The third trimester… wow. It’s so crazy to believe that it’s said and done! This trimester seems to be the one that is expected to move along slower, although it didn’t shy away from any excitement. Between specialists, the itchiness, Covid and a trip to the ER… it made this one to remember.

Just like the first six months, this trimester was filled with good parts, new experiences and some annoyances that I just could not shake, *cough* the itching. I loved it all the same and I love that the wait is over. Melanie is here, we have finally met our baby girl after much anticipation!

The Best Parts.

Although I joke about the “excitement” that came along with these three months, there were a lot of fun parts! We got to organize/finish the set up for all the baby necessities, watch my belly hit it’s max growth, celebrated and spent time with loved ones that will also be a part of our little girl’s life, and much more.

Baby Prep

Last trimester we were able to get the crib assembled but there was much more that needed to be situated. We sorted the clothing by size, organized her closet, sterilized her bottles, put together the changing table, installed the car seat, along with a couple other last minute necessities. Since we moved into this apartment we knew we were going to be filling it up with baby stuff but to see it come together little by little and see the end result was still so crazy for us.

Baby Shower

The baby shower. Oh, my. If you read my blog, The Baby Shower of My Dreams, you know that this baby shower was everything I could have wanted. It was flawless from the venue, to the theme/decorations, to the guests, perfect doesn’t even cut it. My momma-in-law with some assistance from my mom and other family’s help, it came together to be what I (and Tommy) loved.

Belly

I loved, loved, loved being pregnant! I was looking forward to seeing how I would feel by the end. So many people told me that I would just want her out of me and I would want my body back. Turns out… they weren’t wrong, lol. Even with that being said, watching my stomach grow and seeing where it would be at the end, it was astonishing to see what my stomach would look like at its max. By the end I gained 36lbs! I don’t know if that’s average but it was probably the perfect amount because it didn’t cause any additional aches or pains outside of what I was already experiencing.

Our Baby/Honeymoon

Tommy and I were very happy with keeping our wedding simple. That was just what we wanted and it was the perfect thing for the two of us. We got to celebrate with some of our loved ones during the ceremony itself but also afterward at a little luncheon. We originally planned to keep it so simple that we didn’t anticipate a honeymoon or any send off like that. As we were nearing the wedding, we thought… wouldn’t it be nice to do a little something for ourselves? We are never going to do this again, let’s do it right. We decided to do a honeymoon and baby moon in one. We found an Airbnb that spoke to us and made a weekend of it.

Symptoms.

I have heard that the third trimester and first trimester almost mirror one another. I saw similarities between the two but I also saw new ones with this last trimester.

Fatigue/Lack of Energy

I will say the the fatigue and lack of energy made it back, that’s for sure. It made it a little more difficult to get things done in preparation for the baby, to want to work, or do much of anything. The best thing to do was to just take time to myself to sit and relax rather than being up and moving constantly.

Acne

The acne just got worse and worse as the months went. I couldn’t believe how bad it got and how red my face became. I am not one to wear makeup so I did not actively cover it. The most I did was try to use face washes that treat acne, although it didn’t do much. This was one of the things that made me most self conscious during pregnancy but I just let it be, I wouldn’t be pregnant forever so I just let it be for the remaining time.

Frequent Urination

By months eight and nine I was in the bathroom multiple times an hour. This is one of those symptoms that seems it cannot be avoided no matter whose pregnancy it is. The baby is so big at this point that they are PRESSING on the bladder and there is no way around that. I can’t complain about that though, definitely not the worst one of all.

Constipation

You get the idea… you don’t need much detail here. What I will say is this was a symptom that would occur more often than not.

Shortness of Breath

The bigger my belly, the shorter my breath. With Mel kicking me more and more it makes doing tasks that much harder. There were plenty of times that I did a small task and would have to stand for a moment just to catch my breath. Something as simple as stepping out of the shower knocked the wind out of me.

Swelling

The last two months of pregnancy the swelling became more evident. Like with most pregnant women, the swelling was seen in my ankles and fingers. There were many nights I had to force myself to sit and put my feet up rather than getting chores done. At night, I would stack two pillows under my ankles while I slept so that I had additional time to elevate them. My fingers were swollen enough that I had to wait eight weeks after Melanie was born to fit my engagement ring and wedding ring.

Itchiness

If I’m going to complain about anything during the last few months of this pregnancy… it was this. In my previous blog, My Pregnancy Journey – Second Trimester!, I expressed how irritating the itching was and it did not let up. From 20 weeks all the way to the end at 40 weeks, I was scratching and scratching and scratching.

Tommy and I know that we would like to have more kids but I really hope that the next pregnancies are a little nicer to me. It would be brutal to suffer through many more months of the itchiness that I had experienced in this pregnancy.

Again… No Migraines!

Like the first trimester, migraines are gone again! I can’t tell you when I saw the migraines going away this time but they did! This is such a big thing for me considering all the pain and stress that they have been causing me over the years.

