When I became pregnant with my third child, I began keeping a journal to document my journey. I have shared the first trimester and the second trimester of my third pregnancy, and here I share the third trimester and the birth of my second daughter.
Week 27
August 23, 2017
Today I am twenty-six weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am in week 27 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a cauliflower in weight, measuring a little over nine and a half inches from crown to rump and weighing about two (2) pounds. If born now, my baby has a 90% chance of survival with medical assistance, but I am still crossing my fingers that my third-born waits until November to arrive, preferably closer to Thanksgiving than the beginning of the month. To my amazement, I am in my seventh month of pregnancy already!
I have begun to notice that my baby wakes and sleeps at regular intervals, with more activity at night and less activity during my waking hours. As soon as I lay down to sleep at night, my baby starts wiggling around. I often have to move around and toss and turn a bit myself to find a comfortable position in which to sleep. When I am sitting on the couch watching television in the evenings, my baby also likes to move around. My daughter loves putting her hand on my belly to feel her newest sibling. My baby is also opening and closing his or her eyes now that the eyelids are unfused, and he or she wiggles his or her fingers, grabs his or her umbilical cord, and may even suck his or her thumb. Thumb sucking is important for strengthening the cheek and jaw muscles that are necessary for breastfeeding.
All in all, I have been feeling pretty good still. As with my other pregnancies, my only complaint at the moment is increased upper abdominal discomfort. With both my daughter and my son, I experienced some burning sensations in the space between my belly button and my breasts. The burning feeling is a combination of my upper abdominal muscles and skin stretching. The discomfort increases throughout the day, peaking at bedtime. The sensational also increases when I eat a lot. A bit of lotion on my skin helps a bit, but I expect the discomfort will continue until I give birth.
Week 28
August 30, 2017
Today I am twenty-seven weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 28 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of an eggplant, measuring ten inches from crown to rump and weighing about two and a half pounds. To my continued amazement, I am in month 7 of pregnancy. My uterus extends well above my belly button now. Over the next two to three months, my baby will continue to mature and grow in size. He or she will also begin to move into the proper position for birth with the head down and the face towards my back.
All in all, I have very little to report about the past week. I am still feeling pretty well and have not experienced any back discomfort or pain yet. My only complaint at the moment is still increased upper abdominal discomfort. I have been experiencing a general burning sensation in the area right over my stomach. I can feel the muscles and skin stretching as my uterus and baby press upward. I keep applying plenty of moisturizer to the area to calm my skin, and rubbing the muscles gentle brings a little relief. However, the discomfort is pretty constant now. To think, I still have two or three more months to go, and I am already feeling and looking absolutely huge!
Week 29
September 6, 2017
Today I am twenty-eight weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 29 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a butternut squash in weight, measuring sixteen to seventeen inches from head to heel and weighing just over two and a half pounds. I am still in month seven of pregnancy — although I cannot believe that I am so far along already! Then again, I am already nearly as big now as when my first two babies were born. I am feeling absolutely huge — and I still have two or three more months to go until my third-born can safely arrive!
In terms of third trimester symptoms, my only significant complaint at the moment is continued upper abdominal discomfort. I pretty much have a burning sensation on my lower chest above my belly button all the time. The burning feeling is a combination of my upper abdominal muscles and skin stretching. I feel particularly uncomfortable after eating a large meal, so I have been trying to eat smaller amounts more often throughout the day. I expect that the discomfort will continue and even worsen as my belly continues to expand to accommodate my growing baby.
Sleep is also becoming more and more difficult. While the Benadryl that I take to help me continue breathing normally at bedtime helps me fall asleep, I am now waking up at least once a night to make a trip to the bathroom. As my baby and uterus grow, my bladder becomes squeezed for space. I thus find myself experience the common pregnancy symptom of frequent urination. The uterus also pushes on the bladder during the third trimester, and the baby sometimes punches and kicks it. Even when I use the bathroom at least twice before heading to bed, I am still finding myself getting up at least once a night now.
In addition to frequent urination, my sleep also continues to be interrupted by restless legs. Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is an uncontrollable urge to move the legs to relieve crawling, tingling, burning, or similarly uncomfortable sensations. Movement brings immediate relief, but the sensation usually returns as soon as movement stops again. Pregnant women often complain of restlessness in their legs. I have found that tightening my leg muscles and holding the flex for as long as possible helps bring some relief, but restlessness in my legs is still affecting the quality and quantity of my sleep at the beginning of my third trimester.
