My Pregnancy Journey - The Third Trimester
Well our daughter is here! Our little Peggy joined us on the 17th of June at 3:40 am, my labour actually started on my due date! I’ll be sharing my amazing birth story in a few weeks but for now it’s time for the final instalment of my pregnancy journey. Please click here to read all about my first trimester, and here to read about my second - unlike the third they were very challenging!
My third trimester was so much better than the first two, it was like an entirely different pregnancy. It was still challenging of course, and uncomfortable but I felt so healthy and happy for most of it.
Me at 33 weeks during our holiday in the Yorkshire Dales.
27-28 Weeks
The end of my second trimester saw us packing up our London flat and preparing for our move up to my home city of Newcastle. That whole process was incredibly tiring and I really couldn’t help Simon much. If you’ve read about my second trimester you’ll know that I experienced some very painful pelvis problems, I developed Symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) and Pelvic Girdle Pain (PGP) half way through the pregnancy and I ended up in A&E as it was so bad.
A few days before we were due to move we spend a few days in Bath on a little holiday. It was such perfect timing! Crutches in tow we enjoyed a really slow couple of days walking around the city and having a bit of spa time. My pelvis was pretty well behaved during the trip, thank goodness.
29-31 Weeks
Packing the flat was hard, I was only able to sit in certain positions and bending down / reaching for things was a no no! I was so restricted in my movements so thank goodness for Simon - he basically packed the whole flat! On our final day we cleaned and watched the movers take all our stuff down to the van, it was such a heartbreaking moment walking around our empty flat, we’d lived there for six years.
Once we arrived in Newcastle and after a few days of settling in my pelvis began to feel so much better and the stress of the move began to wear off. It took us both a good few weeks to adjust to all the changes as it was quite a challenge getting used to our new lives.
32 Weeks
After some time in Newcastle Simon and I headed to the Yorkshire Dales for one last holiday before Peggy arrived. We go there every Easter and usually stay at my mum's cottage in the Eden Valley so we can go on long hikes. I was a bit worried that both Simon and I would get bored and grumpy seeing as I couldn’t walk very far but if the holiday taught me one thing it's that there is so much pleasure in taking it slow. I physically couldn’t do most of the things I used to because of my PGP and SPD but instead of letting that effect me I've had to adjust to a much more gentle pace. I think the daily short walks we did really helped to strengthen my pelvis.
My bump looking huge and round during a lovely sunny walk in Yorkshire.
33-35 Weeks
These few weeks were all about the baby prep, I was feeling really good physically so Simon and I cracked on with all the last min jobs. I don’t have much to say about how I felt during this time, everything was going really well with regards to how my body felt, my pelvis was still sore but I made sure to rest a lot especially after a day of work.
During this time I was really busy with my work, I had lots of last minute styling jobs come in so I knew I would pretty much be working up until my due date - which was fine with me! I had a few days which were a bit emotionally difficult but I think that was due to our big move and all the sudden changes in our lives. In general I felt quite balanced and in control, just with a few hiccup days!
35 weeks pregnant and I finally seem to have that pregnancy glow!
36-40 Weeks
The last few weeks flew by. Each time my fortnightly midwife appointment came around I couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone by, each week brought us closer to meeting our baby and I really felt as though we were just waiting around for her to arrive. I did however catch the mumps virus despite having my injections when I was a baby! I felt so unlucky. Thankfully though the symptoms were no worse than a cold and I only had mild hamster cheeks. I was very lucky not to have caught it earlier on in the pregnancy as mumps can be very dangerous to babies in the first trimester.
We also had a few small scares which saw me pop into hospital a few times, at my 38 week midwife appointment they measured Peggy as small so I had to go in to get assessed. After 3 hours of being hooked up to a few machines they discharged me and said everything was absolutely fine with Peggy. That’s the thing with pregnancy, you’re always bouncing from feeling confident to feeling really scared!
This was the last photo I took before Peggy arrived. On Saturday the 15th, two days before she was born.
The day before my labour started (Saturday the 15th) Simon and I were walking into town to pick up a few last min supplies and we were talking about how strange it was to feel as though you’re constantly waiting and wondering, we agreed that she would probably be overdue. Very early Sunday morning I experienced the first signs of early labour - on my due date! I couldn’t believe it, just a few hours ago Simon and I were talking about her arrival, we never expected her to begin her journey so promptly!
So that takes us right up to my labour. It feels so strange and to be honest I also feel very sad to have to end these pregnancy diaries here. It’s been such a journey, definitely not an easy ride but so magical and I can’t believe it’s all over.
The next post I’ll be writing will be my labour and birth story, it was an incredible experience and I would do it all over again now if I could. See you then!
Hi I'm Nancy!
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