The final period of pregnancy – the third trimester – has gone by in a flash! The majority of baby’s growth happens in the third trimester, which can make things more taxing on the body. Having had a reasonably good 2nd trimester, I expected the 3rd trimester to be more difficult. Getting a really big belly has got to be hard work! Read more to find out how the third trimester has been going!
Find out about our first trimester, how we told our parents, and more!
Our second trimester blog post can be found here.
When is the Third Trimester
The third trimester goes from week 28 to week 40 (or beyond). This trimester is all about growth of the baby, and growth of mumma’s belly! Also to feature in the third trimester are lots of changes to mumma’s body, more discomfort, and more getting stared at by strangers! Yes – here is one thing I have definitely learnt during the 3rd trimester. People LOVE pregnant women! I get smiled at all the time. Strangers come up to me on the street to ask me how my pregnancy is going. They ask how many weeks I am, if it’s a boy or girl etc. I now have neighbours who I’ve never spoken to before, chatting to me frequently because I’m pregnant. So there can be some new challenges with the third trimester due to increasing growth, but also some good unexpected positives too!
Third Trimester Milestones
Finished Our Baby Room
We FINALLY finished our baby room in week 32 of the pregnancy – and boy did that feel good! During pregnancy, I have become a bit of a freak for getting the baby room ready. Having the room ready had been my main priority, and maybe that’s because I can control this part of the pregnancy.
Going through ligament pains and the soreness which happens with growth of my belly, as well as the first trimester nausea, or the tiredness for example, are all things I can’t control. Being pregnant you really must just go with the flow. But the baby room – we have full control in this!
Having the baby room done made me feel more relaxed because it was off my brain. The baby room became my space to just relax and wonder about what the baby will be like, picturing nappy changes and putting the baby down for naps, dressing him in cute outfits etc.
We wanted our baby room to be a relaxing space with natural colours. We both love green, and wanted the baby room to have a green feature wall to bring colour to the room. Green also became our theme for accessories in the room along with natural materials like bamboo. The room is playful enough for a nursery whilst also being a space for us adults! Here is the finished room, ready for our little baby boy to join us!
Surprise Baby Shower
In week 34, I was surprised one Sunday with an amazing baby shower! We had always wanted an inclusive event for both women and men, and originally, our idea was to have a baby BBQ in the park. With Corona, we couldn’t do this, so – baby shower cancelled. However, my partners family put together a super thoughtful event for me/us! Everyone we know filmed a video from wherever they are located in the world, and it was put together as a half an hour of well wishes, advice and date of birth guesses!
Having had the idea of a baby shower go out the window when the pandemic hit, I was really overwhelmed with being able to have such a cool event held in our baby’s honour! And actually, considering many of our friends and family live all over the world – this was the best way to include these important people, pandemic or not!
We received many wonderful gifts, and had a lovely cake, and really just had a great and memorable day.
Maternity Leave
Going on Maternity Leave is something I think every pregnant woman looks forward to! During the last month I was working, I couldn’t wait for maternity leave to start. I was tired and ready to stop working and start resting.
In The Netherlands, maternity leave lasts 16 weeks. A minimum of 4 weeks must be taken before due date, with up to 6 weeks before due date as a maximum. After your baby is born, you receive 12 weeks (or 10 weeks if you took 6 weeks prior to the birth). If your baby comes later than it’s due date, you essentially receive extra days of maternity leave.
For example, my baby is due July 11, 2020. So, if he had already been born on say, July 4, I would have received the 12 weeks after July 11 regardless as my maternity leave. BUT, if the baby isn’t born until say, July 18, then I will start my 12 weeks post-partum leave then. So the days between July 11 and July 18 are extra days.
For me, I think this is an extremely short maternity leave period. I really do not like the idea of going back to work when my baby is just 12 weeks old..! And if I could take un-paid leave on top of my maternity period, I would.
