I’m entering the final stage of pregnancy this week — I’ve got five more weeks to go! At 35 weeks, I’m feeling shockingly better than in my previous pregnancies. I’ve always had nausea and mild vomiting, back pain and fatigue, but this go around, in the third trimester, I feel better than I usually do. I feel more mobile and not as uncomfortable. This is such a blessing because the first half of this pregnancy was very, very challenging for me.

I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in my first trimester which was caught on a blood test that my OB ran (this is not routine for many OB’s – I highly recommend to my pregnant mamas out there). I struggled with joint pain and extreme fatigue for the first half of the pregnancy. Though I had started medication to help my thyroid, I don’t think it really kicked in until I was about 6 months pregnant. I was struggling hard to keep up with the busy lifestyle of chasing after my daughters and keeping things together at home. Luckily, my husband was able to step in and really support me during this time.

I think our whole family learned a lot from my having a major health problem and though it was really a difficult time of feeling inadequate and exhausted, it turned into a good thing for my family to all pitch in and help more with the day to day. It also taught me that I have a supportive system and that it is okay to tap into the people who love me and want to help. I can see now that I am almost at the end of this pregnancy that these lessons were purposeful in that, once our baby boy arrives, life will most certainly change and this support system will always be in need from here on out.

The third trimester is flying by as this entire pregnancy has; this is largely due to the fact that having two young children already makes life very busy. My older daughter is enjoying kindergarten and there are many time commitments in supporting her education. My three-year-old daughter is in the why stage and investigating everything around her. With a packed schedule this leaves little downtime to simply ponder being pregnant.

ADVERTISEMENT

I practiced a lot more yoga in this pregnancy and ran until I was 20 weeks, so I somewhat attribute this activity to why my back, and hips feel more comfortable in this third trimester than usual. It could also be that my body is just used to being pregnant this go around too. I started to show faster this time but have steadily gained weight slower than previously.

As we head toward Christmas (our due date), I am trying to enjoy and embrace this third trimester of pregnancy as I am pretty sure it will be my last experience carrying a child. I feel grateful that my body is able to support this pregnancy through the third trimester because of the health issues I have faced this time. Things were very fearful from the beginning as to how this pregnancy would go. I am trying to get some rest to prepare for the holidays and prepare for labor, all the while carrying with me how I’ve learned to let go of perfectionism and expectations of myself that have been shattered this year. I’m embracing the third trimester and the fact that I will soon be a mother to three young children, and how love really does hold everything together.