Third Trimester Trials...

Hi everyone, it’s Ginny. I can’t believe it’s been 1.5 months since I last blogged. Time is flying by faster than I want it to! I’m now in my 32nd week… that’s less than 8 more weeks of freedom!

Shortly after my last blog, I was really into reading Harry Potter #6 and #7. It was a goal of mine to finish all the Harry Potter books before the baby comes but I got so into them, I did little else. I even stayed up way later than I should have on weekdays to read, only to suffer the next day while at work. Now I’m in Harry Potter withdrawal. I can’t wait to read the books to my kid when they get older.

A few weeks ago, in my second trimester, I was feeling great. I was doing so much and working long hours again. I managed to finish a classic Winnie the Pooh quilt/play mat for our baby to be. I was working, cooking, cleaning, reading, crafting… life was great and going by very quickly. I lost track of time and what week or trimester I was in.

This is the front of the quilt. The back of the quilt is all Winnie the Pooh fabric you see running across the front in bands. I hope baby will love it!

Then suddenly out of nowhere, I was hit with this incredible exhaustion one night. I thought it was the gross Toronto heat and humidity that was wearing me out. (I’m originally from Vancouver where humidity is non-existent!) I swear, the first day it was 40+ degrees I swelled like a balloon! I figured I’d sleep it off and get back to my busy life again.

Day after day I patiently waited for the exhaustion to lift trying to sleep it off. A few days in, I realized it wasn’t going away. I was now in my third trimester and the third trimester tiredness must have hit. I read about it in my baby books figuring it’d come on gradually and that I’d be able to ‘fit it into my life’. NOPE, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. Sucks because there’s so much I still want to do before the baby arrives.

To make matters worse, as of the past two weeks, I can’t sleep at night. I either lie awake thinking of all the stuff I want to get done or I’m up every freaking hour to go pee! People and books say it’s my body getting me ready for the baby’s arrival and all the sleepless nights ahead of me. HELLO!? Isn’t this the time I should be storing up on sleep?!? Shouldn’t nature allow you to store up your sleep a-la-hibernation-style BEFORE those sleepless nights arrive? It’s really not fair.

Speaking of books, let’s talk about all the pregnancy symptoms we all suffer that books just don’t tell you about in detail. I have both of the more popular excepting tomb-of-a-book and both have only dedicated one paragraph (if that!) on prenatal gas! Yup, farting. I have polled other expecting mothers and all have agreed pregnancy makes you fart a lot but no one ever talks about it! These books don’t do justice to this on this potentially humiliating, uncomfortable, but very natural subject. Some nights I think it’s a good thing I don’t have the energy to go out because my gas is so bad I wouldn’t want to go out anyways! So far, no expecting women or mother has disagreed with me when asked.

And as Andrea mentioned… the middle of the night leg cramps! Holy cow, painful! I would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. The books don’t tell you how bad it is! I told my husband it’s like someone jabbing you with a knife in the calf while you’re sleeping! I would have lined the whole bed with soap had I known! Thank goodness, they’ve gone away in my third trimester, good riddance!

What I am starting to appreciate and somewhat enjoying about my third trimester is playing with the baby in my belly. My baby positioned itself head down about a month ago and has stayed there since (below I further describe that weird experience). I now often see little knees and feet rolling around or jetting out of my belly, top right corner. I either grab them or push them back in. I said 'somewhat enjoying' because sometimes it hurts like hell when it kicks into my ribs or stretches its arms straight down! It’s kind of creepy but also amazing to think there’s a tiny little human inside of me. A good friend just told me that someone told her ‘a child will never love their mother the way a mother loves the child’. She also told me to enjoy and appreciate having the baby inside of me because one day I will miss it.

So about a month ago my baby readjusted itself from lying left to right to head down. My tummy was really hard and cramped all day and evening. I woke up the next morning and realized I had more elbow room! I went from wide to narrow and I looked skinner from behind as well. Then I turned to the side in the mirror and my belly looked huge sticking out in front of me.

The best pregnancy tip I could give someone would be to go for prenatal RMT massages. Find someone that specializes in prenatal care and you’ll be in bliss! I go to Cindy McNeely on Dupont between Spadina and Bathurst and she’s amazing. I would highly recommend it for every expectant mom. I often threaten to steal her RMT pillows and wedges because they fully support you, it’s so comfortable and relaxing. I still haven’t been able to duplicate the same comfort and support at home with normal pillows. Coming towards the end of my prenatal massage sessions makes me sad!

Well, with less than eight weeks left I know I definitely won’t be missing the back ache, the sweating and overheating, the tiredness (but I guess different tiredness comes on), the headaches and the feeling of heaviness with every step I take on my swollen and sore feet and ankles (which I often refer to as elephant feet). I told my husband, if I can help it, this is the last baby I carry through the summer! Next time, it'll be a spring or winter baby when all this extra body heat will help keep me warm vs. make me suffer! I'm SO done being pregnant but at the same time trying to savour the last few remaining weeks. It's such a love-hate experience, its amazing millions and millions of women keep putting themselves through it over and over again...