59. Third Trimester Pains and How To Survive The Final Stretch of Pregnancy

How are you hanging in there during the third trimester of pregnancy? There can be  many  discomforts at this time of pregnancy and this week I am sharing tips on how to manage some of the biggest complaints moms have.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• Practical tips for managing frequent urination during pregnancy…
• Strategies for getting better sleep before those restless newborn days…
• How to prevent swelling in your ankles and legs, especially when on your feet all day…
• Managing acid reflux and heartburn without medications…
• Effective methods for dealing with restless leg syndrome, low back, and hip pain…
• … and much more!

You may not feel like the end is near, but you’re in the home stretch! Tune in for valuable insights and support on your journey through the third trimester. You’ve got this!

Resources Mentioned

Mommy Care Kit – APPLY HERE to see if your insurance covers pregnancy and postpartum support items

Dr. Vanessa Fritz with Chiropractic Company in Oconomowoc, WI – Webster Technique Certified, Pediatric Certification through CACCP – schedule appointment here

🌸 Connect with Beth

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👋 WHO AM I?

Welcome, friends! I am Beth, a certified nurse midwife, doula, and childbirth educator. My philosophy is rooted in autonomy, informed decision making, and positive mindset to help expecting parents plan for a beautiful, stress-free hospital birth. I am here to provide value to YOU through tips and practical advice, either to guide you through pregnancy or to help you prepare for childbirth, postpartum and beyond. There’s no fluff here - only info that adds to your positive experience and saves you stress and uncertainty.

Transcript

Hello everyone and welcome back to episode 59 of Your Birth Bestie podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in today! I am recording this the day before it is released so am officially 31 weeks today, which I still cannot believe. It is definitely true for me at least that with the more babies I have, the quicker pregnancy goes probably because I’m home with my other two girls pretty much doing something every minute of every day and forget I’m pregnant most days.

But this last week actually, I have felt super pregnant. Belly is poppin for sure, picking up my kids is harder, household tasks, picking up toys off the floor all day is the death of me and thankfully we’re in a fun clean up stage with my kids so they are actually really eager to help with all things chores related, so hopefully that stays for awhile. I actually think it’s because we recently and unexpectedly decided to move from our place in Hartland, WI to Waukesha, WI which if you’re local it’s only like 15 minutes difference, but we are starting to pack very slowly so I don’t overdue it, but we are moving the 1st of June and my oldest who is 4 is really excited about it and wanting to help with all the things, so my almost 2 year old of course is on board, so overall just a time of change which is exciting but also really busy. So we’ll see what the next couple weeks bring and hopefully a June 1st move-in date is enough time before this baby comes in early July ish.

But today in honor of me well into my third trimester here, maybe you are too, I’m not feeling miserable but also not super comfortable anymore, so want to talk about common third trimester discomforts, how to manage them, hopefully get some relief, and also maybe just solidarity that it’s hard and we will get through this.

As an overview of the most common third trimester pregnancy discomforts that I am going to talk about, we have: frequent urination, insomnia, swelling, heartburn, restless legs, and a combination of back, hip, and round ligament pain, maybe even feeling lightning crotch or pelvic discomfort as well. These are all so common, but also not super fun to deal with in addition to the growing belly and probably everything else that is going on in your life. So helping you feel comfortable and maybe give you a few ideas to get some relief is what I am going to share here today.

So first, frequent urination because we’ve all been there. It can be super annoying to have to run to the bathroom every half hour, but it’s also so important to stay hydrated right? This has been something even my kids are joking about now to me because it’s usually them I’m asking who has to go potty 100 times a day, but now my 4 year old will ask me if I went potty before we leave the house because by the time we make it anywhere I usually have to go again which isn’t typical. So staying hydrated is super important, especially as the weather is getting warmer, so unfortunately drinking less so you don’t have to pee is really the only way to stop this from happening, but not something recommended because dehydration can cause contractions, dizziness, and lightheadedness which are all things we don’t want. My advice would be to anticipate how often you need to use the bathroom and prepare your day around that expectation unfortunately. Same with at night, trying to get your water intake in during the day and maybe an hour or so before bed trying not to drink much more so when you use the bathroom that last time before bed, you can hopefully get a good stretch of sleep.

