Third Trimester Side Effects...

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Last few weeks of pregnancy

You are on the final trimester of your pregnancy! As exciting as it is, it can also be extremely uncomfortable. At least the nausea has mostly subsided (unless you are the unfortunate few who suffer the whole duration of pregnancy), but many other things pop up instead or progress…

‘Resting’ while watching my other 2 kids play

Fatigue: Of course still frickin tired! Your body is in the homestretch and really finalizing your beautiful baby product which is a lot of work! I feel like in the first trimester, you are sleeping a lot and still tired. With the third, the exhaustion is still there, but not sleeping as much since you are tossing and turning from the movements of the belly and peeing, obsessing over the to do list etc. So you just tend to move at a slower pace. I would say just REST. Not necessarily sleep, just take it easy as much as you can now because when they baby comes, there won’t be much time for that. And not just at the beginning. For the rest of your life! You will be a parent forever. There is no turning off completely. Once you pass one phase of their life their will be another to follow sweet.
Frequent Urination: yup still peeing a lot! As baby grows, increasing pressure is put on your bladder that even when you go now, not much comes out and you will probably have to go again in 5 minutes. Nearing labour when baby starts descending or ‘dropping’ that pressure on your bladder will increase. I swear with my third, he kept kicking my bladder whenever it was somewhat full!
Swelling: On top of your belly obviously becoming bigger, parts of your body will also swell especially the lower extremities like your legs and feet. A lot of pregnant ladies find that they can’t wear some of their shoes that’s how bad it can get. And don’t even talk about wearing heels. Don’t even try to torture yourself. There is a fabulous yoga position that I would recommend for this called Viparita Karani. Basically put your legs up resting on the wall, body on the ground. For pregnant woman, you need to have your heart elevated so place a yoga block or pillow under your chest to keep it slightly higher up. Keep it for 5 minutes - feels great!
Varicose veins: From all this pressure and swelling you may get some varicose veins. Blue/purple veins you can see on your leg. Don’t stress about it! They may or may not go away post pregnancy. Honestly my legs have never really been the same since pregnancy not necessarily because just the couple veins I have, but the roughness and acne on it. But who frickin cares! We all have our battle scars of pregnancy whether it’s veins, body curves, stretch marks, whatever. But once baby is in your life a) you won’t have time to stress about it. But b) also those things don’t seem as important once you have this beautiful, healthy kid in your life because of what your body went through and really doesn’t matter.
Haemorrhoids: More pressure means more constipation and increases your risk of haemorrhoids. Not fun. Was freaking out when I got my first one (2nd pregnancy) and it took me a minute to realize what it might be. But honestly they go away. Add some fibre to your diet, take some warm sit bath and use some special pads to help alleviate. This too shall pass.
Sciatica & back pain: Still continues on as pressure is put on your nerves. Just remember not to be walking for too long or sitting for too long - alternate between the two. And stretches at home help to alleviate. As well as prenatal massages & acupuncture.
Feeling full: You may start to find that your meals or snacks are not that large, but you are feeling quite full very fast! All normal since your stomach doesn’t have much room to expand. Eating smaller portions more often may be better for you when this starts to happen.
Reflux and Heartburn: May get worse as you progress along third trimester. Keep those tums close by or Pepcid if more intense. I have also heard it gets better once baby drops closer to start of labor when baby gets itself into position in birth canal.
Shortness of breath: You may be wondering why you seem so out of shape when you walk up a flight of stairs?! Growing uterus puts pressure on your diaphragm and makes it harder for you to take deep breaths. So simple tasks like walking up stairs may be a little more strenuous than usual.
Dry skin: In particular your stomach and breasts. They are being stretched out and as a result can become quite itchy and dried out. Moisturizing on a regular basis will help with that!
Leaky breasts: Closer to the end of the trimester, your breasts may start to leak a bit of pre milk (colostrum) in preparation for the baby to come. Completely normal and may be time to start wearing breast pads if you find it happening often.
Nesting: Yes this is actually a thing. Not all women experience it, but as you approach your due date, you feel this overwhelming urge to prepare for baby’s arrival. This may involve cleaning, re-organzing, deep cleaning, obsession with nursery or washing baby clothes etc. A surge of energy may accompany this desire to accomplish these tasks. You may not even realize you are doing it! Just embrace this surge of energy and remember not to overextend or exhaust yourself while you are nesting.
Clumsiness: What?! Actually a thing. Due to hormonal changes your joints are getting loose and therefore you are prone to being more clumsy. Not good especially for someone like me who is already clumsy to begin with…
Lightening crotch: Don’t be fooled by the ridiculous name, but it feels how it sounds. Sharp pain around your pelvic, vaginal area. So much fun right?! I experienced this quite a bit with my third. I’d be in the middle of making dinner and would feel a shooting pain downwards. It doesn’t last long, but can be ranging from uncomfortable to painful not to mention comes out of nowhere! Experts believe it’s from baby movements putting pressure on your nerves down there. As well as baby dropping down into your pelvis pushing on nerves as you near the end of your pregnancy.

Bathroom Visits

Muscles aches hence at the RMT again