Congratulations, you have reached the third trimester of your pregnancy! This can be a doubly exciting and exhausting time for any expectant mother. Your baby is still undergoing some final developments, and your body is slowly preparing for childbirth. All these make it important to stay in close contact with your gynae at Mount Elizabeth so they help you stay safe from complications.
It is understandable to feel more stressed at this stage as you deal with various discomforts and wait for your baby to be born.
What difficulties should you expect, and how can you better cope with them? Let us review what you may encounter further into your pregnancy.
Challenges During the Third Trimester and How to Manage Them
Expect Plenty of Aches and Pains
During this phase, you can have worse back pain due to the increased weight you carry. Your baby will also be more active and suddenly move about, which can be painful for your abdominal area.
Your gynae will likely have already advised you on how to reduce your pain early on in your pregnancy, which you can continue doing. These include:
- Practising good posture
- Wearing comfortable footwear
- Staying active to strengthen your back and joints
- Having massages or other pain-relieving therapies
Do not hesitate to tell your doctor if your pain becomes too severe to handle by yourself. They could prescribe pain medications that are safe for you to take.
You Can Feel Hotter
Carrying a fully developed foetus is like having a heater inside your body. As you absorb more of your child's body heat, your core temperature increases too.
To keep cool, be sure to:
- Avoid hot or extremely warm water for bathing. Opt for cold water instead.
- Avoid going out during exceptionally hot days.
- Wear loose clothing and breathable fabrics.
- Stay in a well-ventilated or air-conditioned room whenever indoors.
A Frequent Urge to Urinate
As the weeks pass, your baby should start moving down near your pelvis. This puts more pressure on the bladder and can make you urinate frequently. You could also leak when sneezing, coughing, lifting objects or doing other activities that exert force.
A few ways to deal with this include:
- Avoid having too many caffeinated drinks. Caffeine can make you urinate more often.
- Do more Kegel exercises to further strengthen your pelvic floor muscles. This lets you hold your bladder for longer.
- Lean forward when urinating to completely empty your bladder.
More Swelling in the Limbs
You may also find your hands and feet swelling further due to fluid retention. While it is difficult to fully get rid of this issue while pregnant, you can reduce them by:
- Limiting salt intake. Sodium makes the body retain extra water.
- Staying hydrated. Drinking more water actually keeps your body from retaining fluids.
- Elevate your swollen limbs to drain the fluids that accumulated in them
Breathing Difficulties
It can become more difficult to breathe normally as your baby takes up even more space in your body.
When out and about, take breaks often to normalise your breathing. You can also practise labour breathing techniques to make yourself more comfortable.
If you find it too difficult to breathe and feel weak because of it, see your gynae in Mount Elizabeth right away. They can help you get more oxygen into your system and check if you have other conditions contributing to the problem, such as asthma.
False Contractions
Your body may also prepare itself for childbirth by causing false contractions, which can fool you into thinking that you might be entering labour. While they are nothing to worry about, they can still be painful to have.
Relaxing more often can soothe these false labour pains.
Talk to Your Gynae for Third Trimester Concerns
Discomfort is part and parcel of being pregnant, but you need not handle all the stress yourself. Your gynae at the Mount Elizabeth women's clinic can address your concerns. You can seek their guidance on being more comfortable during this critical stage.
So do not falter now—you only have a few more weeks to go before you can finally meet your baby!
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