Which leads to the next common struggle of insomnia or just difficulty with sleeping in general during pregnancy. This is one of those really unfair things in pregnancy that you would have a hard time sleeping especially at the end when your baby is about to arrive and your on their newborn wake/feed and then hardly sleep schedule for a bit. Especially right after going through the marathon of labor! Just sounds cruel right! But as hard as it might be to prioritize sleep, truly trying your hardest to troubleshoot whatever is going on to make it the most comfortable and restful as possible is definitely worth it. We already talked about decreasing fluids before bed to help with middle of the night bathroom trips, but finding either a pregnancy pillow or extra pillows around the house to support you in a way that is most comfortable throughout the night I think is the best thing you can do. 

My recommendation is for a pillow between the knees, one supporting your back so you can side sleep with support behind you, and then something small either rolled up or a really small flat pillow under your bump. The under the bump pillow is something I can’t sleep without and has really helped with my round ligament pain to be supported at night I think. Sleep can also be improved with exercise during the day even gentle stretching, yoga, walking, light weightlifting, whatever it is you can do to stay active will help your body get more restful sleep during the night. We also recently bought another Hatch Rest sound machine for the new baby because each girl has one in their room and my husband and I have been using it and I’ve been enjoying the white noise and I think helps with sleep too. The last piece of advice that I will share that you probably already know about, and is something I myself am terrible at following with doing all my work at night after my kids go to bed is practicing good sleep hygiene such as not watching TV or looking at your phone right before you go to sleep. A warm shower or bath can feel nice too and lavender scents or lotions can also be good for promoting relaxation too if you wanted to try that.

Swelling during pregnancy is the next thing I will mention because yes your baby bump is growing, but you also might start noticing swelling in your ankles, feet, legs, hands, maybe your face a little bit. This is because your blood volume increases by about 60 percent during pregnancy and your uterus that is growing to accommodate your baby is putting pressure on large veins that return blood to your heart, so some extra fluid doesn’t circulate as well and pools in your lower limbs.

There are some tips to help this thankfully because it can be uncomfortable for sure, but these are to take frequent breaks off your feet, every couple hours or so to sit down with your feet up on something for 10 minutes if you can. It just is a way to use gravity to help those fluids get back into circulation. If you can’t take frequent breaks, like for me when I worked at the hospital and was on my feet for 12-16 hours or more, I would always wear compression socks which I absolutely hated putting on, and taking off really, but they saved me for sure and my legs wouldn’t throb after a long shift.

Staying hydrated is also important to help your body not retain fluids, so even though you may feel swollen and think it’s best to avoid drinking so much water because it will make it worse, it’s actually the opposite. So prioritize hydration for sure and hopefully your swelling will get better. On that note though too, trying to avoid too much salt would be good because salt will retain water and that would make swelling worse, so just something to be aware of.

Things to just briefly mention though is that if you notice sudden swelling, or one leg or hand is swollen but not the other, or a calf is warm or sore to the touch, this would be a possible concern and something you’d want to mention to your provider right away. There are other conditions that can cause swelling that would be more serious than just your usual pregnancy swelling.

Next, is heartburn which is so common and a huge complaint for many moms. As your baby gets bigger and your organs, including your stomach, are all being pushed up, there just isn’t as much space for food. Also, there is a sphincter that is between your stomach and esophagus that typically would work just fine, but during pregnancy with this added pressure from baby pushing everything up, it doesn't work as good and is when reflux or heartburn happens.

You might find it helpful to eat smaller meals but more frequently throughout the day so breaking up the same amount of calories but in a more manageable way. Also avoiding foods that are spicy or acidic might be helpful. If you notice reflux is happening more at night, try eating at least 2 hours before bed and even elevating the head of your bed can help too while you sleep. There are medications available if it becomes more severe, but these are a few options to try before. One thing I have heard works, but have never tried it myself is papaya enzyme, so that could be something to consider as well.

There are two more things I want to talk about, the first being restless legs which I have recently started having myself too as well as toe cramps which I swear have actually led to me practicing labor breathing techniques because the cramps are so intense, it’s crazy! Restless legs usually happen at night, a lot of the time making it harder to fall asleep. It isn’t something that can be really cured, but to minimize maybe the severity or how often they happen, it’s really important to stay hydrated, calcium and vitamin D supplements can also help too with management. 

