The last leg: The third trimester

I have for a long time battled with the idea of becoming a woman. Not an adult - a woman.

When do we transform from being girls to women - is it turning 18, 21 maybe, finishing college, working full time, making a home, getting married?

I have now decided that before you can become a mother, you must first become a woman.

My definition of a woman has changed as the years go by, but I now think it has nothing to do with being grown up or wise, it is about strength.

A woman is strong mentally and physically, she has experienced ups and downs and knows how to soldier through. A woman knows her priorities, she puts her family first and herself second. She looks at the bigger picture. A woman is determined.

I realised in my third trimester I was not a woman yet, but I had to become one.

Swollen ankles at 33 weeks pregnant

Pain

So you might have guessed I found this trimester tough! I was in a lot of pain, mainly with my pelvic girdle pain (or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction SPD), but also with swollen ankles, tummy upsets and general ‘heavily pregnant’ issues. The physical pain, also brought with it a lot of self pity parties.

From about 32 weeks, the pain did ease in my pelvis.

Big baby

So my bump was big, everyone commented on it.

On a trip to the doctor to see if I had a blood cloth in my leg (blame google) he felt my tummy and said that my baby felt very big. When I returned for another check up, he said the baby was so big I would need a c-section. I started reflexology to help ease the pain of my SPD, but quit after spending an evening in floods of tears when the reflexologist asked me if I was having twins and when I said no, told me if I went full term my baby would be 12lbs!! Who tells a first time mother that?! I was scared and so upset, I blamed myself for eating too much and had a complete melt down. 

(Spoiler alert: They were wrong!)

Baby shopping

I had started my baby list in the middle of the second trimester, after I was diagnosed with SPD. The threat of crutches and or bed rest played on my mind and the organised person I am wanted to get everything I needed before I was unable to do so. I did pick up the last few bits early in my third trimester. I will do a post on newborn essentials soon.

Gender

I really wanted to know if my baby was a boy or girl. I had no preference, but I wanted to know. From our very first scan up to the scan at 35 weeks I asked about gender, but did not get an answer. Our mysterious baby decided early on in the game to not only get into the breech position but also to face towards me, like hugging me, so we could not get a clear picture of the genitals. It was frustrating, but obviously not a big deal.

Movements

Her unique comfy position, as well as my bicornurate uterus resulted in very few baby kicks. I felt the baby every day, but no where near the recommended 10 kicks a day. For some reason (despite google!) I was not worried, I felt the baby every day and just knew everything was ok. But midwives and doctors did not feel the same way, so I had a lot of check ups in my last few weeks.

34 weeks pregnant on the non-stress test

High blood pressure

At my 34 week hospital appointment, they found my blood pressure very high. The high BP and the small amount of baby movement caused some concern so they kept me overnight to monitor. It was strange staying in hospital for the first time in my 29 years, especially when I felt perfectly fine. They put me on a non-stress test to monitor the baby’s heart rate and checked my blood pressure every three hours. I was discharged the next morning as my BP had come down, but I was sent home to rest and to finish up at work.

Four days later, I had another hospital check up, I was put on the non-stress test for 30 minutes and my blood pressure was monitored, this time my BP was a little low and they said I was a bit dehydrated!

At 35 weeks I was back again for a  hospital appointment, BP was high again but I pleaded to be sent home on bed rest. Hospitals are no fun! I was sent home under strict instructions to report any faintness, dizziness or lack of movement.

My third trimester finished at 35 weeks.

Continue the story here at Five weeks early: my scary funny birth story !!

Also check out:
The Ultrasound: Baby's first picture
The honeymoon of pregnancy: The Second Trimester
What a pain in the pelvis!

What a pain in the pelvis!

We all know to expect some pain and aches during pregnancy, it comes part and parcel with growing and carrying a baby inside your body, but there are some unfortunate souls like myself who get to endure a little more pain than the norm.

Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) or Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) entered my life at 20 weeks pregnant and did not exit until after my baby’s birth.

I thankfully had a healthy pregnancy, but the pain and discomfort brought by this condition did leave me drained, tired, unmotivated and of course in pain.

