HOW I SURVIVED TRIMESTER III

TRIMESTER III: NESTING

When they say trimester III is the best one, believe them. Trimester III is such a fun and exciting time. I was still working out, eating healthy with treats of course :), and starting to fold, organize, and check things of my list. Most women deal with back and pelvic pain, Braxton Hicks (faux contractions), and swollen feet. I was fortunate enough to surpass most of those symptoms and I credit that that staying active, belly breathing, and lots of water!

MY TRICKS FOR TRIMESTER III: MOVE YOUR BODY

I cannot tell you how important it is to move your body in the last trimester of pregnancy. With that being said, moving/exercising does not mean pushing your body to its limits. I was very limited in what I could do which sounds crazy because I was pretty damn fit pre-pregnancy. In your third trimester, there’s not a lot of room for big inhales and exhales. Baby is taking up a lot of that space which means your lunges and everything else is being pushed up, pressed on and squished. I would lose my breath easily - even when I wasn’t working out. I would have moments where I could feel my lungs scream for air - making it hard for me to complete a workout alongside my fellow athletes. That’s OKAY THOUGH. A 45 minute strength class that might consist of back to back moves with a 30lb bar or heavy dumbbells was not in my rep scheme. I chose lighter weights or body weight, slower movements, and took a lot of breaks.

I also taught classes until I delivered ;) the day before to be exact. I am damn proud of that!!!

BELLY BREATHING 101:

The latest pregnancy exercise; BELLY BREATHING!! A method of breathing that practically makes your belly bump disappear has a lot of people wondering "how" and "why'? This method of breathing has so many benefits! Incorporating this exercise weekly, if not daily, can help in so many ways!

1. Helps maintain a connection to the deep core muscles throughout pregnancy (pelvic floor, transverse abdominal, and multifidus).

2. Decreases low back and pelvic pain due to the deep cores ability to stabilize the spine and pelvis.

3. Decreases your chance of abdominal separation by creating a balance effect of the Inhale - creating space for the baby and Exhale - maintaining strength in the muscles of the deep core.

4. Helps teach women how to effectively PUSH during labor. Knowing how to use your deep core muscles during the pushing phase of birth can be said to speed up pushing time by over 70%. SO IMPORTANT!!! Pushing the correct way is why my labor (pushing to delivering) was less than 20 minutes!!

5. Provides more stability postpartum while speeding up healing times.

6. Keeps the expecting woman in parasympathetic nervous system, providing de-stressing signals to her and baby (as opposed to the Fight or Flight response).

I would add belly breathing to workouts or throughout the day to create more balance and strength to my pregnancy and I am so glad I did!

WATER, WATER, WATER!

During trimester III, I found myself not eating or drinking as much. I never actually got hungry but knew I needed just as much food and water as trimester I and II. Getting in those extra calories helps baby get all those nutrients in via the placenta so I tried to amp up the greens, nuts, healthy fats and chase it down with a big glass of water, or four! Remember, you only need 300 extra calories and baby will only take what he/she needs. Drinking water + taking a calcium supplement also helped keep things moving since constipation was a thing during my third trimester.

xx,

GL