Third Trimester Recap

A third trimester recap! Sharing my thoughts and experiences about my final trimester of pregnancy.

I still cannot believe it, but baby boy has arrived, so it’s probably time for a third trimester recap!

I know it’s so cliche, but this whole journey has gone by in what feels like the blink of an eye. From finding out we conceived and then on through the first and second trimesters, being at the end of my pregnancy feels surreal and exciting and just a whole bunch of other feelings that I can’t quite put into words.

But I’m excited to share all things third trimester, so let’s get into it!

A growing bump + so much movement

Obviously the biggest physical symptom of the third trimester was my bump reeeeally popped! The bump definitely started impacting my normal activities from 28 weeks on, making stuff like bending over, getting laundry out of the washer, putting on shoes, rolling over at night, getting up off the couch, and probably a few others I’m forgetting, feel like olympic tasks.

With more of a bump also came WAY more baby movement! Our little guy is so, so active, and it’s still my favorite part of pregnancy overall. There’s nothing like feeling him move around in there, and in the third trimester he’s so big that you can see the movements from the outside, which is so crazy but so cool.

Nutrition + workouts

My appetite in the third trimester was definitely still high, but I lost that ravenous feeling from the second, probably just because there’s literally not as much room in there since it’s now occupied by my little growing nugget.

I’m still eating super well and loving steel cut oats, big nourishing salads, and tons of veggies and beans specifically. Sadly I’m off my beloved sweet potatoes again, just because they’re so satiating and I find I’m too full afterward. Can’t wait to enjoy those on the daily again once he’s here!

As far as fitness goes, I’m still working out 6 days per week, obviously at a lower intensity, and walking 10,000 steps every day. I really feel proud of myself for staying consistency with movement and listening to my body throughout pregnancy. Having less energy did NOT make it easy every day, but I know that the benefits will definitely pay off with my actual birthing and recovery.

Relationship

Something else I’ll always appreciate pregnancy for is how close I feel to Joe. Our relationship was very strong before, but it seriously feels rock solid, which I think is important knowing that we’re about to welcome a whole new routine of beautiful chaos into our lives.

2020 was difficult for a lot of people, but having Joe working from home all year (versus traveling over half the week, every week) was SUCH an amazing bright side of it all. We had so much incredible quality time this year, and an especially great holiday season just the two of us. He has been an absolutely amazing, unwavering support system through all of this so far, and my heart explodes just thinking about how incredible he’s going to be as a father. I love him so, so much, and I’m so thankful that I get the best partner ever to do this whole parenting thing with.

All that said…I really didn’t think about how much a giant bump would impact our sex life in the third trimester. My husband is a hottie with a body (haha sorry, but you guys know I have to keep it real with you!) and don’t get me wrong, it’s always good with him. I’m just over only having a few very limited options when it comes to sex! We’ve made it work and I’m proud of us for still prioritizing that important aspect of our relationship, but I think we’ll both be extra happy when we can get back to our norm in terms of fun bedroom activities.

Oh and PS, if you’re pregnant during the colder months, CANNOT recommend a onesie enough. We both lived in these basically all of December and it was the best thing ever.

Birthing prep

I’ve talked about this a few times on Instagram but haven’t gone into much detail here on the blog – I’m planning on a natural, unmedicated birth. I’ve known since before getting pregnant that this is what I want, and I’m thinking I’ll probably do a whole other blog post on my birth story and how I prepared.

But I did want to mention that birthing prep has taken up the majority of my third trimester when it comes to actual time/work put in. I’ve done a ton of research on natural, unmedicated birth and I’m taking the Hypnobabies course (it’s all online and self-paced which is so nice).

I didn’t anticipate it, but I LOVE this course so, so much. Regardless of how my birth goes, it’s helping me to feel so calm, confident, and excited about my baby’s birth and like I said, I’ll definitely share more on this if you guys are interested.

In addition to hypnobabies, I started eating dates every day + drinking red raspberry leaf tea around 36 weeks. Both supposedly help get your body ready for and/or shorten birth itself, but who knows! I figure even if that isn’t legit, neither can hurt (and I love dates, so having them as a pre-workout treat is great). Dr. Greger, my plant-based nutrition hero, talks a bit about the studies on dates for birth here and here, if you’re interested.

Sleep

I’ll keep this one short and sweet – especially these last couple weeks, sleep has been a WRECK. Like, waking up every hour to pee, then not being able to fall back asleep at like 2am and getting up at 4am. Multiple nights every week. Not a fun time! At least when he’s here and I’m up a lot at night it’ll be for a good reason, haha. But anyway, sleep has definitely been the roughest part of this last trimester.

Nesting

I would always hear or read about mamas “nesting” just before baby arrived, just going into super woman mode and cleaning the whole house, prepping the entire nursery, basically tying up all the loose ends. I wondered whether the nesting concept was a real thing, but it definitely hit me right around 34 weeks.

We started prepping the nursery pretty early on, but at that point I just wanted everything perfectly in its place – onesies washed, diapers at the ready, white noise machine and monitors set up, the whole deal. You can see a tour of the full, finished nursery here!

We also spent a lot of time getting other things in order, like our birthing plan, packing our hospital bag, installing the carseat, all that kind of stuff.

The end + the beginning

So while the end of my pregnancy is here (we only want one child, so this is it for pregnancy!), our sweet boy’s life is just about to begin, and Joe and I have never been more excited to take on a new adventure together. We know it’ll come with challenges but also with SO many rewards and amazing memories, and we’re so thankful that through it all we’ll have each other. We can’t wait to grow from 2 to 3!

Overall, it’s hard to describe how I feel about my pregnancy in a way that actually reflects how I feel. I’m so, so thankful for a really healthy pregnancy that overall was super manageable and pleasant. But I’m also really excited to not be pregnant, and to not have to do it again! My body did amazingly with this process and like I said, I couldn’t be more grateful, but I’m excited to have him here on the outside!

I’m so thankful for my body and can’t express how much I’ve grown to appreciate it for all it can do over these 40 weeks. Pregnancy was a fun, new experience, and I’ll forever cherish this time for what I know it’s bringing us moving forward.

Thanks for being here and following along with our new journey!

Xo,

Sara