Trimester Three – Introduction Copy

You are so nearly there!

You are now in the final trimester and due to your busy little baby inside you, you are probably getting kicked and punched and a foot in your ribs etc., it’s just amazing isn’t it? Uncomfortable but amazing and do enjoy it because when they are out, they’re out, and you may miss it for a while.

So, in this trimester some of those earlier symptoms rear their ugly head again as well as some new ones, check it out.

• Increase in abdominal/pelvic pain as baby grows bigger, unfortunately not a lot you can do but take it easy when you need to. Again, building strength in the rest of the body will help support you. Fatigue comes back, you will probably feel completely wiped out but carry on drinking lots of fluid and eating regularly and rest when you need too. Staying active will really help here too. Heartburn, I suffered terribly with this, so I feel your pain, try eating smaller meals and reduce acidic and spicy food i.e. tomatoes, some spicy curries and citrus fruit.
• Backache, as the pregnancy hormone (relaxin) loosens the ligaments and tendons in the body the joints become more unstable, your baby bump will shift your hips forwards and cause pain in the lower back. If you get a sharp shooting pain down through the bum to the legs it may be sciatica. We will show you some stretches for this later in the programme. This is also the time where you may experience Braxton Hicks contractions, some ladies really notice these and others not so much, it is just your uterus preparing for birth.
• Weakness “down there”, you may find when you sneeze or cough that you wee a little, this is all down to the increase in pressure in your abdominal cavity caused by baby so remember this and think about your posture, stand tall and breathe deeper using the rib cage rather than the tummy to help reduce that pressure. Definitely look at our Mummy Rebuild programme or Fitter Floor and Core programme to really concentrate on this post birth.