Ready To Pop: Third Trimester Recap

Can’t. Wait. To. Have. This. Baby!!!! This pregnancy journey has felt never-ending, but now I’m gearing up for the final days of being pregnant in my third trimester, and getting so close to meeting my baby girl.

***My plan was to publish this around week 38 but as you probably know, I had my sweet baby girl at 36 weeks and 4 days and most of this blog was written prior to her birth!***

Must-Have Products

I pretty much didn’t go anywhere my entire third trimester (see below for the why) – there are definitely a lot more things that helped get me through the final stretch but these are just a few key ones!

Kindred Bravely high waisted leggings – so comfy, soft, and keeps that belly supported
Bravado nursing tank top – no, you aren’t nursing yet, but the compression in this tank feels good against your expanding tum
Comfy robe – I love Pottery Barn robes so much
Pipette belly butter – love the light scent and thick, moisturizing cream
Earth Mama belly butter – another great option and it smells like a creamsicle
Large heating pad – necessary for your aching back and legs
Magnesium spray – for all the unpleasant leg cramps
Birthing ball – I practically lived on this thing – it’s amazing for releasing tension in the hips and for labor prep
Chiropractor/Pelvic Floor PT /Acupuncturist – keep scrolling down below for more info

*I love all things Bumble Baby and their guide to surviving the third trimester is full of good stuff!*

Educational Materials

Tinyhood Classes – you can choose from several different subjects and they’re very inexpensive (I ordered mine during a holiday sale) I signed up for the Baby 101, Breastfeeding 101, Breastfeeding Beginnings and Breastfeeding Challenges. They also have printouts so you can download cheat sheets to have on hand. A great resource for the third trimester!
Childbirth Course by The Breastfeeding Success Company – This was a very detailed class about labor and delivery (L&D). It’s not usually available online but TBH I’m glad it was because we could fast forward through certain parts and rewatch other parts.
Nurture by Erica Chidi Cohen – Love this book for helpful tidbits about pregnancy and L&D, plus it’s written by a doula. There were a lot of mental health parts to it that I found particularly helpful while struggling in the third trimester.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting by Heidi Murkoff – This is a very basic 101 type of book but it’s perfect for first time moms to get an idea of, well, what to expect. Some of the info is outdated but I think it does a great job of including lots of pregnancy and L&D basics.

Ooooh, the Pain

What they say is true – the third trimester is HARD. As soon as 30 weeks hit, I started feeling all sorts of pain, mainly in my pelvic region. Turns out I had SPD, or symphysis pubis dysfunction, which feels like your pubic bone is being ripped apart anytime you walk (or move, really). I’ve stayed very active during this pregnancy so I was shocked and confused as to why and how this debilitating pain came out of nowhere. For the past 7+ weeks, I’ve had an extremely difficult time just walking around the house. Any form of exercise or household chores went out the window. And as hard as it was physically, it was just as hard mentally. I broke down crying several times, frustrated at my own body and exhausted from the pain.

Things that helped:
What I learned is that the pelvis needs to be stabilized and supporting muscles need to be strengthened when this kind of pain and dysfunction hits. I was doing strength training inbetween long walks, so it’s not like it’s my fault for being inactive. And sometimes it’s just the relaxin hormone going to work a little too hard. Seeing a pelvic floor physical therapist (PFPT) was first on my list – these specialists know the intricate details of the pelvic floor which is responsible for carrying the weight of your growing uterus and shifting organs in the third trimester. I hired Bud & Bloom to help me figure out what was going on down there and why I was in unbearable pain. I only saw her once (she came to my house which was so awesome), but she did give me some great exercises/moves that have helped. I’m interested in checking out other PFPT’s in the area when I’m postpartum (PP).

Chiropractor – Steph is an actual angel. She’s been one of the biggest helps in dealing with this awful pain. Her gentle adjustments are part of the Webster technique that is safe for pregnant women and even children. I saw her a total of 10 times and every time she adjusted my SI joint, sacrum, spine, pubic bone and applied KT tape a few times. I’m so grateful that I found out about her because her work was the biggest pain relief for me, but I had to see her 1-2x a week because the adjustments are short lived. That being said, it’s totally worth it (and she comes to your house which is soooo clutch when it hurts to walk!)

Exercises – some of these hurt to do one day but didn’t hurt the next, so if something did hurt, I didn’t do them (always the rule of thumb!)

• lay in supine with legs at 90 degrees in the air, pull on one knee while simultaneously pushing on the other, then switch
• heel taps in supine, one leg at a time
• squeezing a pillow in between legs
• diaphragmatic breathing
• bridge with pillow in between legs
• side lying clam
• hip circles on birthing ball
• cat cowl on all fours
• inner thigh stretches
• lat and back exercises with resistance band

Expecting and Empowered has an incredible pregnancy workout guide that was really helpful, and they post great content on their Instagram daily (lots of great PP stuff too)! They’re a sister team of PFPT’s and are super knowledgeable. I also appreciated workouts and tips from Good for the Swole – she has suffered SPD in her pregnancies and had lots of great advice on how to reduce the pain. Moving in the third trimester is so important! P.S. the maternity belt and compression socks did next to nothing for me.

Instagram accounts that have been great pelvic health resources:
@expectingandempowered
@ladybirdpt
@the.belly.whisperer
@mamastefit
@empower.your.pelvis
@getmomstrong

P.S. You can find my First Trimester Recap here and Second Trimester Recap here!

The Babymoon

We went to a Lodgewell property called Camp Blanco that was an absolute dream! See more about my stay on their website in my guest blog post. We spent some wonderful quality time together and did some DIY maternity photos (you might see the clicker in my hand in the couple shots!) It was important for us to take a couple days to be intentionally together and talk about our marriage and the challenges we will face when our baby girl enters the world. Even though the third trimester is incredibly hard, it is beautiful too. We are so ready for our girl to be here, but we are also soaking up the last few weeks of it being “just us” 🙂

The Nursery

This room has been a work in progress since we found out we were pregnant and it is such a relief that it’s finally complete! Here are the details:
OK I was going to link everything but that’s going to take too long. And I’m writing this after baby has been born, so you get the idea. They’re easy to Google for the most part 😉

Crib – DaVinci Charlie in White
Recliner/glider – DaVinci Piper in Cream
Mattress – gifted from Newton (sooo excited about this!)
Dresser/changing table – All in White (locally refurbished)
Changing pad – Skip Hop
Wall Decals – Lamb & Ivy
Baby monitor – gifted from VTech (model RM7764-2)
Play pad – gifted from Nook
Blackout curtains – Amazon
Diapers – gifted from Parasol
Lotions/Soaps – Pipette, Parasol, and Tubby Todd
Boppy Lounger
**We will have the SNOO in our room – this was an expensive non-negotiable for me!**

Final Thoughts

Pregnancy is A LOT harder than I’ve ever read about or thought could be. We spent so long just trying to conceive, that I wasn’t really prepared for what it would be like when we did indeed get pregnant. I’m so grateful to the online community for being so gracious, helpful and supportive while I’ve been on this journey! It’s been especially hard to be social in this pandemic environment, so thank you for making me feel less alone. It’s been a looong journey and now I’m just anxiously awaiting for our little one to enter this world, whenever she’s ready.

I’ve been ready for you, baby girl, for a long, long time. Stay tuned for the birth story!

P.S. You can find my First Trimester Recap here and Second Trimester Recap here!