Week 30
September 13, 2017
Today I am twenty-nine weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 30 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a cabbage in weight, measuring about seventeen inches from head to heel and weighing about three pounds. Baby Bubbles needs to wait at least seven more weeks before arriving into the world — although I would be happy with him or her waiting just a little bit longer as well. But week 37 of pregnancy, which is on October 9 for me, is the earliest that he or she can arrive full term.
My problems with interrupted sleep from frequent bathroom breaks and restless legs continue, but my new complaint started on Thursday: lower back pain. By the end of the day, my lower back was aching. As I laid down with my kids at their bedtime, I realized that I was stiff and uncomfortable, with the mild pain concentrated in the bottom portion of my back. I was not surprised by the new symptom, and I am grateful that the pain did not start earlier in my pregnancy as with my other two kids. I suspect that the symptom will continue and even worsen as I progress through my third trimester. My belly is quite large now, and with that growth comes discomfort elsewhere in the body!
Week 31
September 20, 2017
Today I am thirty weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 31 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a pineapple, measuring between seventeen and eighteen inches from head to heel and weighing almost three and a half pounds. I cannot believe that I am already in my eighth month of pregnancy! I am up to 132 pounds, which means that I have gained approximately 24 pounds over the past 31 weeks. I should gain between 25 and 35 pounds overall, so I am right on track with healthy weight gain during pregnancy.
On Friday, my kiddos and I headed to my midwife for my fourth prenatal checkup. My fundus measured 30 centimeters, which is right on for week 31 of pregnancy. My baby’s heartbeat measured approximately 130 beats per minute. He or she was still upside down and sunny side up. My midwife suggested that I lay on my back with my feet above my head to help encourage my baby to turn head down. However, she also told me that she does not worry about the position of the baby until closer to 36 weeks. I am also not worried because I feel my third somersaulting around all the time.
As I continue towards the end of my pregnancy, my biggest complaint continues to be loss of sleep due to other pregnancy symptoms. I find myself waking up at least once a night to make a trip to the bathroom. I then sometimes have a hard time falling back to sleep. Last Friday I found myself waking up around 2 o’clock in the morning. In addition to needing to pee, I was also hungry. I ate a little snack, which made me thirsty, so I also had a little glass of milk. Of course, drinking even a little bit meant that I had to go to the bathroom again shortly thereafter. When I could still not fall back to sleep, I got up and put the clean laundry in the dryer and then finished up a review. I might as well do something productive if I am not sleeping, right? Plus the sleeplessness will prepare me to have another newborn!
I have also been dying because of the horrible end of summer heat that has been happening in my neck of the woods. Instead of delightfully cool autumn weather, the temperatures have been in the 90s in the recent days. The heatwave is not expected to end until the middle of next week. Even though both my calendar and the sun indicated that fall has arrived, summer weather refuses to leave. I am usually cold but find myself feeling quite warm while pregnant. I have been absolutely sweltering for the past few days, which has made me quite grumpy at times. I am counting down the days until cooler fall weather finally arrives and sticks around.
Finally, I have begun experiencing some lower back pain, especially on my left side. I gave in and ordered a pregnancy support belt today. The package should arrive on Monday. When I had mentioned my back pain to my midwife, she suggested some sort of support device. I had tried one in store while pregnant with my son but did not experience immediate relief. Hopefully the belt relieves some of my pain. I am having an especially difficult time getting up from the floor or the couch because of the discomfort in my lower back. Since I am also measuring right on track at this point in my pregnancy rather than a centimeter or two smaller as with my daughter and son, my belly is bigger than I previously experienced. I anticipate continuing measuring the same number of centimeters as weeks along, which means my back pain will only get worse from now until I give birth, which I hope is still at least six weeks away.
Week 32
September 27, 2017
Today I am thirty-one weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 32 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a jicama in weight, measuring between seventeen and a half and eighteen and a half inches from head to heel and weighing about three and three-fourths pounds. I still cannot believe that I am already in my eighth month of pregnancy! My third baby can safely arrive in only five weeks — although I am kind of hoping that he or she waits a little longer than his or her older siblings, who were born at thirty-six weeks two days and thirty-seven weeks three days.
All in all, I am still feeling pretty good as I continue into week 32 of pregnancy. The frequent urination associated with the third trimester continues, which means I am also waking up at least once a night for a trip to the bathroom. My upper abdominal discomfort does bother me quite a bit sometimes, but I have found that laying down on my side for a while usually helps reduce the pain. I have also been using an icepack on my abdomen right below my chest to ease the discomfort. The ice pack also seems to have helped turn my baby sideways. I no longer feel his or her head at the top of my uterus. Hopefully he or she continues moving into the head down position in anticipating of birth.
