The Final Countdown: Baby is Coming!!!

We're near the end!!!! I wanted to do one more update before the baby is born  about how the third trimester has gone. I've been working on a total pregnancy round up as well with my thoughts on things that were helpful in managing symptoms during my pregnancy. For now, I just want to talk about how the last 12 weeks have gone for me.

Symptoms

The third trimester has been a little up and down for me. I definitely started feeling more tired and achy as I was dealing with my body being bigger and more difficult to move around. But the energy... that's been the most interesting to me. Early on in this trimester I was definitely feeling the fatigue (but not to the same level as the first trimester). As my pregnancy progressed though, I started drinking more raspberry leaf tea and eating dates to prepare for labor. I found that my energy got a lot better at the same time. As long as I slept decently, I could be really productive throughout the day. Instead of giving it all to my job and then crashing, I was able to get done the last of my baby chores and then cook a bunch of fun things (which has been nice therapy for me). I've read dates are great for energy so I definitely think that's been a big part of it.

My workout now

What's been more difficult are the aches with late pregnancy. Around 34 weeks, I started getting really bad pelvic pain. This is pretty normal but it was aggravated by certain movements like too much walking or exercise. That was my cue that it was time to stop going to the gym. Walking was tough - it's really good in pregnancy but too much and I 'd be in a lot of pain. Dan and I really tried to find a balance of shorter, flat walks that I could do. I also found swimming to be a nice relief and tried to go to the pool a little more.

Danger Alert

Throughout this pregnancy, and more so this last trimester, I've felt an overwhelming alertness to the dangers around me. I'm a little bit clumsy and a little bit daring generally... but in pregnancy my brain is more like "I can trip just walking through my house!!" I'm sure this is a normal feeling but sometimes I'm so preoccupied thinking of ways I might get hurt, that I almost stumble. It's definitely weird feeling like your body is so much more fragile than you're used to thinking of it. A year ago I was doing obstacle races and now I'm like "should I stand on this chair to get the bowl on the top shelf?"

I've heard some moms imply that this doesn't really go away. You see all the ways your children could get hurt and are always on preventative. At a BBQ the other day I definitely found myself really alert to any dangers the kids there could get into!

Nesting

I'm a pretty organized person. I've found that not having things ready gives me some anxiety and I tackled baby prep the same way I tackled the wedding and the same way I tackle most projects - I make lists and break things into smaller projects and knock out one thing at a time. Trying to get at least one thing done a week when you have a lot of time to prepare for a big event, helps break it down into something manageable.

The third trimester has been huge for this. A lot of our planning was getting to the baby shower and once that was done, I was very eager to get the nursery and everything else ready. It left us in a place where most things were done with over a month to go which was a really nice feeling. Now that we're down to days until the baby comes, we just have little housekeeping things to do - washing bottles, some dusting or tidying - nothing major.

It's funny how nesting affects people differently. I'm not a cleaning person. I love cooking and I'm cool with laundry but I hate cleaning things (I like them to be clean, it's just my least favorite chore). In my final weeks of pregnancy though I find myself going over areas of the house with the duster and cleaning wipes to get things as ready as possible. Dan is great with cleaning but a couple of weeks ago he went IN DEPTH with it. I pointed out he was nesting too and he said, "I always clean." The next day one of my pregnancy apps had an article about dad's nesting instincts because it's totally a thing.

Birth Classes

As your due date approaches, it's good to think about birth classes. All of the pregnancy books I read, said not to go to the classes at the hospital and instead to do Lamaze or Hypnobirthing or some natural based class. Well, the hospital classes were a fraction of the cost (babies are expensive, we have to think about these things!) and I'm giving birth at the hospital so we decided to take those classes and see what my options are at their facility. There was always the option to take the other classes later if we felt the need (we didn't but I did read a hypnobirthing book to get an idea of that technique as well).

And honestly... I loved them. I don't know if it's the hospital's agenda or our teacher's philosophy (and she was trained in some of the other methods!), but the class actually followed a lot of my ideas of how I'd like my birth to go. Instead of saying we needed to be strapped in and pumped full of drugs, she explained methods of opening your pelvis and having your partner help relax you through labor. It was not what I was expecting from the hospital at all, but it was exactly the kind of class I was looking for.

Birth Plan

So going off of that - let's talk about my plan. I won't go into every detail, but generally, I like the idea of a natural birth. To me, it's always made sense that being able to walk around, sit on a ball, squat, etc is a more natural way for a baby to come out than laying down. You can't walk around if you have an epidural. I don't think there is anything wrong with women who go that route, I just want to try it another way. I'm hoping that with my level of fitness and the types of torture I've voluntarily put my body through, that birth will just be another physical challenge - with the best reward at the end.

And I'm realistic. Giving birth feels like planning a wedding in a way. If you have a strict vision of how it has to go and are going to get upset if anything goes wrong - you're going to have a bad time. The best case is plan for your ideal situation, do everything you can to make that happen, and roll with the things that you can't control. I know I might be like "Forget this! Give me the drugs!" I may need a c-section. This might be a miserable experience. But it might not be, and I'd like to go into this with a calm mind and preparing for my ideal birth but being able to roll with anything that could happen.

What a Breech!

...which is where I am now. At my last appointment the doctor told us baby was breech. About 4% of babies end up in this position at the time of birth (so it's not very common and we have a chance of turning this around!). However, if baby stays in the wrong place, we'll have to have a scheduled c-section.

This was NOT part of my plan. I did a lot of research on everything I could possibly do to avoid a c-section. I've never had a surgery before and didn't want to start now. Dan also had some concerns after a friend had a traumatic birth last year.

That's one way to flip a baby

But what are our options? We could freak out and cry and be dramatic about it or we could stay calm and do all the exercises that may flip the baby and hope it all works out. If it doesn't, we do the surgery and take comfort knowing that a scheduled c-section is a very safe procedure, even if it's still major abdominal surgery. I've definitely been a little sad about it since getting the news but my focus has just been on staying calm and looking at the positives (we get baby a week early! scheduled c-section is easier to recover from than emergency c-section!).

Making Time for Me

If there's one thing I'm sure of (and just one thing - everything else about the birth and having a baby is up in the air!) it's that our lives are going to change when the baby comes. Everyone talks about the sleepless nights and how much work it is but I know there's no way I can fully understand until I'm there.

So it's been nice that my last trimester has been relatively easy. It's also come with a slump at work so the last month for me has been a really unstressful time. I've been able to read and take it really easy. No matter what kind of birth I have, it will require me to be calm and having a low key last month has been really nice for getting into that mindset. I'm just trying to enjoy my quiet time before I'm changing diapers, feeding every two hours, and trying to calm a crying baby. I don't know when I'll have a time in my life like this again.

That's where I am leading into my last couple of weeks of pregnancy. There's nothing too exciting to report, just that I'm hanging in here and trying to go into a super zen place as I prepare for birth. Those who know me, know that patience and tranquility are not really my strong suits, but I've found this real calmness throughout my whole pregnancy. I've been trying to focus in on it during this last stretch so I can really tap into that if I'm able to have a natural birth. I'm excited about what's to come though. I can't wait to see what my baby looks like and what kind of personality this kid will have. I am eagerly awaiting my first glass of wine, sushi, and being able to exercise in a couple of months. I look forward to baby wearing and going on long stroller walks to museums and the zoo while I'm on maternity leave. The pregnancy part of the journey is ending but we're starting a whole new set of adventures and we welcome a whole new person into our family.

The force is strong in my family!