Third Trimester, Second Pregnancy

Hello! I’m writing to you two days out from my due date with baby boy #2. I nearly forgot to write this third trimester recap…and then I remembered and nearly decided to just skip it. 😉 But, considering I’ve written about all of the other trimesters in both pregnancies, I owe it to these 13 weeks to share. 

Because I’m so very close to the end of pregnancy, I’m going to have to dig deep to remember the full spectrum of the third trimester. Needless to say, the final few days aren’t fun or comfortable, and I’ll do my best to share about more than what I’m currently experiencing. Because of lot of the third trimester is actually pretty magical. 

Third Trimester Recap

The third trimester has been SO much fun! I was able to travel to the beach with my family, take two flights to celebrate two different college friends getting married, and go out to eat to lots of restaurants. I was able to get fully vaccinated, which was a huge blessing. It meant I could socialize and go out really enjoy myself, knowing my immunocompromised pregnant body wasn’t at a very high risk of serious illness from covid. (Right now as I’m typing this, the delta variant just started spiking in Austin and so I’m being cautious again, but for most of my third trimester I was able to really enjoy myself!) 

Overall, this third trimester has been an easier experience than my third trimester with Milo. In my 2019 pregnancy, I had some funny skin issues come up that were uncomfortable, I had a lot more anxiety about my body changing and growing SO very much, and I felt like the pregnancy dragged on much longer. This time, my third trimester has passed in a blink (no doubt due to also having a toddler to care for in addition to my pregnant body). A few other minor changes, too: 

No linea nigra this time. That’s the dark vertical line that shows up on a pregnant woman’s belly. It’s not bad or good; it’s just a physical sign of pregnancy due to darkening pigmentation. In 2019, mine showed up around 30 weeks and faded about 6 months post partum. With this pregnancy, it hasn’t appeared at all. 

I’m not doing as many workouts this time around. Again, this is due to having a toddler, not really due to my choice. Milo is 21 months old, so lots of my “workouts” these days involve taking him to the neighborhood pool, chasing after him while he pushes his truck on the sidewalk, and exploring Austin playgrounds. I’ve kept up with a few barre classes, though. I really miss the consistency of being in a group fitness setting, but with fluctuating covid numbers during this pregnancy, Nate’s medical needs, and a toddler to care for, the past 10 months have been a time for me to slow down on the workouts. It’s ok, though. Life’s waves have peaks and troughs. My fitness (in the sense of formal workout classes) has taken the back seat during this stage, but the itch is still there. I’m excited to bring it back in another near chapter of life. 

Emotionally, this trimester has been my favorite of all 6. The first, second, and third trimesters with Milo were my first experience with pregnancy. It makes sense that I felt more nervous during that pregnancy than this one. During this pregnancy, my first trimester was a little rough. Nate spent three days in the hospital to remove some infected hardware from his leg. He then had a PICC line inserted, a wound vac for several months, and two antibacterial IV sessions per day for 6 weeks, plus weekly appointments with ID doctors and plastic surgeons. It was a lot for our family to go through while I was 10 weeks pregnant, and I remember feeling like life was gray. The spark was gone, even from things that typically make me feel sooo happy (a great novel! a delicious meal!). I trudged through, knowing that the hormonal dip was mostly likely a temporary thing and not permanent depression. It still sucked. 

The second trimester brought a big mood improvement, but this third trimester has really been my favorite! I think that it’s mostly due to knowing it’s my final trimester of pregnancy ever, so I’m appreciating it. All of it. For instance, I was trying to fall asleep last night and my hips were aching, heartburn was relentless, and every time I tried to switch positions the huge weight on my torso would send pain through my body so that I would actually groan to muster up the energy to move. And rather than resenting this pregnancy, I took a moment to appreciate and remember each sensation. These aches and pains are here for such a short time, and then they’ll be gone. So I tried to take a mental snapshot; years down the road, I wonder if I’ll be able to remember what pregnancy felt like? I doubt it. I want to fully live into it right now. 

The pandemic has had a very small impact on this trimester. Until the past few weeks with the rise of the delta variant, Covid hd been gradually decreasing and Austin has seen a huge improvement in vaccine rates. That meant that this was my first trimester of pregnancy when I was able to live fairly normally: I met up with some girlfriends for an indoor brunch, took Milo to local parks and museums, went on some beautiful dates with Nate, and listened to live music at breweries on the weekends. It was SO much fun to enjoy my city again this trimester! 

Because our country is starting to see a rise in infections, I’m being extra cautious now at the end of pregnancy. I’m wearing a mask when I go out and avoiding large gatherings. It’s annoying to be back here, but I also want to be careful because the end of pregnancy is soooo close. I keep telling Nate that he’s really the one who needs to be extra cautious – if he gets sick and isn’t allowed to be my support person in the hospital, I’m going to be pissed! Haha.

The next time I write a blog post, I’ll most likely be sharing a birth story! We are soooo close to the finish line here. Sending love and hugs to anyone who is in this exciting third trimester with me. 

PS: want to see more pregnancy posts? They’re all here.