I mentioned that I had begun experiencing some lower back pain last week. My pregnancy support band arrived on Monday as expected. The adjustable band helps lift my growing belly, which relieves some of the pressure on my lower back. Supporting my belly has provided some relief from my upper abdominal discomfort. Unfortunately, my lower back pain has moved into my hips, especially my left hip. I can sit, stand, and lay comfortably. However, moving between the three causes me terrible pain at times. Hip pain was a major issue for me after the birth of my daughter. I am now experiencing some excruciating pain in my left hip. Using an ice pack helps a little bit, and I plan to try a heat pad once the weather cools down. But I suspect the pain will continue until I give birth in November. I am pretty used to joint pain, so I shall preservere.
Finally, I have been experiencing some Braxton Hicks contractions. Braxton Hicks contractions refers to the tightening of the uterus for thirty seconds to two minutes in preparation for labor. Also called practice contractions, Braxton Hicks contractions are not indicative of real labor but are instead one way in which the body prepares for labor and birth. So far my Braxton Hicks contractions have not been very strong, but the onset of the irregular and non-rhythmic contractions means that my body is gearing up for birth. Week 37 of pregnancy is the earliest that my third-born can safely arrive full term at home, so I was bound to start feeling some Braxton Hicks sometime soon. Here is hoping for at least five more weeks of pregnancy!
Week 33
October 4, 2017
Today I am thirty-two weeks and six days pregnant with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 33 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a durian fruit in weight, measuring between eighteen and nineteen inches from head to heel and weighing about four pounds. He or she has begun to transition from a wrinkled alien to a plump newborn in looks. My uterus rests a little over five inches above my belly button. I amazingly am in my eighth month of pregnancy, and I cannot believe that time passed by so quickly this year! My third-born will be here sooner than later (although I am still hoping for later rather than sooner).
As far as complaints go, my only major ache continues to be the pain in my lower back and left hip. Although the pregnancy support band that I had purchased online had provided me some relief for a week, I had to return the band because the hook and loop closures were already losing stick. The band was therefore no longer providing the support that I needed, and the scratchy hooks were rubbing my skin uncomfortably. I have ordered a different type of support band to try, which should arrive in the mail tomorrow.
I also continue to lose sleep due to the frequent urination of the third trimester. No matter how many times that I visit the bathroom before heading to bed for the night, I end up waking up at least once for another potty break. My dogs have even gotten so used to me waking up at least once a night that I am no longer greeted by curious wagging tails when I emerge from the bedroom in the wee hours of the morning! My two cats still sometimes greet me, but both usually wander off upon realizing that I am heading back to bed rather than doling out treats or playing. In any case, my nightly bathroom trips have begun to prepare me for the many times that my newborn will awake me after his or her birth!
Week 34
October 11, 2017
Today I am thirty-three weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third baby, meaning I am at the end of week 34 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a cantaloupe in weight, measuring between eighteen and nineteen and a half inches from head to heel and weighing between four and a half and four and three-fourths pounds. I am still in disbelief that my third-born could safely arrive in as little as three weeks. My daughter arrived at thirty-six weeks and two days and my son at thirty-seven weeks and three days, but I am hoping that my third waits a bit longer, preferably after the first week of November.
On Monday, I headed to see our nurse practitioner with my two older kiddos. My son needed his three-year check-up, and all three of us needed our annual flu shots. I have gotten a flu shot every year since the age of 7. As a child, I had asthma, putting me in a high risk group for complications from the flu. Because I am currently pregnant, I am in two high risks groups. According to recommendations by both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnant women should receive the inactivated influenza vaccine (flu shot) at the start of the flu season. To protect myself as well as my third baby, I received the flu shot on Monday along with my two kiddos. My husband got his influenza vaccine last week as well, and my mom plans to get hers tomorrow.
