What No One Tells You About the Third Trimester (But You’re Definitely Googling) | 177

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Cry over the silliest small things and start organizing your pantry at 2:00 AM I personally didn't mind that I. In today's episode, we're gonna dive deep into the weird but normal stuff that not many people talk about. How to tell real labor signs from Braxton Hicks what nesting really means. Spoiler.

All right, let's start with weird symptoms that are. Actually normal and super common. Let's normalize the weird shit that's going on, okay? Because there's a lot of it. And if you're pregnant and in the third trimester and giggling like every five minutes, this is for you. Let's start with lightning crotch, which are random, sharp zings of pain down in your lady bits.

It's completely weird, but super. Common. And some of it is just related to baby bumping nerves. It's movement that bumps nerves. And it's not dangerous, but it's very unpleasant. And if it hasn't happened to you, girl, if it does, I'm there. I'm with you. I had it happen. Some of my pregnancies, it happened more, but some of them it didn't happen at all.

It's very weird and that feels like the baby's like just gonna fall out your vagina, but it's totally normal and it's due to increased blood volume and pressure from your uterus. We're gonna go over when to call your provider. I'm gonna go a little deeper into swelling down there when it's not okay and it's not normal.

Leaky boobies. Yes, chorum can start showing up now. It's totally normal, but I also wanna say. It may not. You may not see it. So some of you might have yellow crusty like stuff inside your nipple when you wake up in the morning or even leaking into your bra. And then some of you guys may not see chorum until baby comes, and that is totally okay.

It usually resolves during postpartum. Another thing that's really weird but happens is weird dreams, like, I don't know about y'all, but the hormones and the anxiety of pregnancy equal wild nights, and you can have some wackadoodle dreams. I would love to hear them. Y'all. Share them with me. Send me a D and be like, Trish, you said to share your weird dreams, you can go to Instagram, labor nurse dot mama and send them to me like.

I swear if we had a book of weird pregnancy dreams, it would be like, so bingeable, night sweats also very common, again related to hormones, vaginal discharge. We talked about this in the traveling episode, about traveling while pregnant. This is a real thing, like this is just your body prepping for labor.

I. You're building a human girl, so expect some weirdness, just how it goes. Okay, let's talk about Braxton Hicks versus real labor. You want to know this. I know this. This is, these are some of the top questions we get is like, how do I know? How will I know when it's real? I'm gonna tell you flat out, like when it's real, it declares itself.

If you still have to wonder, then it doesn't matter at that point whether it's real or not. If you're having to like. Be like, oh my God, is this real or not? Then it's not time to worry about it. I tell my students, and my mom is in my membership, we don't pay attention until we can't not pay attention, if that makes sense.

Real labor will start out like every 25 minutes. For a while, then it goes down to 20, then it goes down to 18, then it goes down to 10. They just get consistent and closer and closer together. Braxton Hicks. Now I know a lot of people are like Braxton Hicks are not painful, but they actually can be mildly painful, but they're not the same as real labor.

And once you go through both, you'll be like, yep, Trish, you're totally right. So Braxton Hicks, you might have mild discomfort and a tight belly, but real labor is gonna get more and more intense over time. So that's a clear sign. Now with Braxton Hicks, the location is usually the front of the belly where real labor is gonna.

Now the, the thing about Braxton Hicks is usually if you move around. Like you change positions, you rest, you get in the shower, you hydrate. They're gonna stop real labor. Come hell or high water girl, they are just gonna keep going no matter what. It's hard for us to stop them in the hospital. So here's a pro tip.

If you haven't been staying hydrated, drink water. If you have been walking around, sit down for a little bit. Take a shower. It's just, you know, if those things don't make it stop, it's probably the real deal. Now I wanna talk about nesting, because nesting is so like, you know it's coming, but when it happens, like you're suddenly in the middle of it and you're like, oh wait.

And your brain just doesn't stop spinning lists and plans and mental organizing, but it's actually just a part of our genetic code that we're getting ready for our baby. 'cause back in the day y'all, when people didn't have homes and they were living in like Hudson. Out in the wilderness, like they really had to get it ready and safe for their baby, but we still have that instinct.