I think it’s helpful too to stretch or maybe take a short walk before bed to relieve that restless leg sensation. Massage is great too as well as heat or ice packs. I bought a deep tissue massage gun and also one of those massage stick muscle roller things that have definitely made a difference, so something to try as well.  

The last thing and maybe the most common, is back and hip pain during pregnancy. In pregnancy your progesterone levels are increased that relax the joins and muscles in order for your belly and uterus to grow and also make your pelvis more flexible so your baby can more easily be born vaginally, which are all great things, but it can cause pain due to some instability. I’ve personally had low back pain and hip pain since 2016 when I used to play basketball and had a hip injury that required surgery and I fully recovered, but pregnancy always brings about a new level of discomfort that can be hard to manage.

Plus your posture changes with more curvature in the lower back due to your belly getting bigger and having more weight in the front, and you also may favor one side that can lead to some unequal distribution of weight and compensation of muscles that just get irritated and sore. 

Thankfully there are a few things that can be done to manage and prevent these discomforts in pregnancy. The first thing that is obvious and annoying to even say, but prevent back pain by having a good exercise and strength regimen before you get pregnant. I feel like this is one of those “in a perfect world” situations, but life gets busy it’s hard to sometimes prioritize those exercises even though yes the intention is there it’s just finding the time and motivation sometimes isn’t, I completely get it. My husband is a physical therapist so I know what I need to do to maintain pain-free or mostly comfortable, but do I do my exercise as often as I should… definitely not and I can feel it when I don’t.

So yes, prevention with exercise is good. But the next best things if that didn’t happen, are using a supportive belly band under and over the belly to take some of the weight off the hips and back, using a yoga ball when sitting to help distribute that pressure, warm baths or heating pad on your hips or back, and staying as active as possible keeping good range of motion and some flexibility and fluidity in those joints. Gentle stretches are great and finding a routine that you can manage every day can have so many great benefits.

I also last week just started seeing a chiropractor because all the above wasn’t taking as much of the edge off as I needed to honestly just be a level-headed mom during the day with my kids. I was letting the discomfort of my hip and back pain get to me and I was more irritable with my kids and not able to do what I wanted to around the house without pain and overall just in a bad mood and didn’t feel good.

If you’re local, Dr.Vanessa Fritz with Chiropractic Company in Oconomowoc, WI has been so helpful and I have appointments scheduled with her until I give birth to help align my body so that when I am able to stretch and exercise I have more flexibility, less limitations, and less pain to be able to do some of those movements. I definitely recommend chiropractic care in pregnancy, especially with someone like Dr. Vanessa who specializes in pregnancy and has training using the Webster technique.

Thank you so much for turning in today for this episode on third trimester pregnancy discomforts and some more information to hopefully make this time a little bit more manageable for you. This is truly the home stretch before you finally get to meet your baby and whatever mindset shift or support you need to focus on that end goal, know these aches and pains are just temporary is so important. I am only 31 weeks at the recording of this episode, but I know as I get closer to 37, 38, 39 weeks and beyond, those days are so long. So if you’re there right now and struggling, just a reminder that you can absolutely do this. You are going to meet your baby very soon and I am wishing you all the best.

If you are looking for more support, please reach out on Instagram @bethconnors_cnm or email at hello@bethconnors.com I’d love to meet you. I have an online birth course called Fearless Birth Academy to ensure you are 100% prepared for a confident and calm birth experience, really reducing any fears you have and replacing them with information and ability to make the best decision for you during birth.

I also recently partnered with Mommy Care Kits who supply pregnancy and postpartum support items to pregnant moms. I mentioned many of these items today such as compression socks, TENS unit, which I didn’t actually mention but is great for restless legs and low back pain, belly support band, leg compression device to help with circulation, and then also breast pumps are something they supply as well. You have to apply through your insurance to see if you’re covered, and I recently did this after learning about the program and was approved for all of the items and am so excited to try them out and have them 100% covered by insurance. So something exciting I wanted to share and have a link below if you’re interested in applying for free to see if you qualify. 

Thank you again for being here and I hope you will tune in next Tuesday for another episode of Your Birth Bestie, bye everyone!