I’m just about a week out from my due date so I’m going to give you a little recap of my Third Trimester now rather than waiting until baby arrives. These last few months, month nine specifically, have been the hardest for me throughout this entire pregnancy. As I got into month eight, I just was big and uncomfortable as it all seemed to hit me very suddenly. Here’s a brief recap that highlights some of what’s been going on these last three months.
NOTE: This post may be a little too much information for some of you. I might recommend that you skip today’s post in exchange for something a little more palatable. Might I recommend the New York Times?
Dad, You’ve been warned.
Third Trimester Recap
Frequency of Bathroom Breaks
Yeah, I thought I had to go to the bathroom a lot before. Nope, that was nothing compared to this last month (month 9). As baby gets bigger, heavier, and especially after he dropped down around week 36, the pressure just caused a whole new level of needing to use the bathroom. Whether it was all day long at my office or throughout the night, you can almost always find me heading to or from the bathroom.
So Much Movement
This little one thinks that whenever I lay down is his cue to show me his tap dance routine. All. Night. Long. It seriously feels like I have a pinball machine inside of me at times. While it’s reassuring that he’s moving around plenty, it has also greatly interfered with my sleep. So in between the bathroom breaks at night, I’m also trying to sleep through my abdomen moving of its own accord.
Constantly Out of Breath
If you read about how I’ve kept active throughout this pregnancy, then you know that I’ve had to slow way down when it comes to working out during this last section of my pregnancy. I simply don’t have the lung space and capacity anymore to do anything over a semi brisk walk. Stair have become my arch enemy and I basically need to sit down after going up a flight of them, regardless that I do it at a snail’s pace.
Lots of Acid Reflux and Heartburn
On the same vein as my lungs not having space to function, neither does my stomach. This has caused my acid reflux to go into overdrive during the last two months of my pregnancy. When I lay down at night, I could feel the stomach acid moving up and down my chest and even ending up in my mouth sometimes. Lovely, right? What helped was eating dinner earlier and making sure I had a stock of Tums besides the bed at all times.
Leg Cramps and Charley Horses
Even when I danced ballet professionally, I have never experienced leg cramping like I have these past three months. I have the standard aches and pains in my legs and hips that are par for the course in pregnancy (along with some swelling during month nine) but Charley horses are a whole new level. It basically is causing muscle cramps and spasms in my calves that are strong enough to wake me up from a dead sleep and quite painful. I’m hoping that plenty of bananas and coconut water for added potassium will help along with regular massages from my husband 😉
Want to read more about my pregnancy? Here are some posts you may have missed:
- The Secret’s Out
- First Trimester Recap
- Second Trimester Recap
- Thoughts on Impending Motherhood
- How I’m Staying Active Throughout My Pregnancy
Thank you to all of you who have been following along during this wild ride. It feels like I was just announcing my pregnancy on here and post my first few maternity outfits and now we are on the final countdown. Depending on when this baby decides to arrive, I may be MIA for a few weeks but I hope to have content lined up ahead of time for all of you.
Until next time,
Ana Luiza
