The Third Trimester

You've made it! Welcome to the third trimester ! Three more months and you will have that little bundle of joy in your arms! Get as much rest as you can these next few months because once the baby comes, you won't be getting much sleep at all! Also, if this is your first baby, spend as much time alone with your husband, because after the third trimester is over, it will be the 3 of you all the time! If this is your second or third child, etc, enjoy your other children and husband as much as possible. Adding another addition usually is tough of older children, leaving them feel left out. So smother then with love now!

The Seventh Month

weeks 28- 31

Make sure you are looking at and following our guide for diet and nutrition and also for exercise. Even though you are probably too tired to want to get your butt on an exercise bike, or go for a walk, you should! In 8-12 short weeks (depending on how far into your third trimester you are) you will wish you would have. Especially when you are in the labor and delivery room, in your second hour of pushing and are totally exhausted!

What should you expect at your doctors appointments this month?

Most of the same stuff as last time, the height of fundus (the top of your uterus), the position and possible size of your baby, may be an ultrasound(if you practitioner wants to double check something), and a Glucose Test. The glucose screening test you will take is only done in the third trimester, and at around 28 weeks. This is a routine test every pregnant woman now is subject to. This is to test for gestational diabetes. All you have to do is go in to your lab or office, and drink down a very sweet glucose drink. It looks and tastes like orange soda (no carbonation). After you drink it down, and it is timed, you have to wait an hour. During this hour if you feel faint or ill, this is a very good sign you have gestational diabetes. If a little nausea is all you are feeling though, that is completely normal, and nothing to worry about.

After the hour is up, you will go back and have blood drawn. If the test results from the blood work come back with elevated numbers, meaning you may not be producing enough insulin, you may have to take another test, the Glucose Tolerance Test. This is very similar to the first test, just with a sweeter drink and you must fast beforehand. Typically only 1 or 2 pregnant women out of 100 will test positive for gestational diabetes in their third trimester.

His or her brain is growing rapidly too, but the lungs are still immature (though if you had your baby this early, he or she would still have a very good chance of survival). If you could go in and have a peek at your baby now, and then wait until he or she was born to see them again, they would look almost exactly the same at birth, just bigger and chunkier!

The Eighth Month

weeks 32- 35

At your doctor’s visit this month, if you haven’t done so already, you will have a Group B strep test performed. This is nothing more then your midwife or doctor, taking a cotton swab, and swabbing your vaginal and rectal areas. They are checking to see if Group B strep is present, and if it is, they will want to give you penicillin (if you are not allergic) at birth to prevent infection spreading to your baby during the delivery process. This is a common bacterium found in healthy women that causes no harm to them, but the fact that you are a carrier, means they have to give you an intravenous antibiotic prior to delivery to protect your baby. It isn’t harmful to you, but can cause a serious infection to your newborn child.

Unfortunately swelling in pregnancy third trimester is a common and miserable side effect due to water retention. It typically flares up the most in your third trimester, and if too severe, your doctor will have to intervene (possibly inducing you). If you do have swollen feet and legs, it is a good idea to rest, keeping your legs and feet elevated as much as you can. If you have a job that requires moving around on your feet all day, you may have to get an excuse from your doctor and take FMLA (Family Medical Leave of Absence) earlier then expected.

Your baby is about 18- 20 inches long and weighs 5- 6 pounds, gaining about .5 ounces per day. Fat is being deposited under his or her skin regularly, and he or she is taking on the shape of a nice plump 'almost' newborn. You will notice that your baby doesn’t move around very much now, due to lack of room, and he or she will begin to nap a lot. You will want to keep track of your baby’s movements, and make sure you feel him move at least 10 times in an hour, have a snack or something sugary. If your baby still isn’t responding, you will want to call your doctor. It may be just that he or she is sleeping, but you will want to be sure there isn’t something wrong.

If you are planning on taking childbirth classes, you will most likely be taking them this month (they are usually taken in the third trimester and not before). Many women like the classes because you get a tour of the hospital, will see tapes on labor and what it is like, and will get techniques on breathing during labor, and how to stay calm and relaxed to let the labor progress on its own, without medical intervention. Classes are by no means necessary or required. If for some reason you do not take classes, you will be perfectly fine, and will have adequate instruction from your nurses and doctors in the hospital.

The Ninth Month

weeks 36- 40 (or 42)

Your doctor's visits now will be weekly, until your due date, if you go over, then they will be even more frequent. Good news about this month is that your weight gain will generally slow down or stop completely. Since your baby is growing as rapidly now as D day approaches, you won’t need to be packing on the pounds either. This is the perfect month to get as much sleep as possible. And if that means spending nights on your lazy boy recliner, then so be it.

If you are beginning to swell now, or if swelling during pregnancy has gotten worse, rest, and keep those feet elevated.

You will be having internal exams probably every time you go to your doctor during the third trimester now. They like to see what your percentage of effacement and dilation are, to try and guesstimate when you will deliver. The third trimester is a tricky one, because your body may not have a labor stage or indicator like most. Some women will go to the doctor in the third trimester and the doctor will tell them it will be at least another week yet, and then go home that night and deliver several hours later! Just like predicting the weather, you can’t predict labor. Having labor contractions is really the only way to say “It’s Definitely Happening!”

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***Keep in mind, the advice we are giving here is instructional only, we are not medical professionals, and this is for healthy women with normal pregnancies. If you are a high risk pregnancy, or have medical problems, this would not apply to you.

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