Third Trimester Bumps and Must-Haves

Last one of these trimester wrap up posts!

I'm being impatient and not waiting to include my 40 week bump pic in this collage. I am, however, being optimistic that our baby will make an appearance before then, but my midwife tells me most first time babies come at 40 + 5. Who really knows tho. But besides that point, I anticipate things will start slowing down on this here blog even more than they have been now. So I wanted to get this post in while I still can!

This last trimester went really fast....as did my entire pregnancy actually. Time really flies when you're in a fog of panic. Ha. But once I went from midwife appointments every 4 weeks to every 2 weeks, things sped up. And even more so when they went to every week. I still can't believe we're going to be parents in a matter of 2 weeks. I can't freakin wait to meet him and see his face! And I smile my face off when my Dad tells me just how excited he is to meet his grandson. He's beyond excited and it's the cutest thing ever.

Right now, at 38 + 2 days, I have only had some mild cramps and a few braxton hicks every now and then, but nothing timeable. Go figure that now that I actually want the braxton hicks and cramps and contractions to happen, they won't. I had a whole bunch of them back around 20 weeks that terrified me into thinking preterm labor was inevitable. I think I'll wait till next week to get my first cervix check to check for dilation. I'm just so curious even though whatever I'd find out from the check doesn't imply anything really.

As for body image, I'm pleasantly surprised with how my body handled being pregnant. At this point with less than 2 weeks to go, I've gained 20 pounds. For my small frame, I can totally feel it and this is the heaviest I've ever been, but I don't even care. When I'd post a bump pic on Instagram, so many of you made me feel so good with your sweet comments that pregnancy looked good on me and that I'm all baby. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to escape stretch marks or not. My belly somehow made it out without them, but my breasts and hips grew a few tiger stripes in the 2nd trimester, rawr! No big deal. The one thing I found pretty awesome about pregnancy is the hair and nail growth! Holy crap, I only lose like 5 strands of hair a day (our shower drain hasn't been emptier) and I stopped biting my nails once my anxiety got better and they are so long now. However, I do know that postpartum hair loss is no joke so I know I'm going to be crying my face off when all that hair that I should've lost over the months comes out in clumps at once. But right now I feel pretty womanly haha. And I don't even care that my belly button popped out. I actually like it. It better go back in though at some point.

Anyway, I can't think of anything else I need to do to prepare. The car seat is in, my doula has a text thread ready to reply to, clothes have been washed, classes have been taken, hospital bags are packed, newborn photographer has been booked, dog feeding instructions have been written for our friends. I'm ready to go in to the hospital at 5-1-1 (contractions that are 5 minutes apart, lasting for one minute for at least an hour), or unless my water breaks first (I need antibiotics for GBS, which isn't a big deal, but still, boo). It's all up to the baby now! Everything else is gonna be on the job training.

 A few things have stuck around from the first two trimesters like water and Tums. But everything else is just as important to me. The most important would be the addition of a wrist brace. Good lord I've never had such bad wrist and hand pain in my entire life. The brace helps a little a night, but it doesn't really help with the arm numbness. Also super important are slip on shoes because unless I wanna ask Brian to help me put on my sneakers, putting on anything other than slip-ons just hurts. The fold over yoga pants rule as I can just pull the fold over part up over my bump or keep it folded down below. And wireless nursing bras also rule and are great for wearing even before you are nursing because they are soft and stretchy. Bath bombs make taking baths for my aching body fun (sleep actually hurts. I dread it and I consider it mild torture), and the body butter (this one is from Birchbox) smells delicious and boosts my mood. And finally, I've had people swear up and down on the Happiest Baby on the Block book/dvd. I'm half way through and I find it very informative with giving you a mini arsenal of techniques to help calm a crying baby. And finally, some sort of name dictionary is really helpful...and one that is preferably super up to date. Nameberry.com has lots of cool and trendy names, cool lists and genres too. Of course there are some really whacked out names on there, but it was a great resource for me when I was really worried about how we'd ever settle on a name.

Alright, well that's it for now.

And finally, one last note about the future of my blog:
I intend to keep blogging, mainly for my own recollection of memories and to reach people with similar interests. And I intend to keep blogging about my life, which will obviously be very different than it's ever been. I don't intend to become a "mommy blogger" - which can conjure (idk if that's the word I'm looking for?) a negative impression on some people. But I will be a mom with a blog. So... I guess I'm saying I hope people won't jump ship, but if you do, I understand.

First trimester bumps and must-haves | Second trimester bumps and must-haves