Pregnancy Update | The Third Trimester

Here we are at the home stretch. This has to have been the quickest pregnancy in the history of pregnancies! The third trimester begins at the 29th week of pregnancy and goes on until your due date (and after) at 40 - 42 weeks.

This trimester has been characterised by at times colossal feeling weight gain, trouble sleeping and swollen hands and feet (primarily due to the heatwave we have experienced here in sunny Scotland this summer!) 

The third trimester began very smoothly, baby continued to grow at the optimum pace and didn't give me too much of a hard time, she kicked and wiggled regularly and at times it really did feel like I was growing a parkour enthusiast or incubating the next Bruce Lee,  but it really felt amazing... though jarring at times. We attended antenatal classes at our local GP with our community midwife in order to get a better idea of what to include in our birth plan - which you can read a bit more on here.

Over the course of the third trimester my weight increased at a rate I wasn't expecting - it was as if I woke one morning and had this massive baby bump. Nothing fit me anymore, walking to and from anywhere felt like a struggle and towards the very end it really did feel as though the baby could just drop out at any moment.

My maternity leave officially began 2 weeks prior to my due date, for which I had plans of organising the house, washing all of the baby clothes and clearing out my cupboards and perhaps even receiving a bit of pampering and seeing a few movies at the cinema before baby decided to make her entrance. I was lucky enough to have help throughout the first week of my maternity leave as Nick took a holiday so we could have a mini 'baby moon' before madam arrived. We took it easy, went to the cinema, out for some meals and got a few last minute bits and pieces organised to make life with a newborn that little bit easier. As we had been told our baby was measuring on the larger side and that her head was already engaged we were waiting on tender hooks for her arrival... of course that didn't happen!

As time moved on - keeping in mind I still hadn't reached my due date I grew impatient and really quite miserable. All I wanted to do was shut myself away and not communicate with anyone bar Nick until my baby arrived. I was SO uncomfortable. Due to my weight gain walking was a struggle. particularly in the heat we had been enduring in Aberdeen, my back was in agony (thanks to a pregnancy massage from Pure Spa that only seemed to make things worse!) and my hands and feet were swollen beyond recognition, as in my wedding and engagement rings came off and I had ONE pair of shoes that could just go on my feet anymore!

But it was all soon to be over as my waters broke on the 23rd of July (one day before my due date) and as you all know our beautiful Emilia Rey Adams was born exactly on her due date of July 24th 2017.

Stick around in the coming weeks to read all about my labour and delivery story, what went to plan, what didn't go to plan and hopefully I'll have a chance to sit down with a warm(ish) coffee and write all about our first few weeks with a newborn. Keep updated via my social channels of Bloglovin, Twitter and Instagram.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x

Pregnancy Update | The Second Trimester

The second trimester. I can't belieive we have arrived here already - it really does feel like only yesterday I was sitting down bleary eyed and in the throws of morning sickness to write my first trimester update - but here we are a whole 16 weeks later and already into the third trimester! For those of you unfamiliar the second trimester of pregnancy runs from the 13th week of pregnancy until the 28th week of pregnancy.

What can I really say about the second trimester? We've hit a tonne of new milestones, from finding out our baby's gender to seeing her in many and varying scans both NHS and private, kitting out her bedroom and wardrobe with some new furniture and amazing clothes (courtesy of the Next sale which has Changed. My. Life!), attending new pregnancy fitness classes (which I may write a separate post on entirely) and finally feeling her kick, move and roll for the first time, it has been a whirlwind, exciting few months I'll say that!

Symptom wise my morning sickness has totally subsided though a few food aversions have snuck up on me such as my favourite curry from our local takeaway, ASDA's own oven pizzas and toast (which I put down to the morning sickness from the first trimester!) Stretch marks have also began to make their unfortunate and unwelcome appearance but so too has the appearance of my long awaited bump, which is now filling out all of my lovely new maternity clothes quite nicely. I need to pee pretty much all of the time, and when I'm not peeing I'm eating, and when I'm not eating I'm downing a family sized carton of orange juice which I think may actually be a pregnancy craving and of course the cycle begins all over again. Top tip for fellow pregnant ladies out there, when you need to sneeze, learn to clench and sneeze - bladder control during pregnancy is no joke! So far I haven't had any aches, pains or hospital related emergencies (touch wood) and I can safely say the second trimester has been plain sailing thus far.

There have been a few positives these last few months which I'm secretly hoping aren't entirely down to pregnancy hormones but I suppose only time will tell. My hair, nails and skin have never been better - in fact I treated myself to a gel manicure a few weeks back and the extensions grew off within a week (that's how fast they grow!) and I've thankfully got my energy back so I have been able to walk around a lot more during my lunch breaks at work and do more around the house which has been a blessing. 

A few fun facts about baby this trimester, she now has a regular heartbeat as well as the ability to yawn and hiccup in there, she also has her own set of fingerprints, is growing her hair, lashes and eyebrows and can even now taste foods that I eat via her amniotic fluid (how cool is that - plenty of fine foods and ice cream for me I think!)

So far so good - now we've got another 12 or so weeks until my due date and hopefully not too long after (or soon before!) to meet this little person and get acquainted with the individual assaulting me from the inside out! This has and I think will continue to be my favourite trimester particularly as during these last 12 or so weeks the bump is due to get quite heavy, I'm expecting cankles, swelling and general exhaustion as well as boredom in anticipation of her arrival (it's gonna be a long 12 weeks!)

Thank you for taking the time to read my pregnancy update - I'm glad I decided to document my pregnancy in this way as I think it will be fun to look back on in the future, so really I'm being kind of selfish in that sense! As usual though I do love to hear from you so be sure to leave your (helpful) thoughts and comments below, come share them with me on Twitter, Instagram and if you'd like to see more of me, bump (and eventually baby) be sure to follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time,

H.Elizabeth x