My Third Trimester recap and Q&A

Note from Casey: Hey friends, so I had all of these posts written in advance thinking I wouldn’t have our baby for another week or so. But as you saw from yesterday’s blog post, our daughter Rory has arrived! So know that today’s blog post was written before baby!

My third trimester has been a bit slow-moving (whereas the rest of my pregnancy flew on by!), but it’s still hard to believe that we will soon get to meet our daughter. It is just wild.

Third Trimester Q&A

I’ve gotten lots of questions on Instagram over the past few months (as well as in my second-trimester recap) and I thought it would be fun to share my answers before the baby’s arrival. Here are some pregnancy posts if you want to catch up…

How are you feeling?

I have been extremely lucky that I have felt really good throughout my entire pregnancy. I kept waiting to feel icky, but it never really happened! My energy is still pretty good (although it’s gone down over the past few weeks). Sleeping has gotten tough in the last few weeks, mostly because I’m up to pee four to six times a night. It’s definitely prepping my body for those middle of the night feedings! Oh, and I have bad restless leg syndrome. Honestly, it’s more like restless butt syndrome! I have the urge to move my glutes while laying there at night. So bizarre, but I’ve found that magnesium balm has helped a bit (along with nightly baths and stretching).

I think staying active is key for me to feel like myself. I’ve gotten so many comments from people who can’t believe how much we’re accomplishing around the house (lots of cleaning and organizing!) and with our DIY projects, but I believe that has kept me feeling good! Being on my feet, going on walks, and working out regularly have made this an easy pregnancy for me (let’s just hope it follows with an easy delivery!).

I’ve gained around 28 pounds (my doctor wanted me to gain about 25-35 lbs), so the extra weight definitely slows me down. I felt like my belly took a while to really pop, but once I hit the third trimester that belly came out! Especially these last few weeks…it just keeps getting bigger and bigger! I hadn’t seen my mom since our baby shower at 32 weeks and she drove by our house at 36 weeks and talked to us from the car (social distancing) and she couldn’t believe how much bigger I had gotten in a month. A good sign of a healthy baby in there.

What have you been doing to prep for baby?

All.the.things. Both Finn and I have type-A personalities, so we’ve been crossing lots of items off our baby to-do list. In my first trimester recap, I chatted a bit about a document I created to stay on track. I’ve found that instead of making one huge to-do list that would be too overwhelming, I broke down what we have to get done month-by-month. A few of you asked me to share my document, but it’s got a lot of personal information on it, so instead, I’ll share some of the big things we’ve worked on during the third trimester.

• Order Breast Pump, Sterilize It, Set It Up
• Finalize Pediatrician
• Take Baby Classes
• Have Baby Shower
• Write Thank You Notes
• Register at the Hospital
• Pack Hospital Bag
• Install Car Seat
• Prep Work Content
• Organize Nursery
• Wash Baby’s Clothes, Bedding, Etc.

This is just a small look at what we’ve been working on. One other tip I got was to make a communication plan for the hospital. For us, this means we set up a few group texts where we’ll give sporadic updates on how things are going at the hospital so our family isn’t worried during labor. I also have a draft email setup to send out to all of the important people in our lives when our baby girl arrives. That way everyone is in the know!

I asked you guys for tips on what to do in the weeks leading up to baby’s arrival and holy smokes I got hundreds of great suggestions. You can read them all in the comment section of this Instagram post. Such insightful information.

Did you get into nesting mode?

Hell to the yes. We both did, especially now that we’re home 24/7 being quarantined. We’ve been cleaning and organizing machines (did you see her organized closet?!). It just feels like there are so many things we want to get done before she arrives and the deadline is super motivating. I’ve organized the entire nursery and all of her gear/clothing, while Finn has worked on our storage unit, garage, and pretty much every single closet in the house. Yes, we are crazy but it’s making the time pass!

What classes did you take?

We ended up taking four classes at our hospital: Hospital Tour, CPR, Newborn Basics, Breastfeeding 101. We went to all of them together and I’m really happy we did them. I enjoyed CPR the most as we both learned a lot (my old CPR lifeguard skills were rusty!). The newborn basics class was pretty, well…basic, but it was a nice thing to do together and we had fun taking pics of our creepy baby dolls. (The one was giving us serious stink eye and how about the hair on the other one?!)The breastfeeding class was okay, but not as informative as I hoped. Overall, I’m happy we took the classes because they gave us a tiny bit more confidence and I would encourage other couples to do the same.

Do you have a birth plan?

My only plan is to get the baby out safely. Other than that, I’m just going to do what my doctor thinks is best at the moment. Because I am high-risk, I am being induced at 39 weeks and I plan to get an epidural, if possible. Other than that, I just want the doctors to keep me safe and the baby safe.