The symptoms for me were back, hip and ass pain and severe stiffness. It is caused by a hormone called relaxin which softens your ligaments to help your baby pass through the pelvis - I obviously had too much of it and my pelvic relaxed and moved too far apart, causing inflammation.

When in pain, you should rest - right? Wrong!

Sitting or lying down in the one position for over 20 minutes, resulted in me looking like a 90 year old - a very stiff 90 year old. (My granny is almost 90 and would jump over you, she is so fit!) Trying to get in or out of bed, get off the seat, or out of the car was near impossible. The joints stiffened and any sudden movement brought intense pain.

Thankfully my doctor recognised the symptoms right away and recommended physiotherapy, I know some doctors can dismiss it, but if you are in pain, do persevere. My doctor had a lot of sympathy for me and told me to follow the physio's instructions to prevent me having to go on to crutches or be put on bed rest in the third trimester.

The physio found that my pelvis was off centre and my left hip had moved out of place. She did several therapies, which hurt at the time, but did ease the pain in general. She also gave some do's and don'ts. I have added to this list some of my own advice and tips. 

Pelvic Girdle Pain Dos and Don'ts

Most importantly she told me not to push through the pain, which I had been doing and to avoid sitting on couches and to sit on a hardback chair.

Housework left me in agony and driving over an hour a day for work didn’t help either. Pregnancy yoga helped me relax, but some of the stretches did put me in pain.

As I could not go for walks or do any exercise, I put on a stone in weight by the end of the second trimester.

What eases the pain:

- A mixture of rest and exercise. I was told not to sit for more than 20 minutes at a time and to try and walk for 15 minutes.

- Stretches. Some of the yoga stretches and others I saw on YouTube or my physio told me about did help to ease some pain in the evenings

- Physiotherapy. I attended a physio in the hospital about once a fortnight. Although the therapies did hurt during the session, the pain was lessened for a few days after

- Reflexology. I am scared of needles so didn't try acupuncture. I am not sure that reflexology helped to eradicate the pain, but it did help to calm and loosen me up. A calm mind helps everything!

The good news is that after baby was born, my pelvis returned to normal and the pain was gone. Bad news is that I can most likely expect it again if I do get pregnant in the future!

Did you suffer from SPD? And if so what helped you along the way?

Also check out:
Maternity Wear Essentials
Learning a life lesson with pregnancy yoga
The honeymoon of pregnancy: The second trimester

The Do's and Don'ts of Pelvic Girdle Pain

Pregnancy Related Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) or Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD) can make your pregnancy journey a complete pain in the ass (physically!) so here are some Do's and Don't s that I found helped me.

Avoid crossing your legs

Don't:

- Stand for a long time

- Sit for a long time

- Carry a toddler on one hip

- Cross your legs while sitting

- Sit on the floor

- Sit in a twisted position

- Lift heavy weights (including shopping bags, wet washing, vaccum etc)

- Push heavy objects like a supermarket trolley

- Carry anything in one hand only (like a handbag or shopping)

- Get dressed standing up

Do:

- Get phyisotherpay regularly

- Be as active as possible within pain limits

- Ask for help with household chores

- Rest when you can

Get professional help to ease pain

- Sit down to get dresses or undressed

- Wear flat supportive shoes

- Sit down while ironing or other jobs

- Try to keep your knees together moving in and out of the car

- Sleep with a pillow between your legs

- Roll in and out of bed keeping your knees together

- Take the stairs one at a time

- Use a rucksack or an over the shoulder handbag to carry your daily items

You can buy these spikey massage balls online
to target stiff muscles in your back

Tips:

A plastic carrier bag or sheet on the car seat will help you swivel in and out of the car.

Try to cut out drinking water at night, to lower the number of toilet breaks you need.

Get a shower mat, if you don't have one - you do not need to slip!

Massage your lower back with a spiky massage ball.
If in severe pain, ice the front of your pelvis to calm down inflammation, and put heat on your ass and back to help ease muscle tension.

Also check out:
What a pain in the pelvis
Maternity Wear Essentials

Pregnancy vlogs on YouTube

I have never been a huge fan of YouTube. I liked to listen and watch music videos from time to time, but I never seemed to have the time to sit down and watch a video, I am much better at reading blogs - which are more discreet without the noise!

