”Pregnancy 101: Navigating Your Third Trimester” is a collaborative post and includes affiliate links. Please see the disclosure page for more information. Disclaimer – always verify medical information with your doctor or a professional and follow all laws for your location.
While you may have had a relatively easy pregnancy so far, hitting your third trimester can cause a whole host of new discomforts to emerge. (Hopefully not though!) This final three months of your pregnancy is the time when your hormones can get even more out of kilter resulting in hair thinning, another bout of morning sickness, oily skin, stretch marks, back pain, and crazy mood swings. While you might have felt glowing for the second trimester of your pregnancy, you might now feel positively grim. Don’t worry though, this tends to be short-lived. Follow the simple guide below to help in navigating your third trimester.
via GIPHY
Getting Puffy
If you’re looking anywhere even a little bit as swollen as Will Smith in the GIPHY above, call 911 and your doctor now! You may have thought that you’d gotten off lightly early on in your pregnancy. You weren’t putting on too much weight, your body still looked in shape, and you weren’t worried about your face looking a little puffy. Fast forward a few months and you may have woken up to swollen ankles and a fuller face. If your face and eyes are getting puffy, it might be time to alert your doctor as this could be one of the signs of abnormal or dangerous swelling during pregnancy. Regular pregnancy swelling can be difficult to cope with even though you know it is not permanent. To combat this, limit the amount of time you spend on your feet at any one time. If you have a job where you stand for long periods, request a chair or stool from HR. Put your feet up after dinner and ensure that you enjoy a foot bath every so often to relieve some of the swelling in your ankles. Be sure to talk with your doctor about any swelling you are experiencing and ask for ways to reduce it.
any via GIPHY
Insomnia
It’s all too easy to begin tossing and turning at night. You can’t sleep because your little darling is pushing on your organs making you feel comfortable or like you need to pee every thirty minutes. If you have back pain that is preventing you from getting some decent sleep, visit a chiropractor who can help adjust your spine gently and give you exercises to relieve your pregnancy-induced back pains.
When I had trouble sleeping because of back pain during pregnancy, I slept on my side. One pillow was used on my back to prop it up and another was used between my knees because my joints would ache. Body pillows have been used by lots of people to help sleep while pregnant or not.
If your insomnia is more to do with feeling stressed at the thought of becoming a mom, it’s time to chill out. I know, easier said than done. Run yourself a nice warm bath, enjoy a soak in the tub and read a good book. Try and escape from all of the baby thoughts for a little while to try and de-stress and get your body and mind ready to hit the sack.
Body soreness
Breast soreness is common throughout pregnancy as your hormones surge and your breasts become larger. However, the soreness can become more intense in your final trimester as your body begins to become ready for your baby’s arrival. Ensure that you wear a bra that is fitted correctly. If your breasts are larger, you won’t be able to squeeze into the same size as your pre-pregnancy days. And forget about the underwired push-up style. It’s all about wearing a bra for comfort and support at this point. Wear looser tops when you are having very sore days and try not to move around too much. Knocks and bumps can intensify your breast soreness.
Joints can also ache more during pregnancy. Weight gain can cause more pressure on your joints, and boy did I have some serious weight gain during pregnancy! I can remember even the joints in my hands started to hurt towards my delivery dates. This was probably because of how the body starts to release the hormone Relaxin that helps prepare the body for delivery. Oh, yep, just one more hormone to add to the crazy mix! LOL Body soreness is no fun but it is part of pregnancy and plays an important part of getting you ready for the arrival of your sweet little bundle of joy.
pixabay.com
These are just some things to consider while navigating your third trimester before welcoming your sweet little newborn. Remember that your body is miraculously growing a baby! There so much going on physiologically right now so don’t worry about temporary looks and aches and pains(unless you need to see a doctor!). Take it from a mother of 3 that the pregnancy annoyances will be remembered like a puff of smoke blown away in the wind by the time your child is 1 month old, 1 year old, and definitely by the time they are over 5-10 years old. Pregnancy can be rough but what a blessing! You got this Momma!
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Pregnancy have many harmful diseases but a woman must face these problems. If your face and eyes are getting puffy, it might be time to alert your doctor as this could be one of the signs of abnormal or dangerous swelling signs. It must be safe for the baby.