Having now been on maternity leave almost for 1 month, I can honestly say I LOVE IT! During the start of my leave I was getting the last tasks for the house or baby done. Now I am done with those tasks, I am just waiting for the baby to start his journey. So, I am taking it very easy, enjoying extra time on the couch, reading, and having chill time. I know this is the only time ever I’m going to have this time for myself, so I’m enjoying it as much as possible!
Third Trimester Symptoms
The 3rd trimester has been a mixed bag of feelings and pains. But I’ve enjoyed this trimester, too. I love growing a baby and feeling the kicks every day. Being pregnant can be difficult at times, but ultimately for me, I’ve had a very good pregnancy and it’s been something I’ve enjoyed going through!
Acid Re-flux
From week 31 on wards I’ve had horrible acid re-flux. The midwives say the baby pushes the stomach into an awkward position, and therefore stomach acids travel up towards your throat. This causes me so much discomfort! I take a chew-able medicine called Rennie which helps alleviate the symptoms. But I think this is the thing I can’t wait to have go away after giving birth!
Stretch Marks
Unfortunately, during my 3rd trimester I finally got the dreaded stretch marks! In roughly week 32 I noticed a couple of small marks on my lower belly whilst looking in the mirror. Luckily they are very small and unnoticeable. I had been using stretch mark cream for months to try to make sure I wouldn’t get any, but I think nothing could have stopped them! The growth of my belly happened quickly, so naturally the skin would get some marks. As they say, it’s a badge of honour.
PGP – Pelvic Girdle Pain
During the 2nd trimester and up until the last couple weeks of my 3rd trimester I had bad pelvic girdle pain. This pain comes from the pelvis softening for birthing the baby. For me, it basically hurt to do almost anything. Sitting on anything harder than my couch was a no-go. Getting up quickly couldn’t happen. Turning over in bed was nearly impossible. Generally, a few days each week I would be almost unable to walk due to the pain.
Heavy Belly
As my belly got bigger, it got heavier, naturally! For me, this was not a problem on my back – which some woman complain of. My problem was it feeling so heavy under my belly that I needed to hold my belly up with either my hands or a pregnancy belt! Having a pregnancy belt was one of the best investments I made for myself during pregnancy. Having a belt on keeps the belly lifted and tight which alleviates the pain and makes doing normal things like grabbing groceries much easier!
Husband’s Hernia
In week 31, my husband went and got himself a hernia in his back! It’s been absolutely terrible to see him in so much pain and so incapacitated. He’s usually super active! We had just gotten to the stage for me where if something would fall on the floor, I wasnt going to attempt to pick it up because I was struggling with movement due to my belly size. But then his hernia happened and we were both a mess!
Both of us struggled for about 6 weeks to do basic things like get groceries. If it wasn’t my PGP, it was his hernia. We had to work out which days one of us felt good enough to pop out to grab some food, but otherwise this period resulted in a large portion of our monthly expenses going to Uber Eats! Thankfully he has slowly been recovering! He has bad days, but now he’s able to do most things without too much pain.
Emotional
Emotions are HARD to control during pregnancy! I cry all.the.time. I’ve mentioned this in my first trimester blog post, but there is no in-between response with my emotions anymore. There is only one emotional response and that’s just me sobbing. We have had some really lovely news recently, from a new pregnancy for my sister-in-law, to the birth of our friends baby. When I hear the news – I am sobbing uncontrollably. We’ve also had sad news – which naturally, makes me cry. But not just a little bit – yes – sobbing.
How Has Corona Virus Affected Our Third Trimester?
The Corona Virus affected our third trimester in a few ways. Firstly, going to work. Since mid-March, I was working from home. We all know how working from home goes. The hardest for me was that it made it harder to communicate with colleagues. Not seeing the faces I was used to seeing everyday was difficult! In May and June, we began having a meeting once per week, on site. This was great to be able to see colleagues again, however due to my sore pelvis from pregnancy, I found it increasingly difficult to manage going to these meetings.