But being pregnant, I had to rest more, especially with Smphysis Pubic Dysfunction (SPD), and well sometimes you can only read so much! Also for the first time in my life I wanted to compare myself to others - I wanted to see what other 16 week pregnant ladies looked like, what I should expect in the third trimester, what were other moms doing, buying or worrying about!

So I became obsessed with pregnancy vlogs, I watched them weekly and I loved them. My husband on the other hand hated them and felt they would stress me out. They did not, I did not compare myself negatively, but positively, and I enjoyed taking the journey with other ladies in waiting towards the birth of babies.

So for those of you who want the extra pregnant company I will share with you my favourite pregnant and mom vloggers. I followed these ladies through their pregnancy, birth and now I watch their babies growing (when I get the few spare minutes!).

Hope you enjoy, some are inspirational, funny and slightly strange!

Jess and her four kids

GabeandJess

https://www.youtube.com/user/GabeandJesss

Mom of four under five, I have no idea how she does it! You can watch her pregnancy and baby vlogs from her teenage pregnancy, her twins and her newest arrival. She is also getting married soon, if that interests you! Her life is like a soap opera sometimes!

Anna Saccone

AnnaSaccone

https://www.youtube.com/user/TheStyleDiet

Anna is one of my favourites, she is Irish and mum to Emilia and Eduardo, two of the cutest kids. Their family also post daily vlogs on https://www.youtube.com/user/LeFloofTV Her week by week pregnancy vlogs were brilliant and honest. Such a lovely family.

Bubz

Bubz

https://www.youtube.com/user/Bubzvlogz

Bubz is inspirational, funny and beautiful. She really is my favourite and I still look forward to her vlogs, she is from Northern Ireland, living in Hong Kong with her husband Tim and the chubbiest baby ever Issac. She knows her beauty and also gives tips on exercise, life and personal goals.

Danielle with hubby and baby Olivia

Danielle Baby Bliss

https://www.youtube.com/user/DanielleBabyBliss

Danielle is mum to two fab girls, she is an American living in Germany. She is a vegetarian who tries to live a sustainable life. She is also doing daily vlogs now, but her week by week pregnancy vlogs were fantastic.

DainaG showing her monthly products

DainaG https://www.youtube.com/user/DainaG23

Daina is Canadian and she struggled through pregnancy, which was refreshing to watch. Her vlogs were really helpful. She is a beautiful lady with a cutie girl and her monthly favourite videos offer great advice on beauty and toddler tips.

Hope you enjoy!

Learning a life lesson with Pregnancy yoga

I was struck down with Smphysis Pubic Dysfunction (SPD) at around 20 weeks pregnant, which ruled out most exercise for me, especially walking. This made me very lazy, helped me pile on the pounds and made me very anxious about childbirth. So I decided to do a pregnancy yoga course for six weeks.

I had never tried any type of yoga before so I was a real beginner and didn't know what to expect. As usual when I am trying something new, I was a little nervous, but as soon as I walked into the room, I was calm. The smell of burning incense, the cushions laid out on the ground, the lovely colours and the soothing music combined into the perfect atmosphere.

https://www.tumblr.com/search/hippie%20incense

The one hour class started by explaining how to breath properly, and it moved on to stretches, gentle poses and balancing exercises. Everything is slow and gentle and if you feel uncomfortable you are encouraged to stop. There were ladies present at different stages of pregnancy and it was lovely to talk to other pregnant women.

At the first class, I was slightly annoyed by the 15-20 minute meditation section, which felt like napping, we were told to lie down, cover with a blanket, close our eyes and listen to the music. I thought I was being conned out of money - eh I could nap at home for free!! But as the weeks went on I did use this time to free my mind and try to connect with my baby.

If you have weak ankles or plantar fasciitis you may find the balancing exercises tough, like I did. Also after a few weeks the yoga seemed to aggravate my SPD.

I would highly recommend the course though. After just one session my lungs felt ten times bigger, I could breathe easily and I felt that the stretching elongated my body giving my womb more room. It was of course relaxing and it was one hour a week to free my mind or any worries, stresses or to do lists and just tune into my body and baby.