Have your plans changed because of coronavirus?

The last two months have obviously been different for the entire world. I had a lot of final things scheduled to do before the baby arrived that we had to cancel, but they were all trivial things (hair appointment, nails, dinner dates at our favorite restaurants). We feel so grateful that we’ve been able to be home to rest and nest before our daughter arrives.

Delivery will also be different than we anticipated. Finn can be in the room with me (thank goodness!), but other than that we can’t have any visitors (which is totally understandable). We also aren’t allowed to leave the hospital room, so Finn can’t go out and get food or anything from the car (we are packing extra snacks because of this). They are also discharging patients quickly, so if we’re all healthy after 24 hours, we can head home.

As for life once she is here, it definitely won’t be what we envisioned because we can’t have any visitors. My mom quarantined herself for the past few weeks, so she will be staying with us to help out with the new baby. But she is the only one who can be here. We’re uncertain how long it will be until others can meet her, so we’re just going to follow the advice of our pediatrician. Our plan is to hunker down and not leave the house at all in order to keep our newborn safe.

Are you sharing what you’re packing in your hospital bag?

I think I’ll share after the fact because I don’t think it’s super helpful to share ahead of time when I don’t know what I’ll actually use. Also, I’m trying to not overpack as we (hopefully) won’t be in the hospital for as long as we initially thought. Look for that blog post with my hospital bag checklist in June. And you can always read Bridget’s hospital bag checklist in this blog post. I’ll be following her lead!

Are you sharing your baby registry?

I shared tips for building my baby registry in this blog post, but I’m not planning to share an actual link to my registry (I think it’s a bit too personal and I’m honestly not looking for unsolicited advice on the items I’m missing/shouldn’t get/etc). I will plan to share my thoughts on the gear and newborn items we can’t live without later this summer. Just like with the hospital bag post, I think it’s more useful when I can share my honest reviews after using a product for a few months!  I have that post planned for July.

Are you getting nervous about labor & delivery?

I’m not nervous about the birth or the pain. I’m just worried about something going wrong and hurting the baby (I shared more about my anxiety with this in last week’s blog post). Finn and I are trying to go into this as excited and positive as possible. We just want our little girl to come out safely, no matter what.

What do you think the most challenging part about parenthood will be?

The lack of sleep!! I’m most terrified about this part. I am a girl who likes her sleep and I get between eight and ten hours a night. I know that will soon be a thing of the past. The thought of only getting cat naps in for the next few months is scary to me. Will I be able to function? Will I be able to handle the sleep deprivation? I’m lucky that Finn is here and he is ready to help in every way possible, but the lack of sleep is the scariest part of the newborn stage to me.

Is Finn taking time off work when the baby arrives?

Yes. He only gets two weeks of paternity leave through work, but he has saved up lots of PTO to prepare for this. We’re hoping that he can take an additional two weeks off, so he is free for the entirety of May. And since life is already different with working from home, due to coronavirus, I have a feeling he won’t be going into the office for quite some time. It’s nice knowing we’re in this together (plus, Jan will be here to help!).

What’s your maternity plan?

Since I don’t have a traditional job, I don’t have a traditional maternity leave. I’m planning to take the five weeks off (starting April 27th), so I won’t have any content publishing on the blog for the entire month of May (although I may pop in on stories every now and again). I have prepped some June content ahead of time and my mom is planning to write three blog posts about downsizing and moving to the city. I think having some content ready to go (as opposed to an empty queue) will make it easier to slide back into work.

I’m really just going to play it by ear and see how I feel. I know those early days with a baby are precious and I don’t want to rush back into anything. However, I may want to feel productive and write a few posts here and there. We’ll see. I’m just planning to give myself grace for the next couple of months.

What’s your childcare plan?

My mom is actually retiring this year (yay, Jan!) and she is going to nanny for us a few days a week starting in July. I can’t tell you how amazing it feels to know our baby girl is going to be in such good hands while I work. I’m so grateful for her and I know she is really looking forward to spending lots of quality time with her newest granddaughter. Plus, she’ll be able to take our daughter over to my brother’s house during the week where she can spend time with her cousins.

For the other days, I’ve joined a coworking daycare space in my neighborhood (it’s called Le Village). Essentially, I’ll be able to drop her off at daycare on one side of the building and stay there and work for the day (writing posts, taking calls, etc). You don’t drop your child off as you would with traditional daycare (where you leave the building) so I will stay there to work and check in on her every few hours (and feed her). As of now, I’m starting this in August and I’ll be sure to share more once we get into a groove. But really, life is totally up in the air until this global pandemic is behind us.

And there you have it, my third trimester recap. Overall, I’m just so happy we’ve made it to this point in our pregnancy and I am looking forward to what’s ahead for our little family!

Casey