In addition to the influenza vaccine, I also received my Tdap booster. Tdap prevents tetanus (T), diphtheria (d), and pertussis (ap). I was specifically concerned with the pertussis, or whooping cough, portion of the Tdap vaccine. According to the recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), pregnant women should receive the whooping cough vaccine during pregnancy during the third trimester. Recent studies have also confirmed the safety of the pertussis vaccine during pregnancy. By receiving the whooping cough vaccine, mothers pass on some protective antibodies to their children before birth. Those antibodies then help protect newborns until reaching two months old, at which time infants can receive the DTap vaccine. I had received a booster a few days after the birth of my daughter almost three years ago. I also got a booster while pregnant with my son. On Monday I received another booster, which should offer my third baby some protection until he or she is two months old. Both my kids are up-to-date on all their vaccines including the DTap. My husband also got his Tdap booster last week. The only side effect that I experienced from either shot was a little tenderness at the injection site.
Week 35
October 18, 2017
Today I am thirty-four weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 35 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a coconut in weight, measuring between eighteen and a half and twenty inches from head to heel and weighing about five and one-fourths pounds. I am still in my eighth month of pregnancy. I am also anxiety keeping my fingers crossed that my third-born waits until the beginning of November to arrive. My daughter arrived just two days into week 37. My son waited until three days into week 38. Hopefully my third baby continues the trend and waits to arrive until closer to Thanksgiving or at least the first week of the month.
I headed to my midwife with my kiddos on Friday for my fifth prenatal check-up. I weighed approximately 138.8 pounds, and my fundus measured 33 centimeters. Baby was in a head-down position with his or her arms and leg pointing towards the right side of my body. His or her heartbeat measured an average of 130 beats per minute, quite healthy for the second half of the third trimester. He or she was moving around quite a bit again, so my midwife had to work to find the heartbeat. My third is nearing his or her earliest date of arrival, which, based on my dating, is between October 28 and November 2. I keep insisting that he or she wait until sometime after thirty-six weeks and preferably after trick or treating on Halloween!
In terms of third trimester symptoms, I must say that I am feeling pretty good again. The searing pain in my upper abdomen has begun to subside. I feel really stretched out and achy only after I eat or drink a lot. The pain in my lower back and left hip is also considerably better. I still feel a twinge now and again, but I am not longer in extreme pain when I get up from laying down or sitting. Some friends and acquaintances have mentioned that the baby has appeared to drop, and I agree. I am still huge, but my belly is not sticking out quite so much, so I consequently am experiencing less back pain than I was even a week ago.
I have also begun to feel more tired than usual. I am still not sleeping well at night because I am huge and uncomfortable. I also have to take at least one trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night and sometimes two or more. I have found myself slowing down more and more during the day. I have also been experiencing more shortness of breath recently because my uterus and baby are pressing on my lungs. The shortness of breath also leaves me more tired than usual. As with my previous pregnancy, I find doing even simple tasks breath-taking. For example, walking and down the stairs to and from the laundry room leaves me winded. Overall, however, I have been feeling pretty good over the past week.
Week 36
October 25, 2017
Today I am thirty-five weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third baby, meaning I am at the end of week 36 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a Crenshaw melon, measuring between eighteen and a half and twenty and a half inches from head to heel and weighing about six pounds. I have reached my ninth month of pregnancy! My third-born is almost fully developed and mature. He or she could safely arrive as early as a few days from now like my daughter who arrived at thirty-six weeks and two days, although I still hope third-born decides to bake until at least after Halloween. After all, my “due date” is not until November 23!
My midwife came to my house yesterday for my sixth appointment and a home visit before the birth of my third baby. The height of my fundus measured 35 centimeters, right on track for thirty-five weeks and five days into my pregnancy. My baby was in the head-down position but was sunny side up. The heartbeat measured 130 to 135 beats per minute with spikes up to 150. However, the heartbeat was harder to find because of the posterior position. I have been advised to avoid laying on my back but to instead get into a hands and knees position to encourage baby to move into an anterior position. However, this kid is constantly moving, so he or she may rotate around and around a few times before his or her birth!
Week 37
November 1, 2017
Today I am thirty-six weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 37 of pregnancy. Now that Halloween has come and gone, my third-born can arrive at any time — although I would still prefer if he or she waited until closer to Thanksgiving. My daughter was born at thirty-six weeks and two days and my son at thirty-seven weeks and three days. My third baby is now the size of a stalk of Swiss chard in length, measuring between nineteen and twenty-one inches from head to heel and weighing about six and one-third pounds. I am in my ninth month of pregnancy and feeling great about heading into the homestretch of my pregnancy.
Now that I am officially full term, I am feeling emotionally great about my pregnancy. I am no longer worrying about delivering a premature baby. Baby Bubbles can arrive any time between now and Thanksgiving. With that said, my son requests that “Baby come out no” until after Saturday so that I can take him on a mother-son date to a model train show at the library. My husband guessed that our third baby would arrive on November 8. I am aiming for November 13 or November 18, both of which are wide open on my calendar! But, like my first two, I suspect my third will arrive when he or she very well pleases!
