Pregnant Life with Baby C: The Third Trimester

This week marks 2 months of motherhood for me!

In all honesty, it’s been a longgg two months. Between wanting to be held 24/7 and constantly wailing when she’s not in my arms, having a sensitive tummy, refusing to latch so that I’ve had the fun job of pumping 5-6 times a day in order to feed her with my milk, and being a super light, fussy sleeper, Camryn has not been an easy newborn by any stretch. I have to admit, I was not anticipating a colicky baby, and I’ve been trying different remedies to see if we can improve things. I’m hopeful that things will get easier as we get out of this newborn phase – *pretty please!* – and have been chugging along as best I can.

On the positive side of things, Cammie is super adorable! In the last few weeks her eyesight has seemed to really improve, and nowadays if I walk into a room and talk, she looks right at me. She also started smiling recently and it’s so much fun! So far it hasn’t happened all that often, so when she stares right into my eyes, coos, and cracks a smile, it’s the best thing ever.

Today I thought I’d back it up to recap my third trimester of pregnancy. Let’s get to it!

The 3rd trimester was quite a whirlwind…

….Well, considering the fact that I gave birth at the start of week 36, my third trimester was cut unexpectedly short and whizzed by – which was fine with me because I was so uncomfortable by the end of it! I joke that I willed her out of me because I was feeling over it. Being very pregnant during the hottest months of the year was a bit rough. I feel like I was constantly hot and sweaty! In July the northeast experienced a heatwave, and all I wanted to do was eat ice pops and float in any body of cool water. My husband and I spent a week babymooning at my family’s shore house towards the end of the heatwave, and I did a lot of floating on a raft in the river, icing my feet and cooling down in the air conditioning.

My Symptoms 

I made out pretty well in the first two trimesters with mostly mild symptoms, but by week 30, things took a turn. I started to experience swelling in my feet, calves and hands. It was wild to not be able to fit into half of my sandals and sneakers or wear my wedding rings! The edema made me uncomfortable, the heat wasn’t helping, and I constantly was icing, elevating and stretching to try to alleviate it without much luck. My midwives assured me the swelling was normal, so I wasn’t worried, I was just uncomfortable.

Another not-so-fun symptom that got pretty bad during this time was my inability to get a decent night’s sleep. I started to wake up every 60-90 minutes, largely because I developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome on my right side. I would wake up to a throbbing, tingling feeling from my shoulder down through my hand. Apparently the baby was pushing on a nerve, and it was torture!

Another thing that hindered my sleep was my baby’s positioning: For seemingly my entire third trimester before she dropped down at the very last minute before my water broke, Cam was laying transverse with her feet kicking me in the ribs on the left side. So it basically was uncomfortable to sleep on my left side because of her little feet sticking out, wasn’t great to sleep on my right side because of the carpal tunnel, laying on my back hurt my lower back because of the extra weight in my stomach, and obviously belly sleeping was out, so pretty much zero positions felt cozy. I would also wake up with my swollen legs and feet hurting, and would get cramps in my tight calves. I started off my job as a mom already exhausted, which I could have done without. #pregnancyproblems

As soon as I gave birth, the carpal tunnel and swelling immediately went away and it was such a relief!

A few other lesser symptoms I experienced were heartburn – which seemingly came and went as it pleased, and it didn’t matter what I ate – and lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, which weren’t bad at all and just felt like my core was mildly tightening up.

My 3rd Trimester Workouts 

As my swelling got worse, I was forced to decrease my activity level a bit. While I had gone for daily walks my entire pregnancy, the swelling in my calves caused an old injury in my left calf to flair up, and when I walked, at times it would start to burn intensely. Not being able to get my steps in was aggravating, but I had to listen to my body and limit many of my typically long walks with my dog to 15 minute jaunts around the block, depending on how I was feeling.

Despite getting slower and more uncomfortable, I kept up with consistent workouts right until the end, and I really think this helped me both in labor and in recovery after I gave birth. I actually was at my favorite Lagree Method studio doing a tough workout the week before I went into labor, and told the owner that it would probably be my last workout there before giving birth because I didn’t want sore abs when I went into labor! That may have been some mother’s intuition kicking in.

As an example of my activity level, here’s what week 30 looked like for me:

Monday – 30 minute yoga flow session + 20 min walk
Tuesday – Did Brittany’s Bump at the Barre workout + 30 minute walk with my pup
Wednesday – 60 mins of cycling & weight training, along with 20 + 10 minute walks with pup
Thursday – Took part in a TRX/Pilates/Barre fusion class at the studio I was managing at the time + 15 minute walk with my dog
Friday – 60 minute walk in the forest + stretching session
Saturday – Rest day, short walk & house cleaning only
Sunday – 60 minute low-key hike with my dog

While remaining super active, I focused on what was working for me and eliminated any high intensity exercise and anything else that bothered me much. Towards the end of my pregnancy I was definitely slow moving, and bending over to pick something up off the floor started to feel like exercise!

Diet & Weight Gain  

My 3rd trimester eats looked a lot like my 2nd trimester: Eating intuitively with lots of whole foods was the key! Sometimes I was ravenous and would eat more, other days I wasn’t very hungry at all and my calorie intake would be lower. With it being summertime, my cravings were really just anything refreshing. My #1 craving was ice cream, and I ate my share of soft serve cones and watermelon sorbet from a local joint (still obsessed with that!). I also drank lots of smoothies and iced tea. Some days I didn’t feel like eating dinner foods and veggies, and while I remained focused on eating a nourishing diet, I also didn’t force myself to eat foods that didn’t appeal to me.

By week 30, I had gained 20 pounds, which was right on track with my goal of gaining the recommended range of weight, between 25-35 pounds. In my last six weeks of pregnancy, I actually sped up and gained another 10-12 pounds, but I knew I was treating myself right and my body was doing what it needed to do. I gave birth to a 5 pound 9 oz baby and lost 15 pounds during labor, and I think at least a couple of those pounds were just water weight!

Overall 

Everyone says that the 2nd trimester is the best time of pregnancy, and it’s easy to see why. In the 2nd trimester I was just cruising along feeling good, but in the 3rd trimester everything got more intense. Growing a human is no joke! Overall, my third trimester was a good reminder that in pregnancy and in life in general, I can only control what I can control. The annoying symptoms were just a part of my pregnancy that was largely out of my hands, but I’m happy to have had a super healthy pregnancy and a wonderful birthing experience.

Check out my other pregnancy posts: 

• My Empowering Hypnobirthing Story
• Manifesting Motherhood // My Aspirations for Year 32
• Pregnant Life with Baby C: The Second Trimester
• Why I Switched from an OB-GYN to a Midwife
• Pregnant Life with Baby C: The First Trimester
• And Baby Makes Three