So I would say, the positive of the corona virus for my pregnancy (yes – it’s not all bad!) was that I was able to spend my weeks when I was in pain, at home. Had the virus never happened, I’d have had to commute every day on public transport to work, and then sit there all day on uncomfortable furniture, which would cause incredible pain for me.
Corona virus will also impact when we can introduce our child to my husband’s family, and our friends. During the first week of his life, we will have a home nurse (called Kraamzorg in The Netherlands) every day at our house between around 8am-4pm. During the hours this nurse is at our house, we cannot have visitors due to the corona virus. If we come home from hospital birth at 10am, the home nurse will immediately be there, meaning we cannot introduce the baby to anyone until after she leaves for the day. We are fine with this, however it’s something that pre-corona we didn’t need to even consider.
Travel During Third Trimester
Currently, the Corona virus has really affected travel. This is of course happening worldwide. However for my pregnancy and the birth of our baby, it is hindering both.
Babymoon in Zeeland, The Netherlands
Our hope for a babymoon to the Greek Islands had to be cancelled. It was disappointing because we had said from before we got pregnant that we would babymoon there. It’s been high on our list and we wanted Greece to be the location of our last hurrah with just the two of us! However, with being unable to leave The Netherlands between March and July, we changed our plan and took 4 days break on the beaches of Zeeland, in The Netherlands. A blog post is coming with more details on our trip!
Baby Meeting His Australian Grandparents
The biggest travel restriction for us is that my parents live in Australia. As an only child, and this being my first child, this is my parents first grand child. And based on the current status of the world, they can possibly no longer come to The Netherlands to visit shortly after the birth of our son. This has been something that has caused sadness on both ends since the Corona virus madness began. How can it be that we will have a baby and he will not meet (physically) his grandparents?!
Prior to this pandemic, it wasn’t even a consideration that my parents would not be in The Netherlands to meet our son. And the hardest part of living in The Netherlands and having a child, was that my parents wouldn’t see him regularly after their first visit post-birth. That we would have to wait until he is 5 months old before they’d see him physically again. And now, they may not meet him until Christmas. (If we are allowed to travel to Australia at Christmas-time). We have our fingers crossed for travel from The Netherlands to Australia being allowed by then!
We try to remain positive and hope that whilst July may not happen for my parents, perhaps August, or September the borders will open. But if not, yes – we do have video chat. It’s all a situation where we just have to watch and wait. We know that we are but one couple out of many which will also have this concern. Borders getting in the way of such precious moments that we’ve dreamed about having is just something we all have to get through during this pandemic.
Again, there are worse things for people to deal with currently, so we really do try to stay as upbeat as we can because we are healthy and happy.
9 Months Pregnant
Currently, I’m sat at home two days before my due date, wondering when this little baby boy will join us! Thanks for reading about my journey through the third trimester of my pregnancy! It’s almost over – I can’t believe I’m about to be a mum!
We can’t wait for our baby to be here. To learn from him, to love him, and to show him the world! We look forward to life after Covid-19 (if that will ever be a thing!!) so that we can go back to regular programming where we can explore the world one destination at a time. We hope to find out what it’s like to take our baby on his first vacation soon enough!
Wish us luck!!
Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!
5 thoughts on “Our Pregnancy: 3rd Trimester Update”
Not long to go now, Lesley! Really enjoy your posts, both with your pregnancy and your travels all over! I feel your disappoint at not being able to be with mom and dad at this precious time, I can’t visit my daughter and kids in America until who knows when. Love to all
Thanks for reading! It’s a hard time we are all going through, huh! I hope we can all be with our families again soon 😀
You want to make the Hunk cry? This blogpost is how you make the hunk cry! Can’t wait for the baby to come!
Thanks for sharing Lesley, stay positive, enjoy the last few days of your pregnancy, before your little miracle arrives.
I’ve loved reading about your journey through pregnancy. It is disappointing not being able to be with your mum and dad at this precious time. But you know they will want you all to be safe. Love to all. Xx