Writing this from the other side, it is hard to even remember being pregnant! I looked at some of the photos I took during the last few weeks of my pregnancy and thought “how was I even that big?!” – it seems like someone else’s life; one I’m watching from the outside. How insane is it to think I hadn’t even met my girl a few short weeks ago!

Symptoms: Just on cue, the exhaustion returned as soon as I hit 28 weeks. While it was not nearly as bad as the first trimester, it did prove to make finalizing some of the baby prep a bit harder. To add to the exhaustion, sleeping grew to be more difficult, if not impossible. I become more uncomfortable the larger I grew, and started to experience intense leg cramps in the middle of the night, every night. They felt similar to charley horses and left an ache in my calves for the rest of the day. Another odd symptom was congestion – between allergy season and having a dry nasal passage for most of my pregnancy, breathing was not fun. Oh, and in the last few weeks, I experienced night sweats – not cute!

Food: Writing this from the other side, I’m slightly disappointed to say I didn’t experience any of those intense food cravings that have a reputation to go hand-in-hand with pregnancy. With that being said, my sweet tooth (cake and milkshakes!) was still alive and present. I also started to crave more fruit, whether that be fresh watermelon or a smoothie – I began to replace my baby appointment Chick-Fil-A milkshakes with the Pink Pitaya smoothie from Playa Bowls! Unfortunately, my taste for crabs has yet to come back – borderline tragic for Maryland summers!

Highlights: These 12 weeks proved to be plenty busy preparing for our sweet babe’s arrival, as well as soaking in this special season. We kicked off the third trimester with a full calendar starting in Scottsdale on our babymoon. I’m so grateful we took the time to take a trip as just the two of us before baby’s arrival. After returning, we participated in our three, albeit virtual, birthing classes offered by our hospital to help prepare us for birth, bringing baby home and nursing. Later in April, we celebrated at my baby shower – the most perfect french market themed soiree!

Jody and I got maternity pictures taken around 36 weeks. Deciding to have them taken, especially when I was so pregnant made me nervous, but I wanted to have something to look back on because knowing my pregnancy was coming to an end was truthfully bittersweet. I liked being pregnant more that I thought I would – I loved feeling her kicks and watching her move, and especially her round of hick-ups after everytime I ate. Despite how cold it was the day of our maternity session, we couldn’t love our pictures more! They totally capture the excitement and wonder we felt counting down the days until baby’s arrival. We spent the final few weeks wrapping up some final touches to the nursery, installing the car seat (oh, and bought Jody a new “family car”), and squeezing in a few last date nights before going out to dinner wouldn’t be so easy!

Smocked Bralette Swim: As the weather got hotter, my comfortability being that pregnant wore thin. Once Memorial Day hit, I lived at our neighborhood pool – being weightless in the water was a total game changer. Especially in the last few weeks, I grew to appreciate the simplicity of this swimsuit – supportive, easy to wear, and little fabric to cover my ever-growing bump!

Rubber Slides: I was really hoping my feet wouldn’t swell, but these slides were so easy to wear around the house and to the pool. Even better, they were a necessity post-birth as my feet and ankles were more swollen after having Emerson than the last few weeks of pregnancy!

Ruched T-Shirt Dress: This trimester was clothes-heavy as I had official outgrown all of my pre-pregnancy clothes. I had tried to find pieces that were inexpensive and I could potential wear after birth as well. I loved this dress so much that I ended up buying two of them! It was cute to wear with a knotted tee over the dress for a casual look or paired with a sweater or kimono for more of a dressed up look.

Denim Shorts: While I don’t expect the quality of these shorts to last for years to come, I definitely got my money’s worth out of them! I love the frayed edge and the light wash is perfect for transitioning from spring to summer. They sit below the bump, which I love (less fabric in the summer is much more ideal), and have a bit of stretch to them, making them easy to wear in the first few weeks postpartum, as well.

Mint Bliss Energizing Lotion: As I mentioned above, my leg cramps and restless legs were an unfortunate part of my evening routine. I started applying this lotion to my feet and calves to alleviate the discomfort. While it didn’t prevent the cramps from happening, the cool mint formula was relieving.

Bringing Up Bébé: I’ve mentioned this book in several other posts this year, but I spent all of the last twelve weeks of pregnancy reading it. I found the author’s observations about the difference in the American and French parenting style very intriguing and plan to implement some of her tips as we raise Emerson.

Iron Supplement: Early in the 3rd trimester, some of my bloodwork showed that I had an iron definciacy so my OB put me on an iron supplement for the remainder of my pregnancy. He also thought it might help with the leg cramps. While I’m not sure if they were related, I did notice a decrease in the cramps and spams. Not super exciting content, but still a necessity this last trimester!

Heating Pad: I mentioned the use of a heating pad in the 2nd Trimester recap, but included it again as my constant back pain continued through the end of my pregnancy. Between the pressure of the baby as well as my ever-growing bump, I think I used the heating pad every single day!

And just like that, that’s the end of my pregnancy recaps! You can see my other two trimesters here and here. If there is any other pregnancy related content you are interested in, drop me a message and let me know!