Today marks the
start of my third trimester. I’m
not sure what I’m in for as I’ve heard it’s different and I might experience
some unpleasant pregnancy symptoms.
Not so much the nausea of the first trimester but maybe more bloating
and aches and pains since I’m getting bigger. I guess there’ll be a discomfort with carrying the extra
weight but I honestly have no idea how it’ll go.
So far I can say
that there’ve definitely been some changes since the last time I did a
pregnancy update. I now wear a
Kotex panty liner all the time. It
just saves me some discomfort and I don’t have to change my underwear three
times a day. The increase in
discharge is something I didn’t know about until it started happening but my
Pregnancy Newborn Magazine did mention it in a small section about the
unpleasant side of being pregnant.
They actually did suggest using a light days panty liner to help save
you some laundry duty. My linea
nigra is now all the way up to my belly button. It hasn’t gone past it but it’s up to it. My tummy is still hairy and the hair is
actually getting kind of long but I’m just going to leave it there until it
falls out on its own after birth. And my tummy is still itchy sometimes.
My belly bump is
nice and round. I think it’s kind
of fun looking. It was slightly
raised off to my right side for a while, uneven looking but has kind of
balanced out now. I think the baby
is definitely sitting sideways. I
can feel very light taps to the left and hard kicking off to the right. The kicks can be really strong. One time I had my hand by my side and I
got kicked so hard it pushed my hand away. It also distinctly feels like a foot print pushing against
me. And I can see my tummy moving
now when the baby moves around.
Sometimes it can look like a wave rolling across my stomach.
I definitely
feel the baby moving every day.
Almost all the time now.
There will be a few periods of a couple hours of no movement when it’s
likely sleeping, there’ll be taps here and there and then there’ll be full
blown awake movement for a few hours.
I’ve definitely noticed a pattern that the baby has the most movement at
10pm and 6am. Everyday at 10pm the
baby just starts moving all around and it can last 2-3 hours. I’m often woken up at 6am because of
all the movement and unable to go back to sleep. The baby doesn’t seem to like it when I sleep on my
side. If I sleep on my left side I
feel tap tap tapping. If I roll
over to my right side I feel constant kicking, like the baby is trying to kick
off and turn me over. I have to
move myself to the living room couch to get comfortable. The baby is fine if I sleep on my back
and I always wake up on my back even though I heard you aren’t supposed
to. The couch is more comfortable
for laying on my back anyway and my head is propped up a bit to which helps
with all the acid reflux.
Joe often comes
to bed late and usually feels the baby moving before he goes to sleep. He says that the baby is very active
when I’m asleep almost like it rolling over. The most active he’s ever felt so it seems to be awake at
night and sleep during the day. I
think we can pretty much predict that it’s going to sleep during the day and be
awake at night after it’s born. It
already has a sleeping pattern in the womb. My sleep schedule is up in the air. Sometimes I sleep through the night and
sometimes I wake up at 6am and have to move to the couch because I can’t
get comfortable.
I’ve been told
that I look really good for how far along I am. I basically look pretty much the same just with a belly but
sometimes from the front I can’t even tell I’m pregnant. Joe says I look like an actress playing
a pregnant woman where they just wear a fake belly. We were in the store and the sales person didn’t even know I
was pregnant. We were buying
things for the baby and she asked if I just had a baby. When I told her I was six months, she
was like “Wow, you look great for six months. I wish I looked like that.” I’m glad I got my weight under control and am doing really
healthy. It’s really nice to hear
that you still look good when you’re pregnant.
I'm trying the
new SheaMoisture Stretch Mark Butter Cream. I did like the Palmer’s Tummy Butter and it did seem to be
working. The stretch marks I had
weren’t getting any better but they weren’t getting any worse either and no new
ones have shown up. The only
problem I had with it is that it never seemed to fully absorb into the skin so
I had an oily substance on my belly all day and night. With the SheaMoisture, it definitely
does absorb into the skin after a couple of hours. It’s too soon for me to tell if it’s working as well or not
but I do really like the smell although it’s a little potent. The Palmer’s smelled like Cocoa butter
but it wasn’t overpowering and faded over time. The SheaMoisture smells like pistachios (there’s pistachio
oil in it) but the smell is strong and lasts all day. It’s not a bad smell but definitely noticeable. Joe noticed that I smelled different
right away and he has a bad sense of smell. I do imagine I might get sick of the smell over time so I
think I’m going to alternate between the two. Maybe only apply the Palmer’s before bed so I don’t have to
walk around all day with an oily tummy.
I’m also still using the plain coconut oil before I shower (it’s just
regular grocery store straight up coconut oil). I’m also still using my collagen facial masks and creams
though not nearly as often. Only
when I think my eyes look weathered.
I’m not that crazy about the eye masks. I don’t think they’re doing much. But I do like the L’Oreal Paris Collagen face cream. I use it maybe once a week.
The most
obnoxious thing that’s started happening is the heartburn/acid reflux. I’ve mentioned it before but it seems
to be happening at least once every day. It can happen at any time. It could happen when I haven’t eaten or
had anything to drink in hours and I’m just sitting at my computer or on the
couch. It can happen if I bend
over to pick something up randomly.
It can happen when I’m laying down trying to sleep at night (this was
the most common occurrence for a while).
Or if I have a drink of water.
I guess the baby is big now so your organs and stomach are all squished
up inside you so your stomach holds less and it’s easier for stuff to come up. Most of the time I feel the burn in my
chest and the burning in the back of my throat. Sometimes some acid will just jump up into my throat,
usually when I bend down to pick something up.
Cravings have
been few. I was on a bagel kick
for a while. Then I wanted some
fruit juice. I was suddenly super
thirsty and craving fruit juice.
Joe went to Trader Joe’s to get me some organic fruit juice at 9pm when
I had my craving. He’s also gone
in the morning to get me bagels more than once. I still find it sweet that he’s helping to satisfy my
cravings. I am being weary of
fruit juice because I don’t want to gain too fast again so I’m sticking with
organic fruit juice without any additives. Trader Joe’s has a pretty good selection. My appetite has been low if
anything. I usually have a big
lunch and then don’t feel hungry for the rest of the day. It’s kind of the same way I was
pre-pregnancy where I don’t really get super hungry and I get full pretty fast
so I don’t need to eat a lot. I’m
just trying to keep variety and healthier stuff in my diet though I’m still
having a major sweet tooth and not doing as well as I could be.
My frequency of
going to the bathroom is entirely dependent on how much I have to drink. If I drink I lot I’ll typically have to
go once an hour but if I just drink normally I can go a few hours without
having to go. It’s no big deal but
holding it is kind of tough. It’s
best to go whenever you have to go and not try to hold it. I’ve already mentioned my milk leaking
in previous entries. I woke up
recently with milk drop stains on both nipples on my nightgown so I guess it’s
happening more regularly now. So
far it’s happened four times but I don't think that warrants breast pads or anything.
The greatest
news about the third trimester is that if anything should happen and the baby
is born early it has over a ninety percent chance of survival. It’s kind of scary and somewhat
negative to think about but I’m happy and relieved to know that the baby will
most likely be okay if anything were to happen early labor-wise.
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