So I currently have a 3 and a half week old sweet little girl and honestly pregnancy feels like it was AGES ago! I thought I better quickly jot down my third trimester pregnancy journey while I still remember it!

For a recap of my First and Second Trimester see below:

First Trimester Pregnancy Journey

Second Trimester Pregnancy Journey

Weeks 28-33

These were our final weeks overseas before we headed back to Sydney! There was a bit of caution in an attempt to avoid the baby coming early until we were home and close by our birthing team. Little did we know this baby had NO interest in coming anytime soon and was going to be overdue!

These weeks varied! Some days I had lots of energy and felt really strong within my body and was able to workout. Other days I struggled to walk around the block and was needing long day naps. It was definitely a day to day situation. I struggled with anxiety and insomnia during this time. Here is what I found helped- Mental Wellbeing During Pregnancy. My cravings consisted of most things cold- smoothies, juices, ice-cream, fruit, yogurt!

I continued to crave just being in water. We found a local pool in Paris which I visited a few times and really enjoyed floating and doing some laps. I have never been a swimmer, but seeing I haven’t been able to run in 6 months it felt good to move in this way.

Bali was our final destination on our way home which meant lots of pool time, pregnancy massages and a whole lot of fresh fruit and coconut water. By this point bubs kicks had become very strong and honesty I was not comfortable at all. Our last flight home, while it was the shortest flight of our whole trip (6 hrs), it certainly was the worst. Its safe to say Scott and I do not want to jump on a plane again anytime soon! For me sitting upright was the most uncomfortable during third trimester so every 20 minutes I would have to stand up and walk around a little and even waiting that 20 minutes was SO painful. Our other flights I was able to put my seat back a lot which gave my tummy more room and me more comfort.

By this point I had a few extra stretch marks on my chest and a little more cellulite on the back of my legs but honestly wasn’t bothered as this was all part of pregnancy I expected. On the positives of third trimester, my skin was looking super “glowy” and hair had really thickened and grown. Yay to pregnancy hormones!! I honestly felt really confident in my pregnancy body with its new curves and lines! I was proud of what my body could do and I loved being able to experience all the effects of our little one growing.

Weeks 33+

While our trip was amazing, I must say by this point in the pregnancy I was glad to be home in familiar comforts. During these final weeks we had lots of midwife appointments to make up for the time we were away. Our final scan at 36 weeks showed little one healthy and already 3.1kg.

Leading up to her birth I was getting regular Chiropractic adjustments to help align my pelvis, and relieve some of the rib pain I was getting. I also was seeing an acupuncturist who was helping reduce some internal inflammation I was experiencing. These services were by pregnancy specialised professionals from my local Health Space. Both services definatly helped!

At 34 weeks we did our weekend birthing course through SheBirths which we both gained so much from. It was important to us to feel we were informed and prepared with birthing knowledge tools to allow our little girls delivery to be an empowering and special experience. I will be sharing our birth story at some point. Watching and reading birth stories was one of our favourite things during third trimester.

At 35 weeks I shared a really special Blessingway with a small group of my closest friends. Full of stories, candles, angle cards, food and little activities that each person have organised to contribute. It was such a beautiful alternative to the typical baby shower which wasn’t really my thing.

The following weeks were long I must admit. The waiting game! I tried to stay distracted with work, nesting (nesting is real), catching up with people and appointments however they were still very long. I wasn’t sleeping well and was experiencing a lot of discomfort so was ready for the baby to join anytime from 37 weeks when she would be considered full term.

By that point she had definitely not dropped so we knew it wasn’t happening anytime soon. I was however experiencing lots more braxton hicks.

By 39 weeks with little progression I was recommended to include more long walks and swiss ball circles to help her drop down. I also was taking raspberry leaf extract, dates, pineapple and evening primrose oil to assist with helping this baby come naturally.

By 40 weeks, still no baby! This is where we started to get serious about natural forms of induction because we really wanted to avoid medical induction if possible. We were trying EVERYTHING!

The one thing that really ended up helping the most I believe was the 3 Stretch and Sweeps I was given by the midwives over a 6 day period. Not very comfortable but certainly effective… and well I’ll leave things there and continue the journey in my Birth Story to come!!

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