The next thing I wanna talk about is sex, sleep, and relationship shifts. So these are some big ones that people don't really want to talk about or admit that they're struggling with, but let's start with sleep. 'cause it's a little safer. You might be hot, you're uncomfortable, you're peeing every hour. I highly recommend a pregnancy pillow.

These body pillows, pregnancy pillows can help you get into a much more. Comfortable position, but it is kind of like a roadblock to your partner, so you do feel a little isolated. And the other thing I would say is stay hydrated, but also don't drink a big soda or a tea or something before bed stick. To water so that you are not like adding in caffeine.

You can listen to my podcast and put it on like zero point. Vibe really slow. What it does is it gets your brain into this state where you can actually stop, like ruminating and thinking tons of thoughts, and listen, and you might fall asleep. I like to listen to the one called, nothing much happens. It's fantastic.

All right. The other thing is, let's just talk about sex. Okay? Sex can be weird. There's two camps, okay? Either your libido is through the roof or it's totally gone, and both of them are okay. They, they're both okay, so you don't have to apologize. Like your body is going through a lot. You're building a human.

Like you wanna feel comfortable, you wanna feel attracted to one another, and sometimes just talking through some of the things that you're thinking can help all of that, because it's all normal. But communication is the key. I. It's the key and FYI. Sex is safe. Unless your provider says otherwise. You may just have to get creative.

So get creative, like try some things you may need some lube. You may need to get into positions you never used to because you've got that big old belly now again. Not just sex, but also just your relationship dynamics might be changing Some, like you might've been the one who was on the go all the time and doing all the things, and you and your partner had like busy weekends and social life, and now you're like, I don't wanna get off the couch.

So start talking now before you go into labor, before you're sleep deprived, after baby. Like just start talking. Those things out now. All right, let's talk about when to call your provider. So there are some signs you should absolutely call or go in. Number one, we do not mess around with decreased fetal movement.

If you grab the free third trimester prep pack again, labor nurse mama.com/. Third, we have some things on fetal movement and fetal kick counts. If you have less than two 10 movements in two hours, you need to be calling. Like if you are concerned at all, if your gut is saying, I need to call, just call.

Episode 1 54 is one like, did my water just break? Or like, what is happening? And that's gonna help you so you can go listen to that for more information. If you have severe headaches or vision changes, sudden severe swelling. Now I wanna dive deep into the swelling. Swelling can be a red flag, it's also super common in pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, but there's a big difference between normal and something more serious. So when you need to pay attention is if you have sudden swelling, especially in your face. Your hands are around your eyes If you have one sided swelling, particularly in just one leg.

Normal swelling usually builds up gradually and is worse at the end of the day and improves when you elevate your feet or rest. But again, if something feels off, trust your gut girl and call your provider. You're not overreacting. You're advocating for yourself. Another thing would be any of the signs of labor before 37 weeks, which we have some episodes on Signs of Labor, episode 48 in particular.

We also have a blog post that's the six Signs of Labor according to a labor nurse, and we will put those in the show notes as well. If you have any fever, vomiting, or anything, just feels off, I'm gonna say this 9,000 times. If you feel off, if you feel something is wrong, trust your gut. You're not bothering your provider.

Some of you guys love pregnancy, some of you guys hate it. You're allowed to be overwhelmed, excited, nervous, and patient like hate it. Love it. Exhausted all in the same hour. So do it one day at a time. You are preparing. You're listening right now. I'm so proud of you. You're amazing. I just adore you. If this episode helped you feel more prepared, take a second.

Please leave a review. It helps me so much to see the reviews and it just. Cheers me on for all the work of educating and empowering you. You guys know our motto here at Labor Nurse Mama is to change the birth culture, one birth at a time. Like I got so sick of seeing women bullied and coerced. I don't ever want to be someone that you're like, well, Trish says you have to do this.

Who's birth? Your birth? So. That was just a weird little tangent I went off on, but you know what? I guess it needed to be said. You have every right to speak up, starting in pregnancy, speak up in your birth, speak up in the pediatrician's office. You guys are queens. Send this episode to another pregnant friend.

Binge another episode and I will see you again next week. Bye for now.