I thought the second trimester had gone by quick, but wow, the third one has really flown by! I think the biggest thing for me has been that I started feeling it end well before my due date (which is coming up fast!). Hence why I am posting this a little early (before the trimester officially ends and he arrives!). I came three weeks early and my sisters and husband were also early babies. Laura’s son Ernie came 10-days early so I’ve really had early babies on the brain for most of trimester three.
How I’m Feeling
I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but I really love being pregnant. All the things I was worried about have not seemed so bad and I’ve had a really easy pregnancy overall.
This trimester I did start getting a few leg cramps at night. Those were terrible. I quickly learned the signs that they were coming and combated with extra hydration and stretching particularly before bed. Which meant I started getting up way more often to pee in the middle of the night but that was the lesser of two evils when the alternative was to wake up gasping in pain from the leg cramp.
His kicks calmed down a little bit from the craziness that I experienced in the second trimester. He has been a really active baby and I try to keep reminding myself how good the movement is even when I get an elbow out of nowhere or a few kicks in the ribs.
What I’ve Been Doing
So many to-do lists! Throughout the whole trimester, I’ve been keeping a running tab of everything I wanted to do before baby comes and it’s been a fairly constant set of lists. Nesting set in really early for me and I really wanted to get our home ready in every way, shape, and form. I was very lucky to have my mom come visit for a week about half-way through my third trimester. I thought we’d be doing a ton of nursery prep, and we did do some of that but we actually spent a lot of time working on my apartment, de-cluttering and doing Goodwill runs. We also bought a few furniture items on Craigslist for the baby’s room and sold quite a few things that we really didn’t need to make space. It felt so cleansing to get the house into shape and made me feel really ready for his arrival.
Laura threw me a lovely shower (she co-hosted with our friend Sarah) and my office also threw one for me and another co-worker due at the same time. Laura sent over several boxes of Ernie’s hand-me-downs and I quickly filled up Munchkin’s dresser and closet with more baby items than I can ever imagine needing. I was completely overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and so glad I’d spent so much time on the de-cluttering and getting rid of things early on.
I’ve still been really enjoying going to yoga classes. The schedules are hard, I really miss my 6:30 am hot yoga classes 🙁 but I go when I can and always feel better when I do. I’ve also been walking a lot and keeping up with my squats and arm workouts at home on the days in between.
What I’m Wearing
The third trimester has been interesting because 1) it felt too late to buy anything 2) I got quite a bit bigger and 3) the weather changed. I’ve been trying really hard to cycle through the things I already have on hand and only buy items that I’ll be able to wear after pregnancy as well – like these open front sweaters with a combo of the short sleeve maternity shirts I already had on hand.
I also went to Marshall’s and bought work-out gear from the normal section but in larger sizes. This was so much more affordable than maternity workout gear, I saved a ton of money by going that route.
I’ve continued to be impressed by the Lululemon Align Leggings that I bought early in pregnancy that still fit. They are by far my favorite thing to wear. I plan to live in them once my maternity leave starts. And I’ve also been impressed by the Champion brand (I buy their items at Target) which has continued to fit me all the way into the third trimester even though it’s mostly items that I wore pre-pregnancy!
What I’ve Been Reading and Listening To
My reading has slowed down quite a bit in the third trimester, though I do have these recommendations (Work. Pump. Repeat. & Cribsheet) from Laura bookmarked to pick up right around when he comes.
I started feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the baby knowledge that I had coming in from so many sources – books, podcasts and the baby classes we took. So here at the end, I actually switched my focus back to some of my pre-pregnancy hobbies and listened to a lot of personal finance podcasts on my car rides just to give me a break and something else to focus on. That being said, at the beginning of trimester three, I did love listening to The Longest Shortest Time, Big Fat Positive and The Birth Hour. It’s only been at the very end of this trimester that I’ve transitioned away from those and been using other topics as an escape.
Looking Ahead
Birth is right around the corner and I am so excited for him to arrive! I feel really ready – hospital bag is packed, car seats are installed and my head is spinning with all of the knowledge I can handle about birth and newborns.
Is anyone else in the third trimester? How are you feeling and what have you been up to? Let us know in the comments!