Week 38
November 8, 2017
Today I am thirty-seven weeks and six days into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the end of week 38 of pregnancy. My baby is now the size of a jackfruit in length, measuring between nineteen and twenty-one inches from head to heel and weighing about seven pounds. I am in my ninth month of pregnancy and am considered full term. My daughter was born at thirty-six weeks and two days and my son at thirty-seven week and three days. My third baby can arrive safely any day now, although I am still hoping that he or she waits at least a week or two more. Overall, I am feeling pretty good.
I had my seventh prenatal checkup with my midwife on Friday. My fundus measured 37 centimeters, right on track for the beginning of the week 38 of pregnancy. Baby was in the head-down position but still sunny-side up. He or she was facing the right side of my body, which became even more evident when I had a Braxton-Hicks contraction during the appointment. Baby’s heartbeat measured between 130 and 150 beats per minute. Like the last few appointments, he or she kept wiggling away from the fetal Doppler. I have not had any of the back pain often associated with a posterior baby, but I have been instructed to continue getting on my hands and knees in an attempt to get my third baby to flip into an anterior position.
At thirty-seven weeks and six days, I am now the farthest along in any of my pregnancies. Baby could safely arrive any day now. Honestly, however, I am still feeling pretty good. With my daughter, I felt absolutely ginormous the night before she was born. I was super uncomfortable and counting down until her due date. With my son, I was less uncomfortable right before he was born but still feeling super huge. Although I look enormous at the moment, I am still feeling pretty darn good for the end of my third trimester. I have not had any back pain in a few weeks, and, aside from getting tired more quickly than usual, I do not have any complaints. I am therefore guessing that my third-born will wait until at least next week to arrive, but I suppose that only time will tell!
Week 39
November 9, 2017
Today I am thirty-eight weeks exactly into my pregnancy with my third child, meaning I am at the beginning of week 39 of pregnancy. My kiddos and I went to my eighth prenatal checkup with my midwife. I weighed a respectable 143 pounds, which means I have gained a total of 31 pounds since my first appointment at twelve weeks, right on track for healthy weight gain during pregnancy! My fundus measured 38 centimeters, which is also right on track for thirty-eight weeks. My third baby was a bit excited today! His or her heartbeat measured approximately 150 beats per minute. I had eaten some apple slices just before my appointment, and my older two kids also got excited when I consumed natural sugar, so I chalked the higher heartbeat up to the apple. The baby is also still stubbornly in the posterior position. I have my next appointment scheduled for next Thursday, but only time will tell if my third-born arrives before then.
November 11, 2017
At 2:22 in the morning, I awoke feeling a bit sick to my stomach. I got out of bed, took two Tums because I thought that I had heartburn, and then sat up on the couch. When I still felt off a little while later, I figured that my blood sugar was low, so I ate an applesauce pouch. I then laid down on the couch and tried to go back to sleep. Then an hour later at 3:22, I had my first real contraction. Unlike the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been experiencing for the past few weeks, this contraction was a bit painful and did not stop when I changed position. I continued to lay on the couch while more contractions came about twenty to thirty minutes apart.
At around six o’clock, I decided to lay back down in bed. By then, the contractions were happening more frequently and for longer. I started timing and discovered that each contraction was about a minute long and coming every three to five minutes. After another hour, I decided to get up and start preparing the house for the birth. I laid flannel-backed tablecloths down in my bathroom and on my bed. I also put some old blankets and large pads down on my bed. I set my birth kit out and started filling up my bathtub with warm water. I then finally woke my husband up and told him to call the midwife. He was confused at first but, after a few seconds, realized that I meant that I was in labor. He set about calling my midwife and then my mom.
With my contractions coming more frequently and more strongly, I got into my bathtub of warm water. During the birth of my daughter, my midwife used warm cloths to help me stretch more easily and prevent tearing. With my son, I did not have time to use warm heat, and I ended up needing quite a few stitches. I wanted to do my best to prevent any tearing during the birth of my third baby. Sitting in the warm water also felt good overall.
As I sat in the tub, my mom arrived at my house. My preschooler son also woke up and wandered into the bathroom. He was curious about mommy sitting in the bathtub. I told him that his new baby sister or brother was coming. My son then stood next to the tub and watched me for a while, occasionally splashing in the water. At the same time, my husband moved a space heater into the master bedroom to warm the room up. When my son was born, the house was too cold for a newborn, and he arrived so quickly that turning the heat up did not warm the house up fast enough. I wanted to avoid any temperature problems in my third baby.