What Comes With This Trimester.

Growth Scan

I’m pretty sure that there were two growth scans done during this trimester, one of them done at 30 weeks. Both of them looked excellent. Everything was on par with how it should be at that time in the pregnancy. We were moving along so well each step of the way.

NSTs

The NSTs or, non-stress test, began at week 37 and would continue each visit until giving birth. I would sit in a huge, comfy couch chair while I had two straps around me. One to measure my contractions and one to measure the baby’s heartbeat. Apparently at this time, I was experiencing contractions that I could not feel. This went all the way until week 40, when I was sitting in the hospital bed, the day of giving birth!

There is something about the heartbeat that got to me each and every time that I heard it. From the very first time at six weeks, I could just cry hearing it, or even seeing it. The NSTs were really special to me for that.

Unexpected.

As much as we would like it, we can’t expect things to go exactly as planned. I knew that I would have some hiccups during my pregnancy, those being symptoms. Turns out there would be a couple other unexpected turns.

Specialists

No pregnancy is perfect. It couldn’t be as easy as just going to the OB each visit, getting a perfect reading and going home. We were very fortunate with how healthy Mel was all throughout the pregnancy, there were just little speedbumps along the way. Since I was encountering that crazy itching, I would to see a dermatologist multiple times. He was very kind and helpful but was not able to provide anything I felt comfortable using that made the itch go away.

My thyroid was also acting up a bit. When I say a bit, my levels were reading a little high for a normal person but for a pregnant woman, this was typical. I put it off for so long to see a endocrinologist because I truly did not feel it was necessary. No, I’m not a doctor but I know that everything is out of whack in your body during pregnancy and that’s just what this was. When I eventually went to see an endocrinologist, he told me I could go back to my OB and teach them something because it was essentially a waste of a visit…

ER

At 31 weeks, I had an appointment at the OB. Earlier in the day, it seemed like one of my ankles was swelling up. I know swelling is a common symptom in pregnancy so that didn’t alarm me but it was something that I just wanted to address with the OB office. The NP that I consulted during this visit checked the ankle that was swollen, ONLY that ankle. She told me that everything was fine, just to rest with my feet elevated and to get compression socks, if it progressed I would go get it checked with a radiologist.

Within 15 minutes after leaving the office, I got a call from the NP that decided maybe it would be best to go to the radiologist by Monday (I believe the visit was on a Friday). Within another two hours, I get another call… she then believes that I need to see the radiologist for a cat scan or whatever as soon as I could possibly get an appointment. And now I’m starting to freak out because out of nowhere this is getting more severe. I received yet ONE. MORE. CALL. to say that I should get to the ER that day. The freakin’ emergency room… how did this escalate at this rate?

To sum it up… we went to the ER to sit there for six+ hours as a pregnant woman of eight months, almost have my fiancé (at the time) get kicked out due to the Covid rules that are still in place, to get an ultrasound done of my legs, pay a ridiculous bill, to learn that everything is perfectly fine.

The reason for concern was a blood clot that could have persisted, and a sign of that is one ankle swelling. It turned out both ankles were swollen so there was no worry. My mom, Tommy and I sat in the waiting room for MORE THAN SIX HOURS for nothing… a big thank you to that NP.

Covid

Eight months of pregnancy was peak of excitement 😅. When I got to 33 weeks, I started feeling symptoms like I was getting sick. I figured it would just be a cold, no biggie… it’ll go away in just a couple days. Although… never being pregnant before I thought this was more serious than it actually was. I was nervous there would be harm to Mel.

To than find out I was Covid POSITIVE! I tested positive at eight months pregnant… I didn’t even know what to think. I took such good care of myself throughout this whole pregnancy and COVID of all things! Luckily we have family that we can turn to with any questions or guidance and they were so calm and collected. It seemed there was no reason to be worried and there wasn’t, thankfully.

What really upset us about this Covid situation was our wedding… I tested positive four days before our wedding day. What was very fortunate was that we had a court wedding so rescheduling the date and updating our family was no hassle. It was just the emotional toll. We just wanted to make it official already. We set the date for November 15th, which we felt was perfect for us but December 1st… there’s something about it that makes it more special. ❤️

Looking Ahead…

Being in the postpartum phase, I am so excited and so grateful to finally meet our baby, get my body back and have some more normalcy. Three things that I have heard repeatedly from people and have learned to be true; you don’t know the love of a child until you have your own, time goes by so quick, and you can never have too many diapers.

There will be people that will share their opinions with their experiences, which is always nice to have an outside perspective, especially as a new parent. Just remember that every baby is different. From parent to parent but even amongst your own children. Some might cry more than others, some might want to be held more than others, some might need to be formula fed rather than breastfed, and so on. You know your child best!

I really cannot wait to see what the future has in store for my family of three. 💖

See ya,
Samm 🌻