My Third Trimester Pt 1
The third trimester in pregnancy starts around week 28 and you will experience even more body and hormonal changes happening. Before I get into my experience let me just say this, pregnancy is a roller coaster and very random. There are a lot of things you may experience and there are a lot of things you may not experience and you will never know what is going to happen. Each pregnancy is different for each woman and even though a woman has gone through a pregnancy before her next may be completely different than the previous. I did a lot of research and a lot of preparing for this pregnancy and it has not gone anywhere near like what I thought it would. The only thing that has is me continuing to work through the whole pregnancy.
Once I hit 28 weeks I started feeling really tired, like physically exhausted all day. Even though I was so tired I still could not nap, I heard from other moms that in the third trimester you get to nap again and get one in when you can but nope still didn’t happen. The moment I closed my eyes I started getting restless, I think I actually got one nap in.
Another thing that started happening more was lower abdomen pressure, this was already happening in the second trimester but now it happened a lot more often through the day. Through the second trimester it felt like she would like to lay sideways in the lower part of the abdomen and than occasionally she would sink down more towards my pelvis and it made it difficult to walk to do activities because it was so uncomfortable. At week 32 she was already head down and she will sink low into my pelvis while I am going for a walk or trying to get off the couch. Which this brings up the next symptom pelvic pain.
I had some occasional pelvic pain in the second trimester but now in the third its a constant ache with some occasionally deeper pains. I assume this the constant pressure of the placenta and her moving in and out of the pelvic area. It seemed hard to find relief because it would hurt if I was sitting, standing, walking and even sleeping. When I slept I used a full U shaped pregnancy pillow and made sure the pillow was between my ankles, knees and hips by my pelvis to keep it open and help with the pain and keep everything aligned.
Sleeping was another issue that started becoming more difficult during the second trimester but even more so in the third. As the placenta and baby get bigger you shouldn’t sleep on your back because it will put pressure on your aorta which can lower your blood pressure and also affect the babies blood pressure. Sleeping on your right side can also put pressure on your liver so they say you should sleep on your left side mostly to avoid some issues and also encourage the baby to get into the best position for birth. I normally fall asleep on easier on my right side and will sleep on my left, right or back through the night so I had to make sure I would end up on my back during this time and have not had any problems from laying on my right side so I switch between left and right through the night. The weight gain and pressure of the belly has made sleeping on one side for too long hurt in my hips and IT bands. We got a new king size bed from Helix and its super soft but supportive which helps but I still have pain so I put the pregnancy pillow “arms” really close together and lay on one side kinda leaning back and that helps give me relief on my hips and I semi feel like I’m laying on my back.
Now lets talk about the real pain of it all Heartburn and Acid Reflux. Now I can handle all the other things but this one is the most difficult. I only got it a few times through the second trimester but now it has been all day and almost everyday. If I start to get hungry and don’t eat in time I will get heartburn and than when I do it I get nausea and than indigestion after I eat. My hunger has increased a lot to the point where no matter how big the meal is I don’t feel full and like 5 mins after I eat I’m hungry and want more food. I make sure I have snacks on hand and it feels like I’m constantly in the kitchen cooking meals for me and my husband who also eats a lot of food since he is a body builder.
I tried a few things to help with the heartburn like Nux Vomica and Pulsatilla which kinda helped but the thing that helped the most was to eat small frequent meals or snacks through the day and to make sure I’m not slouching during eating and after. I know the heartburn sucks, is uncomfortable and even painful at times but please do not take an antacid. The reason you have heartburn is due to the hormone Progesterone and also your stomach is being pushed up by the placenta. Antacids like tums reduce the stomach acid and mask the problem. Heartburn is normally due to two issues; a trigger food like spicy food for example and low stomach acid, so when you take an antacid you make the problem worse and you will forever have heartburn due to low stomach acid.
There are other things that I encountered during my third trimester so look forward to part 2 coming soon. Thank you for following my journey, please leave a comment and share with your friends and family.
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