was hell, was acid reflux! It had nothing to do with what I ate, but mainly to do with how she was positioned, she had her little feet right into my stomach (she was head down from week 30) and oh my.. I had never experienced it and it was horrible! It would often happen to me in the middle of the night and make me jump out of bed in pain, I'd have to sit there for a while and not much helped apart from elevating my head a bit. It would go on and off and sometimes stayed with me for a couple of days at a time. I made sure to eat smaller amounts, but nothing really seemed to help much. I daydreamed of eating a big meal pain free haha - luckily as soon as I gave birth it all went away.
I've been asked quite often what prenatal and other vitamins I used during my pregnancy, so I thought I'd share again here : I used these prenatals my whole pregnancy (with a short break during the first trimester when I went off the smell of them ha and used these instead) and the quality is amazing, I'm still taking them now while breastfeeding. I also take my Seed probiotic daily, and my Omega 3s. Sometimes extra magnesium if I feel I need the extra boost if I'm feeling tired or stressed, I also took some Reishi, and still do, I love this one, but as always check with your doctor/midwife before taking anything new while pregnant and breastfeeding.
With the recommendation of my midwife I also drank red raspberry leaf tea and nettle tea everyday (I would infused both and drink them together) both amazing to prepare the body for birth and boost you with important minerals such as iron, calcium etc.. I would buy them both loose and mix them together. Some recommend waiting until 32/34 weeks to start red raspberry leaf tea as it's a tonic and strengthens the uterine walls, some others say you can drink it throughout so just check with your midwife!
Oh and I also tried to eat more dates after reading lots of stories of women saying it shortened their labour... I wasn't very strict with it and didn't eat them every day which maybe is why labour wasn't lightening fast haha but either way, it has lots of wonderful nutrients and actually powered me through birth via my oat balls.
I've got a case of mum brain, I've dumped all this info in a not very organised way but I feel like that's everything from my third trimester. If you have any questions ask them below and I'll answer them asap (I've got a new comment system, as I was getting a lot of spam before, so hopefully this works well for you guys!) I'd like to also remind you I have a community forum for anyone that would like to chat to other mamas.
