11 Crazy Third Trimester Of Pregnancy Symptoms You Never Thought You’ll Experience, And How To Relieve Some Of The Pain
This post is all about the third trimester of pregnancy symptoms.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: pregnancy is wild. The third trimester, in particular is notorious for having all the symptoms show up, all at the same time. Today we will talk about all the third trimester of pregnancy symptoms that you may be experiencing already. And if you haven’t experienced them yet, brace yourself!
This post is all about third trimester of pregnancy symptoms.
1. Round ligament pain
We thought we’d start off with a basic one. Round ligament pain may have started earlier on, even as early as the second trimester. However, if you are well into your third trimester, you may find that you are starting to feel these a bit more often, as baby is growing quickly in your belly.
The best remedy: apply a hot pack on your back or lower abdomen. Just make sure it’s not too hot and that you don’t apply directly on your skin!
2. Braxton hicks
As your body is preparing for labour, you may feel your belly getting hard– as in, rock hard. When these happens, you’ll quickly recognize them as Braxton hicks contraction. These are harmless as long as they don’t happen consistently. Just a bit uncomfortable, but you should have no trouble getting through them.
The best remedy: There’s really nothing much you can do about these except get through them. The good thing is that they are mostly uncomfortable and not necessarily painful.
3. Heartburn
Because your baby is growing so quickly and squishing your organs, you may feel heartburn constantly, expecially if you’ve eaten too much too fast (which happened to me way too often during pregnancy).
The best remedy: Eat smaller portions more often. If you’ve already eaten too much, you can also take some Tums to help with the heartburn.
4. Numbness and tingling in feet/hands and belly
This one surprised me when I noticed for the first time! As your belly grows and your skin stretches, you may feel some numbness in your belly due to your skin being so stretched out. You may also feel numbness and tingling in your feet and hands (carpal tunnel is also pretty common during the third trimester) because of the swelling you may feel.
The best remedy: Unfortunately, nothing much! This is just a result of your body changes due to pregnancy, but the good thing is that everything should go back to normal (ie. no more numbness or tingling) after giving birth.
5. Bloated
This one is definitely connected to the previous point. Being numb and tingling in your feet/hands are usually caused by bloating. You may experience a lot of bloating when you get pregnant, however not everyone experiences bloating. On the flip side, if you’ve experienced a lot of bloating suddenly, you may want to inform your doctor, because it could be a sign of preeclampsia, which is a serious condition that you definitely want to let your doctor know about ASAP.
The best remedy: you may find drinking a lot more water and cutting back on the salt will help with the bloating. But if it doesn’t help, just know that this is just another wild part of being pregnant, and will not last forever.
6. Super Stretched Skin
For us pregnant ladies, stretched out skin is no longer a new thing. We’ve just come to accept it as something that happens during pregnancy. However, there may come a time when you will feel your skin stretching rapidly as if your baby is trying to crawl out of your abdomen. This kind of stretch is not fun and can be quite unpleasant and painful.
The best remedy: Take your favourite moisturizer or body oil and massage over the painful part in a circular motion. this may relieve some of the pain you’re feeling.
Related Post: What Not To Do In Your Third Trimester Of Pregnancy
7. Not Able To Roll From One Side To The Other While Sleeping
You know you’ve hit a milestone in your pregnancy when you are lying on your side and this happens: you try to roll from one side to the other, and suddenly feel your belly seemingly crushing your whole being. You get to the other side quickly and try to catch your breath because you feel light headed just from that quick transition from one side to the other. Because your baby has grown bigger and also heavier, being flat on your back even just for a little bit can feel super uncomfortable, and rolling over can quickly be taken out of the equation.
The best remedy: Simply avoid rolling over to the other side. If you need to change your position, pull yourself up in a seated position and then lie back down on the other side.
8. You will prefer sleeping at a 45 degree angle
Similar to the previous point, sometimes, lying on your side can ilicit unwanted hip pain, especially when you feel like your hip is digging into the mattress. This can happen if you’ve been lying on your side day in and day out. Also, if you’ve had a late dinner, you may find that you can’t fall asleep lying down even if it’s on your side.
The best remedy: put plenty of pillows on your back and simply sleep at a 45 degree angle. Also, avoid eating close to your bedtime.
9. You will feel stinky and sweaty all the time
If you’ve gained a lot of weight during your pregnancy, you may find that you are getting sweaty much more often and that you feel stinky a lot of the time. Even though it’s unpleasant, just know that it’s normal. Because your body is producing more sweat and you may have more skin folds now than you did prior to being pregnant, your body will inevitably produce more interesting… smells.
The best remedy: simply take more baths or showers, and don’t forget to get into the folds of your body that might accumulate more dead skin cells, such as your armpit, groin area, under boob area, or even right underneath your baby bump.
10. Knee pain
Again, if you have gained a lot of weight during your pregnancy, you may find that your knees are supporting much more weight than it’s ever had to. This, along with relaxed joints can cause you to feel knee pains.
The best remedy: wear knee braces like this if needed, and avoid putting too much pressure on your knees.
11. Hip pain and pelvic bone pain
Honestly this is the part I hate the most. Shooting pain in the hip and overall pelvic bone pain is due to loosening ligaments as your body gets ready to birth your baby. Although this is definitely a normal part of pregnancy, it’s definitely uncomfortable and can be the reason why you are not getting much sleep at night.
The best remedy: Doing prenatal yoga that incorporates gentle pelvic bone stretches can relieve the pain and has the added benefit of helping your body get ready for labour.
This post was all about third trimester of pregnancy symptoms.
Ever experienced third trimester pregnancy symptoms that are not on this list? Let us know in the comments below — we love to learn more about other women’s pregnancy experiences!
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