My Pregnancy Journey – Part 3: The Third Trimester
Wow here I am on the final stretch to meet our little bubba! Feeling excited is an understatement.
I am currently 36 weeks pregnant (aka 9 months) and have just under 4 weeks until my due date. Something I didn’t know prior to being pregnant is that a woman can be pregnant for up to 42 weeks or 10.5months, so sometime in the next 6 weeks our baby will began to make their way into the world.
It’s such a funny feeling not really knowing when it is all going to happen and having to trust that everything will work out when it is meant to- the anticipation and the unknown can sometimes feel very overwhelming- especially for a planner like me who likes to organise everything far in advance haha. But as I have said in my other blog posts, I have learnt so much about myself during this pregnancy. I have certainly learnt a lot about patience, slowing down and really tuning into what my body needs and I feel so blessed to be on this journey.
We finally finished setting up the baby room and I am so in love! We went with really neutral tones as we still do not know the sex. One thing I have noticed in the third trimester is I have started nesting (this happens because of hormones) and I have been organising every single corner of my house. Emptying out and rearranging cupboards that I have not touched in years and feeling the need to declutter everything – my husband has found this all very amusing.
A few weeks ago my beautiful mum organised my baby shower and it was such a lovely day. I was very spoilt by my family and friends- so many beautiful gifts for the bub and let’s face it baby stuff is so cute! We had the theme “About to pop” so I made a gluten free chocolate cake topped with caramel popcorn and we created the most amazing spread of food for everyone to feast on (we all know I love food!)
The day after my baby shower I think I realised just how close I was to having this baby, many women talk about how slow the 3rd trimester can be, however I have found the opposite and I feel that it has just been flying by so fast. I was quite emotional for a few days after my shower but it was a mix of being so happy, nervous and excited with a good old wack of pregnancy hormones (warning: pregnancy can cause you to have random outbursts of tears for no particular reason).
Everything has been going very well health wise this pregnancy and my obstetrician is very happy with my progress. I had a little bit of reflux in the first part of the 3rd trimester but that has calmed right down thankfully, as the burning feeling in my throat that reflux causes in not fun. I think this is because bub is sitting quite low in my belly (yay no kicks to the ribs for me).
I have noticed a huge increase in my body temperature, I’m like my own personal hot water bottle (not so great in summer). My poor hubby had to endure a car ride home from a friends party in the city one night, while I had the aircon running on 18degrees- he was wrapped in a jumper (freezing) and I was so hot I could have gone skinny dipping! Pretty funny stuff.
My husband and I have finally decided on both a boy and a girls name which has been a tough task, but we are happy to say we are all prepared. We had a scan at 34 weeks and were able to get a cute little picture of our bubs face, it’s been fun trying to guess who’s features bub has inherited. We think bub has my nose and my husband’s mouth but I guess we will have to wait and see. We have our final scan coming up this week, I cannot wait to see our little bubbas cute little face again.
I finish up work on the 24th of December and I will be 38 weeks, that is a huge step and I am exciting to start this new path however I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. Such a huge life change, but I know that it will be worth it every step of the way and I am excited to be greeted with the new challenges that will arise from being a mumma.
A few things I have been doing during my third trimester:
-I have been drinking a pot of raspberry leaf tea daily. Raspberry leaf tea is thought to tone the muscles of your uterus, to help it to work better during labour. On hot days I have made the pot in the morning let it sit for about an hour then popped it into the fridge to drink as a cold drink. Occasionally adding a bit of honey or lemon.
-I have continued working with hypnobirthing techniques and have been meditating each night. I have been actively practising my breathing which has been really nice and relaxing. I recommend down loading some of the hypnobirthing recordings that are available as they really help to get you into the right mindset for birth. I have especially enjoyed the pregnancy affirmations. http://hypnobirthingaustralia.com.au/shop/surge-of-the-sea/
-I have continued with applying organic coconut oil to my belly, hips and breasts and so far I do not have any stretch marks.
-I started packing my hospital bag at 35 weeks, here is a great list to refer to if you need some help http://www.babycenter.com.au/what-to-pack-in-your-hospital-bag
-I spoke with my homeopath and she put together a homeopathic birthing kit to help me through the birth which includes arnica to help with bruising and also a number of other remedies to help with the different stages of birth.
-I have also packed a selection of helpful essential oils and I will write another blog post on which oils can assist you with birth- I love that I have so many natural remedies that I can add to my birthing toolkit.
-Keep up your water intake
-I have still been taking my naturopathic prenatal vitamins and also a good quality fish oil each day. I feel that this paired with eating lots of fruits, vegetables and heathy foods has really helped to keep me very healthy throughout my pregnancy. Don’t worry if you are struggling to eat a great diet during your pregnancy, I was so sick in the beginning and really struggled to eat well. Although that has improved immensely during my 2nd and 3rd trimesters I just did the best I could. I recommend not putting too much pressure on yourself.
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Although I am preparing myself with lots of tools to have as natural a birth as possible I am keeping an open mind into what the coming weeks will bring. Again I am not putting too much pressure on myself and if you are also pregnant I encourage you to do the same, I’m just giving myself tools to help my journey be as smooth as it possibly can but I know that sometimes not everything goes to plan and I am just happy to go with the flow.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my pregnancy journey, feel free to post any additional tips or comments below as I would love to hear from you.
If you are currently pregnant I wish you all the best in your journey and I hope my blog post has helped you.
Amy xx
If you missed my other blog posts you can read about my first trimester HERE and my second trimester HERE
Erin
I’ve been loving reading your pregnancy updates Amy. Best of luck with the final weeks and the birth of your baby.
PS. Your first photo is absolutely stunning. xx
Amy
Thanks so much Erin, I’m so happy to hear that you have been loving the posts! I am so excited to meet this little bubba.
Have a merry Christmas xx