WEEK 31 - TRIMESTER THREE DISCOMFORTS

This week I have been really reminded that the "easy" trimester (i.e. T2) is over - most notably with respect to my swollen feet/ankles. We had our prenatal classes last weekend. They were a compressed version that was all evening Friday and all day Saturday. Sitting in a chair for that long without much walking around made my feet balloon up, and unfortunately they didn't want to go back down in size after the classes were over. (As an aside, the classes were actually quite good. We took them through the Youville Centre and found them quite interesting and informative.) I worked from home for a day this week to try to keep my feet up and give myself plenty of chances to walk around, but the thing that finally worked was compression socks. They're expensive and really hard to put on, but they work (and thankfully they just look like regular socks)!! My doctors still aren't concerned about the swelling and tell me it's normal, but since it's uncomfortable, I really needed to do something about it.

In addition to the swelling, I've also had heartburn and indigestion. I had never had heartburn before pregnancy, but now that I have experienced it I have new respect for those who deal with it all the time (including my husband and some of his family). I also no longer sleep restfully as I'm up every two hours to pee. And then on top of all of this I feel big and clumsy. I think it's a bit of a cruel joke to make someone drop things all the time when she can't easily pick them up. :P Oh the joys of the third trimester.....just giving me more incentive to want to get her out in 6 weeks :) Wow....6 weeks....so soon!

The baby is still moving around a lot and seems like she's maybe shifted positions, but it's hard to tell. Apparently it's quite normal to have heartburn and indigestion with new baby positions, so I guess that falls right in line with how I've been feeling. It seems like she may be bum-up now, but I think still feet down (based on where I'm feeling movements), so it's hard to say. She definitely seems to mostly be on my right side, and she seems to think she's cramped in there because she very often is pushing outward on my belly, trying to make more room for herself. (Personally, I think she has plenty of room - more than my organs currently have, anyway.) We have another fetal assessment on Monday, so we'll find out exactly how she's positioned, and how much room she has, then.

I just had one doctor's appointment this week - with my endocrinologist. It went fine. We did a bit more problem-solving, but everything is still going well overall. My insulin needs are still going up, which is causing some evening highs and night-time drops still, but we have a few strategies to fix that.

Other than that, there's nothing much new. I've started back into my prenatal yoga and find it more difficult than it was 5 weeks ago when I stopped doing it, but it still really does feel good. I managed to go for some longer walks this week too, which helped my feet feel better and gave me a good dose of fresh air. :)

And, finally, here is a picture of me at 32 weeks.