I have to say, pregnancy is simply beautiful. All of the changes, the emotions, the growth mentally and physically really are something that has kept me feeling extremely grateful and humbled by the experience. While I didn’t plan on a global pandemic while I was pregnant, I will say the one perk is that I have zero fomo. I’m not missing anything! For being as social as I am, this has been a blessing in disguise. I do miss having a couple friends over and just hanging in the living room drinking wine and noshing on a cheese board until we are stuffed. But those days will come again. I can’t drink wine right now anyways!
Anyways, third trimester is what we’re talking about here.
Third Trimester Update
- Lower back pain. It intensifies as you get bigger. Which is to be expected because hi, hello, I’m growing a human here. It’s not unbearable by any means and most days I barely notice it. But now that I’m in the home stretch (I’m 38 weeks today) there are some days that any movement is pretty uncomfortable. Sitting is uncomfortable, standing is uncomfortable, the only position that is comfortable is lying down on my side. I’ve started seeing Dr. Berlin who specializes in prenatal chiropractic work. He gives a 25 minute prenatal massage focusing on the back and hips and it is heavenly as well as makes adjustments. He comes recommended by my OBGYN, my doula and pretty much every other woman that’s been pregnant in LA, including the stars of Hollywood. Highly recommend if you live in the area as he has essentially gotten rid of my back pain!
- Colostrum. Colostrum is the first form of milk produced by the mammary glands. Most women start to produce it before giving birth. My girls have started leaking it. I was so fascinated when I first saw it that I called Joe in to take a look. He goes, “No! I don’t wanna see that!” And then when I told him he has to, he said, “I get that it’s a miracle what the body can do but I’m not sure I need to be alerted when things start leaking.” To which I laughed and replied, “Oh babe, just you wait. Come labor time, you’re in for a treat.”
- Sleep. Has become more uncomfortable and tricky to maneuver for a couple reasons. If it’s not having to get up to pee, it’s that my ribs have fallen asleep and I need to roll to my other side. Which is no easy feat for a 9 month pregnant woman. I’m kind of taking it like a slow transition into those first few weeks of parenthood getting woken up to feed the baby. Ya know? My body is getting me ready. Well- sort of. haha
Tips
- I haven’t had any swelling in my feet or ankles *knocks on wood* however, I’m finding that elevating my feet feels so good for some reason, especially after walks. So a couple times a day I like to lay down on the couch with my legs elevated.
- Get a belly band if you don’t already have one. I have this one and it does help.
- Make some little baskets full of postpartum essentials and keep them next to the toilet in each bathroom. I did this at week 36. I have ice pads, depends *sexy I knowwww* perineal spray/sitz bath salts and regular heavy pads in there, ready for use.
- Start making freezer friendly meals. I have prepped meatballs, chicken bone broth, chicken noodle soup and congee. Check this book here (also linking below) for what I’m using as guidance on nutrition. I used these recipes for bone broth and congee.
- Make a list of postpartum contacts (doula, night nurse, lactation consultant, OBGYN, pediatrician, pelvic floor specialist etc) and tape it to the fridge. This will come in handy so your partner can help schedule what you need without asking a bunch of questions.
- Start prepping for the fourth trimester. Just given birth, hormones are all over the place, sleep deprived to the max etc etc. Lots of new things happening and the last thing I wanna worry about is running out of ice pads or not having any clean underwear big enough to hold all the things needed for postpartum recovery. Here’s what I have bought for postpartum.
I recommend going up one size in the Blanqi leggings! I ordered the maternity leggings from them in my normal size XS and holy cow they are like compression leggings. Like, tight all the way down the leg to the ankle….maybe that’s to help women that experience swelling?? With a belly, it’s especially difficult to get them on. I didn’t want to take the chance with the postpartum leggings, so I went a size up and ordered a Small. It’s the same compression- like fabric so I think that was a good idea.