My midwife arrived while I was sitting in the bath, and I soon began feeling like pushing. My midwife checked my blood pressure and used the Doppler to check on my baby. The heartbeat remained strong and steady during and between contractions. I was still in the bathtub at this point, but, after attempting to push a few times in the water, I decided that I wanted to get out. The midwife and her assistant helped me move into my bedroom and onto my bed, at which point I found that getting on my hands and knees was the most comfortable position. My mom came into the bedroom as well and helped me arrange some pillows to lean on.
With each contraction, I worked on pushing my third baby down and out. However, my stubborn baby was still in a posterior position with her back against mine. Because she was sunny-side up, her head was also stuck slightly on my pelvic bone. My midwife and her assistant kept encouraging me to push down. My mom held onto my hand a lot of the time as I pushed, but I soon got tired of holding myself up on my elbows. I remember thinking that I should work on my upper body strength.
After I pushed for a while in the hands and knees position, I started to feel discouraged because I felt like I was not making any progress. Both of my other babies were born pretty quickly after I started pushing, but my third was slower going. With my oldest daughter, my water broke and then contractions began. With my second-born, my water broke spontaneously after a little over two hours and then my son arrived ten minutes later. This time around, my water broke as my midwife checked my cervix for the first time. I was fully effaced and dilated, and the amniotic fluid was clear.
Because I was getting so tired of holding myself up in the hands and knees position, my midwife suggested that I turn over onto my back to push in a different position and to relax a little. I tried to flip myself over, but moving onto my back was quite painful. I protested a bit, but my midwife and her assistant helped me lay down and pull my legs up. I pushed in the prone position for a little bit, with the assistant doing tug-of-war with me with a knotted cloth to help me push down with all my strength. However, after laying on my back for a little while, I decided that I needed to turn back over into the hands and knees position again.
With quite a bit of help, I managed to flip back over on my hands and knees. I tried pushing a little more, but my baby was still slightly stuck. I also remember saying that I was worried about tearing. My son might have shot out after only two and a half hours of labor, but his quick birth left me with quite a few stitches. Slower births tend to allow for better stretching and less tearing, so, although my third labor was nearing seven hours with an hour and a half of pushing, I was less likely to tear. My midwife also helped support me to further prevent tearing, which I found uncomfortable, so I ended up supporting myself sometimes.
After pushing for a bit more in the hands and knees position with no baby yet, my midwife and her assistant suggested the lunge position. I was confused at first, but my midwife helped me move my left leg up so that I was kneeling on my right knee with my left foot in front. I supported myself with my right hand. The lunge position was much more comfortable and allowed me to push my posterior baby down and out more easily. I remember my husband and two older children coming into the room at this point. I soon felt my baby’s head emerge, and I could feel quite a bit of hair on her head. With a few more pushes, my third baby and second daughter was born on my bed in the comfort of our home. My older daughter and preschooler son both got to see their baby sister be born!
Once my second daughter was born, I carefully moved myself from the lunge position onto my back. I held her next to me for a bit, skin to skin, until I began to feel the urge to push again. My midwife and her assistant then clamped the umbilical cord, which had stopped pulsing, and my older daughter got to help cut her baby sister’s cord. I effortlessly delivered my placenta, which I had encapsulated. I did not get a good look, but apparently my placenta was quite large!
My aftercare was a bit of a blur to me because I was focused on cuddling and nursing my new daughter. My midwife injected me with some numbing medication because I was rather sore. I also consented to a Pitocin shot because I continued to bleed quite heavily for quite a while after I delivered my placenta. The medication worked quickly, and I finally stopped gushing. Because I was sweaty from pushing, I started shaking, so my husband brought me a blanket, my mom put my socks back on, and someone brought me a heating pad. After my midwife and her assistant left, I needed to use the bathroom. My husband took our daughter while my mom helped me to the toilet. I got dizzy and sick to my stomach on my way back to bed, but I recovered within a few minutes.
I spent the next few hours lying in bed with my third baby. She latched on easily and began nursing like a champ immediately after her birth. Her father, older siblings, and grandmother love and adore her just as much as I do. Happy birthday to my second daughter, Lulu!
Image Credits
The Third Trimester of My Third Pregnancy © 2017 James and Heather Johnson
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