Second Pregnancy, Third Trimester

Seeing as I’m still waiting around for little Ernie bear to make an appearance, I thought I might as well write my third trimester update. I know that once he is born, I’m unlilely to get around to it any time soon and I wanted to write it while it is all still fresh in my mind. I remember that as soon as Darcie was born, all my memory of pregnancy was wiped, which is probably why I was so happy to do it again! I’m currently three days overdue and so now is as good a time as ever to tell you all how the third trimester has been.

How did I feel during the third trimester?

If you read my second trimester update you will know that everything was going swimmingly. I was feeling great, had a ton of energy and was just generally loving pregnant life. I’ll be honest, the day I turned 28 weeks and entered the third trimester, something switched. Suddenly I felt tired, and heavy. My bump grew almost overnight and along with that came the backache and the heartburn. Backache and heartburn have definitely been my worst symptoms throughout the last twelve weeks, which is exactly the same as when I was pregnant with Darcie too. The heart burn has been a LOT worse throughout this pregnancy (how hairy is this baby going to be?!) but luckily I now know that there are remedies that are okay for pregnant women to take. I used Gaviscon for the first few weeks before switching to Rennies for convenience out and about. Generally, although the heartburn has been worse, the Rennies have held it at bay and I have just had to learn what foods I need to avoid. My worst triggers are chocolate and fruit which has been tough as fruit has been my biggest craving, and what pregnant woman doesn’t want to gorge on chocolate every night? Last pregnancy I was diagnosed with SPD and although I haven’t been diagnosed this time, I’ve recognised the same pain again. I haven’t gone to any physio sessions because generally I haven’t heard that they are particularly helpful. Ultimately I have back ache because I have a large bump and I spend all day entertaining a toddler, neither of those are things that can change so I’ve just learnt to get on with it and stop whinging. My back is the most painful at the end of a busy day at which point it really hurts to sit down, this has made blogging very difficult as sitting up at the computer was agonising at times. Remarkably my back actually hurts less now than it did at around 30-36 weeks, so that’s a blessing!

In terms of energy and tiredness, I have good days and bad days. My nesting instinct has fully kicked in and between all the cleaning I try to do in the day and running around after Darcie, that does generally leave me pretty exhausted by the evenings. As much as it isn’t easy looking after a toddler and being pregnant, in some ways I’ve found that she takes my mind off the stresses and pains of pregnancy. I can’t just sit around and feel sorry for myself on bad days, I have to keep going which I have found very helpful for generally keeping my mood and energy levels up.

The Bump

The bump is huge now. I’m measuring about a week ahead which given the fact he is now 3 days overdue is making me think that he could definitely be a big baby. Darcie was 7lb8oz and was such a scrawny little thing, but I’m currently imagining Ernie to be a big bruiser of a baby! I know that last time I carried a lot of water, so maybe that’s the case again but at this point I’m bracing myself for a big baby. I still have no stretchmarks which I’m surprised about because my skin is really stretched to capacity now. I’ve been terrible at remembering to moisturise too, so it must really be down to genetics, thanks mum!

Appointments and Scans

Appointments were scarce in the second trimester but I have had a lot more in the last few weeks. I was having them every other week and now that I am overdue I will be seeing my midwife every week until little mister arrives. I was due to have a sweep at 39+4 but after a mix up it has been postponed until tomorrow when I will be 40+4. I’m hoping that Ernie makes a quick appearance before then so I don’t have to go through that, but at this point it’s looking unlikely. Because both of my pregnancies have been low risk and free from complications my appointments are generally pretty brief. The midwife checks his heartbeat, my blood pressure and takes a wee sample but that’s about it really. I had one longer appointment to discuss my birth plan which to be honest felt like a waste of time as I know exactly what I want, basically the same as last time please!

Signs of Labour

This is the question that I am being asked daily at the moment, ‘so, any signs?’. During my first pregnancy I had no real signs that labour was impending until I was actually in it. I’d never experienced Braxton Hicks so when I did first get contractions I wasn’t sure if they were the real deal or just a false start. This time around I have been getting a LOT of Braxton Hicks, I’d been told it is more common with your second baby so it wasn’t really a shock when I started feeling them. I’ve had them intermittently throughout the entire third trimester but in the last couple of weeks I’ve had them daily. To me they do feel like the earliest contractions I had with Darcie and so each time it happens I do find myself wondering if he is on the way.

How am I feeling about giving birth again?

I wrote a lengthy word splurge about this all here but to cut a long story short,  I’m feeling a bit nervous and very excited. The thing that is causing me to be most nervous is having to leave Darcie. We are so lucky to have amazing family around us who can take her and I know that she will be fine without me, but it will still almost certainly be the longest I have every been away from her. I’ll miss her and I hate to think of her asking for me and me not being there for her when she needs me. There is nothing that anyone can say that will make me feel better about that, it’s just one of those things I have to deal with. I just wish I could plan for it and know which day it will be and what time of day. Naturally I am apprehensive about having to give birth again but mainly I am just excited to see Ernie for the first time and to hold him in my arms. I can’t wait for Darcie to meet him and to start life as a family of four. Once labour and delivery are done, they’re done and then it just gets better!

Hopefully there will be no more pregnancy updates after this one and the next similar post I’ll be writing is his labour and delivery story. I can’t believe that I’ve reached 40 weeks and that my pregnancy is nearly over. While in some ways it’s flown by, I also feel like I’ve been pregnant and excited to meet my boy forever!

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