Third Trimester Woes

I had many other moms and pregnant women tell me to enjoy the second trimester because that's when the fatigue is gone, you get a second wind, and the morning sickness is gone. It's a great period because you finally feel like your old, non-pregnant self again. I really did not truly appreciate this until I was well into my third trimester.

Your bump starts to look less like you had a big meal and turns into a really belly, and you start to feel like you are carrying around a huge melon strapped to your body. I haven't had really bad back pain, but getting around is much harder now and I am definitely waddling. There's a lot more pressure down there, and as another pregnant woman so accurately described it to me, you feel a soreness between your legs when you are walking that feels like you just went horseback riding!

The baby's movements have started to become more and more pronounced, which can be fun and exciting, but often times she'll also push so hard that it's uncomfortable. They told me at the last ultrasound that she was already head down and that the odds of her changing positions from that point were slim, but if it I didn't know otherwise, sometimes I would think that she is standing on top of my cervix, stopping her feet down on it like she is throwing a temper tantrum! Before I got pregnant I would always wonder how a woman would know that the baby was pushing on her cervix... well, I hate to say it, but you "just know" because it hurts down there!

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It also starts to become increasingly difficult to fall alseep at night. Not only are you trying to get comfortable with a huge belly, but the baby is most active at night. Sometimes I swear she's doing yoga or trying to stretch out my uterus to make more room for herself in there, as she's pushing so hard in so many different directions!


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To make things worse, during week 34 I started to develop heartburn whenever I would lay down to go to sleep. Furthermore, despite consuming tons and tons of water, my hands and feet started to swell as well. I had to take off my wedding and engagement rings, for fear that my fingers would swell to the point where I would not be able to remove them (it was already really hard to wriggle them off!). I did, however, find that compression hosiery helped quite a bit with the swelling. If you're pregnant and interested in trying out some compression hosiery, make sure you enter the Pregosaur Giveaway that ends this Sunday! As a side note, if you plan to take maternity pictures, I would recommend doing them between 32-34 weeks. By then, your bump is big enough for pictures, but you aren't so uncomfortable and more importantly, your face isn't swelling yet.

I hear so many women say that they miss being pregnant. I am confident that what they miss is not all the discomfort that comes with the end of the third trimester. I will surely miss feeling my little one move and kick inside me - I think that's my favorite part of pregnancy. Of course I could do without and won't miss all the swelling, trouble sleeping, heartburn, soreness, etc. For now, I'm trying to keep in mind that the longer she stays in there, the more developed and better off she'll be. I am so grateful to even be pregnant in the first place and I try to keep in mind what a blessing it is to be having this baby, but honestly sometimes I'm so miserable I really wish she would just come out already...