Third Trimester

Welcome to the Third trimester!

My stomach is squirming and nausea is creeping back in… 75grams of sugar in one 300ml clear liquid drink… feels like a weeks worth of sugar in one go for this sugar conscious person.

I cringe as I swallow it down having to place all my instincts of how bad this is for my baby and me and drink it all as instructed.

Welcome to week 28 and to the third trimester… its time for the diabetes screening test!!

It all seems a little surreal to be honest and I feel like I should pat myself on the back or something. Similar feelings of achievement creep in as to when I finish off a complete training block or phase in a build up to a big race.

The only difference is that instead of feeling physically toned and strong as a result of the training, I can feel and literally see my rather large stomach squirming and moving around…

That’s right little one… yah for us we only have 12 weeks to go J

Feeling the baby move has been a bit of a lifesaver for me really. As I struggled my way through the first trimester the one thing that really has helped me get to know my little one has been through its constant movements. I felt its first kick at only 14 weeks and then from then on it has been amazing feeling and seeing it find its strength and coordination and sense of self through movement.

I will never forget sitting down to eat breakfast after a swim session and putting my hands on my tummy to play a little drum like beat on it and getting the biggest and strongest and most visible kick to date into my hand as if to say ‘Bugger off” at that point I thought fair enough you take after your Mum and like your space J

Things that have noticeably changed in the last 2 weeks or as I transitioned from the 2^nd trimester to the third are:

o   Almost over night it suddenly became hard or uncomfortable to bend over…meaning my belly is now starting to get in the way of movements I normally take for granted!

o   Putting on shoes is not just an automatic action. I now have to make sure I either sit down or focus on staying balanced and up right and working around my belly to get them on.

o   My puffer jacket suddenly started looking like it would burst if I kept trying to zip it up! So I had to get a new one… not necessarily a bad thing J

o   Sharp stretching pains similar to that of the first trimester have returned in my stomach muscles …sometimes feeling like I have ripped something major!

o   Struggling once again with tiredness or more accurately pure exhaustion and would happily sleep past 8am if given the chance or opportunity.

o   Emotions are revisiting the unbuckling stage again so having to work hard to manage those… yah… not!

o   I have had to stop ignoring or putting off the fact that I now need to start buying things for the baby and getting things ready and prepared!!

o   Training wise, things have had to slow down a bit with the torn ligaments in the ankle, but I am still swimming 3-4 times a week, getting in Pilates sessions and building back into the walking as the Physio rehab allows.  So I have had to slow down a lot earlier then I had hoped or planned, but just trying to roll with where the body is at the best I can.

o   And finally the most obvious is the acceptance that I really do look pregnant now. Gone are the encouraging comments of “Wow your how many months pregnant? Your hardly showing!” To “Oh Wow you have really popped”, “Wow your really big now” and “Oh wow you REALLY look pregnant now” just to go over a couple of the many blunt comments that people now use to greet me with.

(Not always easy to handle some days when your emotions are on a third trimester roller coaster and you’re a person whose identity and career to date as both a professional athlete and Pilates instructor has been about the health wellness and performance of that body!!!)

Lets just say the Glamorous side of been pregnant - if there ever was one - is definitely over!! 

On the positive side of things…

·      The ultra sound scans now show a rather cute looking little human inside…