As much as I can’t believe I’m writing this, the fact of the matter is I’m now in my third trimester! This little baby is now the size of a Pineapple (or a Barbie Convertible, depending on which theme you choose on the Ovia Pregnancy app).
I thought it’s about time I wrote down some thoughts about the past three months, and how I’ve been finding them. There’s a lot less to say than there was in my First Trimester Pregnancy Diary because I have felt so much better in myself, but there has certainly been a lot going on.
At 20 weeks we had our halfway scan. Many parents find out the gender of the baby at this one, but we chose to keep it a surprise. We’ve just got to get through the 36-week scan at the end of July without the doctor telling us now!
We chose not to find out simply because we really liked the idea of having a surprise. It has also stopped us from buying too much stuff, and from choosing the stereotypical blues and pinks. (In fact, we bought a blue pram from Ickle Bubba because that was our favourite colour regardless of the gender of the baby, and I’m really happy with that choice).
When we reached 24 weeks, we went on a little babymoon to Prague. It was such a lovely city break, and amazing to spend some quality time as a couple before we become a family of three. We took it easy, heading back to the AirBnB quite early each evening when I was feeling tired, but the walking around was largely absolutely fine, so I’d recommend it if you’re considering a short babymoon yourself.
I’ve been feeling pretty good when it comes to energy – so much better than I was in my first trimester. I suppose the biggest thing I’ve had to deal with is how much I’m growing. I feel like I’ve got a huge bump now (although according to the midwife it measures just right) and am struggling with sleeping comfortably.
Baby is moving all the time, which is both amazing and absolutely bonkers – I still find it terrifying that I’ve got a human growing inside me if I think about it too hard, so I try not to! Sometimes I can feel the baby hiccuping which is so cute, and other times I am scared the baby is about to break my ribs which is not quite so cute. It makes me jump!
I’ve had quite a few midwife appointments and blood tests and injections now, and they’re only going to ramp up in the third trimester.
Getting a bit TMI, but I’ve had to buy nipple pads because there’s some leakage going on! I found it sooooo strange at first, I felt really upset by it for some reason. I think because it suddenly hit me that my body is doing things I can’t control at all, and that scared me. But now I think it’s probably a good sign, that things are working the way they should be and that my body is getting ready for what’s to come.
I’ve also been using the Palmers Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks every day. So far so good: it smells nice, lasts ages and definitely makes my skin feel less tight. I may still get stretch marks and that’s okay, but I wanted to know that I was at least giving my skin the best chance I could.
We’ve been thinking a lot about baby names and we think we’ve picked our favourites now, one for a boy and one for a girl, middle names and all. But there were so many on our lists that we loved that we made a fun video for our YouTube channel. You can watch that at the top of this page.
The third trimester is going to be a busy one, with finishing the nursery, buying everything else we need before the baby arrives, handing everything over at work and starting maternity leave. We’ve also got so many appointments and antenatal classes, and our Baby Shower too – it never stops! What an adventure, but I’ll be sure to share the next chapter of it here soon.
