A different ball game
Third trimester is coming to an end. I’m at week 39 now. Hence, the updates. Apparently, the third trimester is a different ball game.
Unlike the amazing second trimester, I felt a bit more sluggish right at the start of week 35. Immediately, my body instinct told me to pause the cardio exercise and I just stuck to yoga. Even with yoga, I cut back on poses which compress my belly now that the belly is obviously in the way of such movements. I still found myself energised though not the same level like second trimester.
Another change is time of day I did such exercise. During the second trimester, I religiously stuck to morning. But this time round, I just winged it. Sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon, just whenever I feel like. Or maybe, it’s the cooling weather, not the third trimester fatigue that caused this change.
I also found myself use third trimester as an excuse not to do some household chores, especially meal prepping. I’m never a fan of cooking anyway. Out of laziness, I just decided not to meal prep for 2 weeks. But hey the good side is, for the other 10 weeks during trimester, we had home-cooked food.
This one is interesting. Somehow, I’m not lazy in this aspect. I guess the pattern is when it comes to curiosity, I don’t seem to be lazy haha. I kinda started 2 new projects (CC and NF). Of course, they didn’t start 1 day out of the blue but more like there were already back and forth conversions prior to that. Since the workload was quite manageable on top of everything I had (MS and SS), I told myself just to go ahead. To be honest, I found these projects interesting and brain-teasing to certain extent. These projects will highly likely continue after my maternity leave so I think it’s best for me to reserve my commitment in advance. They could become additional source of income, who knows.
I’m aware that third trimester is an awkward time to start something new knowing there will be a long pause ahead. But if opportunity comes knocking and I don’t start now, I don’t know when would be the good time. There are always reasons why I shouldn’t start something at any point of time. The best I can do is to inform them clearly about my situation. They are kind enough to understand my situation and willing to work with me.
Since week 35 (I think after meeting doctor appointment), I was told that I needed to level up my weight game as the baby was on the small size. I started to eat a lot more then the pregnancy itchiness came, probably because the belly expanded too quickly. Basically, I felt itchy across my belly like the allergy kind. It got intense quickly. It spread to my obliques, armpits and even to arms. It was so bad for the first 2 weeks that I couldn’t stop scratching. I found myself scratch even in public places because it was that bad. The itchiness was worse during the night.
Online, they said the only cure was to deliver the baby lol. I could only pray to that day. I tried different types of cream and oil but those just made the situation worse as those cream created a new sensation and triggered a signal to brain. I scratched even more. The only relief I found was to use cold water. I showered like 3-4 times during the day and it immediately reduced the itchiness for the next 3 hours. That was already a very good relief for me at that point in time.
And magic happened, after 2 weeks-ish, the itchiness subsided day by day. At the point of writing, the itchiness was 99% gone, and I’m only left with dark patches across the itchy areas. But they seem to fade gradually. Though the itchiness was like a down side in this pregnancy, I’m grateful for the overall experience.
I’m also very grateful that I received a lot of hand-me-down items and gifts from family and friends. In the end, we didn’t really need to prepare much. And partly, as the first time parents, we never knew all the stuff we have to prepare anyway. So far, everything is ready and set up. Even the nanny is here on standby. We are somewhat 95% ready for the baby’s arrival.