Above all that, I feel like I learned how to breathe properly and that is a real life lesson. The breathing exercises are excellent for calming your body and are invaluable for labour pains. Moving forward from pregnancy I still use the breathing techniques frequently to clear my head before sleep and also during exercise classes to get more oxygen into my body.

It also improved my sleep, helped with some back pain and gave some ideas for different birthing positions.

Also check out: The First 12 weeks
First Maternity Hospital Visit

The Honeymoon of Pregnancy: The second trimester

The second trimester is really the honeymoon of the pregnancy journey. You have passed the first test - getting through the first 12 weeks and you begin to come to terms with your bundle, getting to know s/he, feeling movement, dreaming about the future and getting comfortable before the impatience, frustrations and pains set in!

Heading to a wedding at 13 weeks pregnant

The second trimester greeted me with a little boost of energy, which I lavished in until about 20 weeks, when I once again had to take to bed for early evening cat naps after work.

My weight gain over the first 12 weeks was about 5lbs, but by the end of the second trimester I had piled on a stone.

At the start a little back pain, stretch aches and some sleep disturbance was met with intrigue, but as time slipped by I was plagued by pain cause by Smphysis pubic dysfunction (SPD). At 4 months pregnant, I was starting to look the part and by 5 months I was moving into bigger sized and looser clothes with some maternity items on board.

I had no particular cravings, I just loved all food and wanted more! The only food aversion I had was to coffee - which really was a good thing. At a wedding, I took a glass of wine with the dinner but I had no desire for alcohol.

Baby kicks - what a wonderful moment it is when you start feeling those first flutters. They are hard to explain, but felt like popcorn popping inside! As time goes on the kicks felt like a slight muscle spasm. I remember feeling as if the baby was leaning to one side, and getting a strange ‘stretch’ feeling on my left side … which would become more apparent later!

On honeymoon in Greece

I had my first two hospital visits in the second trimester, which I will write more about later. In between the visits I also went away on a late honeymoon … a sort of babymoon, details here. We went on a Greek Island cruise and it was soo relaxing - a short trip away during your pregnancy is very much recommended.

At around 20 weeks pregnant I was diagnosed with smphysis pubic dysfunction (SPD), I was in a lot of pain, had to take time off work and started to see a special maternity physio in hospital once a week. During the peak of my SPD pain, I went on a buying spree for baby. It felt necessary as the threat of crutches or bed rest towards the end of my pregnancy was looming. Buying baby stuff was tooo much fun, a little stressful, but a very happy time.

I took up pregnancy yoga at around 16 weeks, it was fantastic as a way to relax and prepare for labour but agitated my SPD as the weeks went on.

20 weeks pregnant

My husband and I started to drift further and further apart …. ha ha - only in the sense that our bed was now totally taken over with pillows!! I had to have one in front of me, one behind me and one between my legs - but it did help me sleep!

I had two very scary moments during my second trimester, one was a showing of brown discharge and the other was a horrific trip to the dentist. The brown discharge, turned out to be “nothing”, I attended the doctor and heard the baby’s heartbeat and it was clear in a day. The doctor explained that it was probably ‘marginal placental bleed’ which is harmless and is caused by a burst blood vessel from my placenta or my placenta moving into place. I was told to rest and to return to the doctor if I saw any fresh blood or had cramping. My advise if you get any strange colouring down there, see your doctor, if only for the peace of mind.

24 weeks pregnant

My trip to the dentist was the worst day of my entire pregnancy. My gums were bleeding a lot so I went to get a check up and get my teeth cleaned. It was nothing short of TORTURE. I was so scared and in pain the whole way through, I thought it would never end. The only reason I didn't stop the dentist, was I kept thinking about labour, how I will be in so much more pain - so I let her go on, with no pain relief. My gums were left black and they bled for 24 hours afterwards. My mouth was so sore I couldn't eat or drink - unless it is an emergency leave the dentist visit until baby had arrived.

During the second trimester we also made huge inroads into baby names and settled on a boy and girl name, we told no one. But I think I did let it slip once!

And in a flash the second trimester was over and we were staring at the few weeks left till we met our Baby Boo!

**This post relates to 2014 ***

Also check out: 
12 Things to do in the second trimester
The First 12 weeks
First Maternity Hospital Visit
Maternity Wear Essentials