I am now entering the third trimester of my first pregnancy and wanted to document here a bit some thoughts and feelings before the time flies by and I completely forget how it all feels like. Pregnancy is definitely an interesting state that brought a lot of changes for me.
The biggest change for me personally was that I could not run anymore. I mean I ran up until the month 4 but then the baby starts pressing on your lungs and you get out of breath too fast to have a decent run. Running for me was the best way to clear my head and let the stress out but I had to put it on hold for the time being. I quickly realized though that I have to still have some movement because working from home, I always feel like I am not moving enough so I decided to start going for a one hour walk every day instead. Sherlock was definitely happy as for him it is a blast – every day around 4 pm, he is peeking into my office and waiting for me to be done so that we can do his favourite part of his day. Some days the walk feels like a drag and I have to force myself to go out but I do always feel better afterwards so willing myself into it is always worth it. I am happy that I was also able to stay pretty consistent with it – most of the weeks, I manage to go 5 or 6 times per week and only skip the walk if the weather is too cold or rainy. I am slowly finding that it helps me to clear my head in the same way as running and on some days, I am even catching myself thinking that it is the best part of my day too. I have also been doing some stretches for my back and luckily, I don’t have any back pain so far – I was also doing yoga pretty often before getting pregnant so I think that also helped to strengthen my back.
I know some women get pregnancy cravings but I did not have any changes in my taste at all. I did not want anything specific during my pregnancy and I am pretty much eating the same way as I was before – I also did not have the moments when I suddenly needed something to eat. I don’t know if it is partly genetic or if it depends on your diet but my mum also did not have any pregnancy cravings. I also do eat a very balanced diet though but even more than that, my meals are always regular, this is one rule that I never break – no skipping meals. I can imagine that it also helps with cravings but you can only guess at this point looking at how unique each pregnancy is. So far, I have gained about 18 pounds by my third trimester which seems to be a healthy weight for my height and my doctor seems to be happy with how it is going.
I have heard many times that you eat for two during pregnancy – this has not been the case for me. As I am reaching my third trimester, I don’t feel hungry almost ever. I think that’s probably due to the fact that the baby is pressing on your stomach as it is growing. Also, if I eat a big meal, it start feeling nauseous so the best strategy that I found so far is to eat smaller portions but more frequently. That usually works pretty well. Also, I completely stop drinking water or any liquids after 7 pm now as baby also presses on my bladder so the less liquid I have before sleep, the less I wake up and the better I sleep.
Speaking of sleep, I think that’s the thing that changed for me the most so far. My sleep became completely different – it is very shallow. I was already a light sleeper before but now, every single move around just wakes me up. I was reading somewhere that this is the way of your body to prepare for motherhood and the hormones change your sleep in this way. I guess this makes total sense but it definitely does not make it easier to get through haha – the only trick that I found is that as soon as I wake up is to try to flip to another side and fall asleep right away. If I take some time between the waking up moment and falling back asleep, I am starting to struggle.
Physically, it is also getting harder and harder to bend down but also I am finding it uncomfortable to sit for a long time. I try to changes sitting places or alternate sitting and standing to make myself more comfortable – it somewhat helps but I can only imagine it will be more fun during the third trimester.
It is definitely a lot of changes that the pregnancy brings to your life – I have to say though that this feels like the biggest, weirdest and most fascinating adventure that I am embarking on. Feeling your baby moving inside is something really surreal – there is literally another human being out there. A little human being that is already loved by so many people and that we all are excited to meet.
Kat's Thoughts 