Welcome to he..eerrhmm...I mean the 3rd trimester ;))

I have been using an app for my iPhone, the Babycenter app called "My pregnancy", since basically just days after finding out that I was pregnant. So far, on top of being highly informative, it has been scarily accurate or you could also say that I've had, more or less, a textbook pregnancy. On a few occasions, I have woken up in the morning with a question in my head about something that has happened or something that I felt, wondering if or worrying about wether or not it's normal, and when opening the app, I've had exactly THAT, the question that was on my mind, as my daily info piece...... 

This is why I am a bit annoyed with myself now looking backwards, remembering the words in my app about the final stage of pregnancy and smiling back at my phone, almost gloating, feeling that I had no idea what they were talking about! The app said something like "Welcome to the 3rd trimester! The last and the hardest part of pregnancy in which you will feel like absolute crap (no, it was not those words, but it should give you an idea..... ;))! Well, see....when I read this, I was feeling GREAT!! Amazing in fact..... Confident, happy and fairly healthy besides a few normal cramps. Little did I know, that that very night, the "crap" would begin.

Some unexpected (don't get me wrong, I knew most of these things could happen, but maybe not exactly to what extent ;)), challenges in my 3rd trimester:

• Sleeping (...or shall I say "the lack of"?). Oh my! I am waking up about once every 30 minutes, more or less every night as changing positions have become somewhat of a project, not to mention a conscience killer. You see, I heard you are not supposed to sleep on your back when your in your third trimester as the increased weight of your uterus presses on the major vein that returns blood from your legs to your heart, which can be bad for both you and your baby. OMG! I am total back-sleeper and find myself automatically turning back into back position all the time, at which stage I wake up, feeling like I will be the worst mom in the whole world! ....and then of course there is no talk about falling back asleep until I feel the baby moving in there, to ensure it's still all right, which can take a long time.  Yes and then there is this advise about using lots of pillows to make the sleeping more comfortable AND to help you stay in a good and safe sleeping position.....and I even have a special pregnancy pillow to help me. Well, when it's 30 degrees in your bedroom, pillows aren't exactly making the sleeping more comfortable...instead, I wake up either soaked in sweat from using all the supporting pillows, or from various pains caused by not using them. Enough said ;))

• Personal hygiene and specifically leg-shaving and pedicures... Shaving the legs is about as exhausting as running 10k these days and I admit, I never thought my toes would ever be so hard to reach.....ever! Yesterday I did manage to cut my own toenails, but I was almost fainting as a consequence. I now see the need to increase my beauty treatment budget until our baby is here ;)

• The return of the back pain from hell....my long lost enemy! Along with the weight gain came the back pain....and since I keep growing, it keeps getting worse. I used to have a problem with my back. A problem I could contain by exercising regularly and quite frequently. In fact, before getting pregnant, I felt that I had more or less fully recovered. Now since I can't do the same kind of exercises and my ability to move unrestrictedly is reduced, all the pain and problems came back with a vengeance. 

• All the other 3rd trimester "accessories" ;)) ....such as Braxton-hicks contractions, stretching ligaments, swollen feet, difficulty to breathe as the uterus is pressing the diaphragm, varicose veins, increased need to pee as the bladder is also pushed on, extreme tiredness, walking like a penguin, etc etc...... Oh and then I remember hearing words like "pregnant women are so beautiful"....well maybe most of them are, but personally, I've never felt more unattractive in my entire life ;))

Now I would be lying if I claimed that being pregnant in the third trimester is easy, especially since we are having quite a heat wave here in Switzerland.....but there is still no doubt in my mind that all these struggles will all be worth while and from these struggles at least you know something absolutely indescribably amazing will come out of it.....which is something you can't really say from your non-pregnancy pains.

Having that said, I am now literally counting down the days and weeks!! Less than 8 weeks to go (if on time) =)))))

xox