Pregnancy: 3rd Trimester Update

Hi All! It feels so surreal to be reflecting back on my third trimester.
I just wanted to jump on here to share my experience and some details with you.

1. EXPERIENCES
So a few of the things that I was able to experience in the 3rd trimester were the following:
REALLY starting to feel the baby kick and move, and be extremely active. This would happen especially at night. I could actually begin to see the little legs and arms protruding. It was such an amazing thing..and now sitting here, after the fact..actually miss those crazy ninja kicks.
EXTREME acid reflux. No matter what I ate, it was bad. So I actually had to start taking more tums and also over the counter Zantac for heartburn. After speaking with the doctor, she told me that both were fine to use during pregnancy, and that regardless of if I was feeling reflux at that very moment or not..to just take both daily to help. Which it did for the most part..
HAVING TO PEE! I was going to the bathroom what felt like every 5 minutes..seriously. It was every hour on the hour like clockwork. As baby became situated further, and truly dropped, I felt constant pressure as he sat right on my bladder. This made it hard to get anything done especially at work and trying to sleep -- as I would dodge to go run to the potty every chance I got. More like *waddle..*
SWELLING!!! Oh my god...the swelling. The last few weeks, I really started to gain water weight. I felt it in my feet, face and hands. I would get home from work after being on my feet for a lot of the day, and do foot soaks with Epsom salt. I would also try to take as many baths as I could and sit with a heating pad (similar to 2nd trimester). None of my shoes fit. I literally had 2 pairs of boots that I could still manage to wear comfortably. As the weather started to get more snowy/icy -- I did not want to chance wearing any other type of footwear anyhow, besides something with thicker / traction soles.
My body also started to become extremely stiff, and I had excruciating back pain later in the third trimester. This was hard for me, as it made things like getting out of bed, and running around the building at my work much harder. This is when it set in..that I finally began to hit that wall that people talk about. I started to feel like "I was done with being pregnant". As much as I loved being pregnant, and had an extremely smooth and easy pregnancy throughout.... that last trimester towards the end was rough. Both emotionally and physically.
I guess I never really realized how emotional I would get.. Everything seemed to make me cry. I felt all of these feelings about my body, and just exhausted. I wasn't sleeping, so was tired all the time. I felt huge, and my body ached and hurt. I was so ready to be done. I then started to think about, oh my --- what are we going to do once the baby is here? How are things going to go? Are we prepared? Etc. Etc. Needless to say.... I feel like most people will never feel 100% prepared. And I can look back now and chuckle, since being first time parents, everything is a learning curve, and you learn as you go. I feel that we were just as prepared as we could have been and that we did pretty darn good with feeling 'ready' for the baby.

2. NESTING
This one was a big one for me. I went into nesting mode very early... I was starting to make sure all of the mama and baby essentials were purchased, that the nursery was in order..and that all the little teensy baby clothes had been washed and put away just so.
My husband put up some closet kits and shelving in the nursery, so that we could organize more thoroughly -- this was wonderful! We had specific spots where every little baby thing and gadget could be tucked away.
We made sure all of the furniture was put together, and also finished hanging all the decorations. This is when it began to feel real for us. We would walk into the nursery completely finished with everything put away in its spot, and we felt so excited for him to be here.
I had both mine and the baby's hospital bags packed (which I will do a separate post on). And also had a few lists to myself of last minute things we would have to grab before needing to head into the hospital.
I also downloaded a Contractions app, which really came in handy the day I went into labor. One of the many things you don't really think about, until you end up needing it for guidance. Especially because I knew I would probably not even be able to recognize whether I was for sure going into labor or what they would feel like.
I also decided one weekend day to clean the entire house top to bottom. I think I actually overdid it on that day...as my body was really hurting towards the end and I worked myself to near exhaustion. I scrubbed all the floors -- twice. I did laundry, changed sheets, washed cupboards, cleaned out the fridge, vacuumed, dusted...you name it... I did it. The house felt spotless. I was kicking into gear, so that if baby came early (which he did)... I did not feel behind on housework. As I type that, it just sounds ridiculous in the grand scheme of things....housework? whats that? ha! ...as I now warm up my same cup of coffee for the 4th or 5th time today, because I can't seem to find time to even have a normal one of those anymore.

3. BIRTH PLAN
Everyone would always ask me...what is your birth plan? And to be honest...I really did not know. I told myself that I would roll with the punches, and take whatever cards we were dealt as things progressed. I did not have a set plan -- as I did not want to end up disappointed, or hope for things to go a certain way.
My birth plan, was to have a healthy baby.
My husband and I took a Birthing and Beyond class at the hospital about a month or so before our due date. This gave us some insight on how things would go, in certain situations. So for example, if you ended up having to have a C-section, these are the type of meds, prep, etc. that would occur.
We also went into LOOOOOTS of other details. What to bring all the way to how to labor at home until needing to come into the hospital.
My plan was to go in, see how it goes, and not nix pain management. That if it got to a point of being too unbearable, I would take the epidural.
I wanted only my husband in the room with me when we delivered, that I knew for sure. I wanted it to be as calm and stress-free as possible. I knew having more than one person in the room would stress me out. I also wanted him to do whatever he felt the most comfortable with. Whether that was standing behind my head holding my hand and cheering me on through the process, or getting right up in there and holding my leg and cutting the umbilical cord. Needless to say-- he was amazing. He was my support system and helped get me through it. I would not have imagined the process to have gone any better. And also shout out to the nurses - they were INCREDIBLE from start to finish. *Side note - they appreciate a nice goodie basket!! ;)* (we made one for both my nurses, and the NICU nurses)
I also knew there was a chance that my doctor would possibly not be able to be there for the delivery... I came to peace with that. We ended up delivering on a day that she was off, so had 2 "on-call" doctors. They were both phenomenal and at the end of the day, not having my OB was not the end of the world. But if you are someone that this is a big deal for you, make sure you ask that going into this -- and if it is, make sure you pick a doctor that swears in your delivery.
Overall, the third trimester felt like the end of an extremely quick chapter, 40 weeks goes a lot faster than you think. And at the same time felt like the beginning to a brand new chapter in life. It was a very indescribable feeling filled with emotions and excitement. And reflecting back on all of it, seems so incredibly surreal - that we have had our FIRST child, and I have already gone through one whole pregnancy. It is a time of learning yourself, your body, and also more about one another as a couple. After it was all said and done, I looked at my husband and asked him..."so did you think we could get any closer?" Because honestly, we have grown so much in this process. And I would relive it all over again in a heartbeat.

Thank you for following along on this journey!

Love, EmmaLuna

Photography by: Jenna Parr Photography