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Home » Mom Life » Pregnancy » What I learned in my {3rd} third trimester

What I learned in my {3rd} third trimester

Updated June 4, 2020

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For this pregnancy, I’ve previously written reflections on the 1st and 2nd trimesters. We welcomed our third child into the world last week! This pregnancy was, in short, a doozy. But as is the case when you are an over-analyzer, I’ve learned so many things that I believe will stick with me for the long haul. When we are pregnant we can tend – or at least I can – to attempt to carry on as though nothing much has changed. Pregnancy, more than any other time of my life so far, has really shown me that there are seasons in which I need to step back, evaluate and change my behaviors and habits. For the good of myself and the good of my family.

Here is what I learned my third trimester.

(1) Hormones are not overrated. I’ve been told that while hormones don’t lie, they do exaggerate. Someone prone to worry may start to worry excessively, but someone who rarely worries probably won’t develop full blown anxiety. But these things we call hormones cannot be discounted and have a huge impact on the quality of life. I know something is hormonal when from one minute to the next you can go up and down. One day you are rushing through the house multitasking like nobody’s business and the next day you see four dirty plates and a crusty sippy cup and you lay on the bed and cry. Not that that happened. We can’t get rid of hormones and they have their place, so during pregnancy I’ve found that I have to embrace them to a certain extent. They are controlling my emotional well-being and my emotional well-being controls my ability to function. They can’t be ignored. We still have to cope around them, but those suckers are serious business.

(2) It’s okay – IT IS OKAY – if some normal house rules get put aside. This past month or two some of the normal rules of engagement in our home have changed. We used to get up, do breakfast, have independent play then structured activities. Now, we get up, do breakfast, I put them to watch TV for 45 minutes and I lay down. For the first week or two I felt so horribly guilty letting them watch TV so early in the morning (read my thoughts on Kids and TV watching here, note: I don’t think it’s from the devil in itself) that I didn’t even appreciate the rest. Finally, I decided I just needed to shut up and silence my inner voice. I was pregnant and, dadgummit, 45 minutes of Little Bear isn’t going to ruin their future. And it might, it just might, have helped me make it through the day without having my own meltdown which goes contagious.

(3) It is a special time to shower your children with attention. Quite a few times I’ve been overcome with emotion that when my third came my attention would be split 3 ways instead of 2. No less love for anyone, but perhaps it’ll take more purposeful moments from me to be sure that each of my kiddos have undivided attention. I’d hold my oldest girl and feel so happy that she was my first. She is so special and helpful and I want to be sure I don’t turn her into a helper extraordinaire at the expense of being able to still be a baby. My youngest, 16 months, still looks like a baby. Do boys seem to age slower to anyone else? He’s currently teething and wakes in the night to sing and laugh in his crib and though I know I should just leave him, I keep going in there and hugging him. Last night I picked him up and he nuzzled his head on my shoulder and I thought that it might be one of the last times I held him as my youngest. It has been so nice to love them this way and has helped the long wearying days have more purpose.

Although I’ve suffered from anxiety this pregnancy and had a mini meltdown/identity crisis I am so happy and blessed to be having another baby. People kept asking me what I will do after I have the baby and have three young ones (under 2.5) to take care of. I answer, “Well, for starters, I will sleep on my stomach, throw away my nasty acid reflux medicine, and enjoy my normal sized ankles.” As for the rest, well, I’ll figure it out.

Read related posts What I learned in my first trimester,
What I learned in my second trimester, Kids and Television, Postpartum Anxiety,
the Contagious Meltdown and What I Learned as a SAHM with an identity crisis

Related Reads:

  • What I learned when my stroller had a flat in D.C.
  • What I learned when I switched to the skirt swimsuit
  • What I learned on a 36 hour journey wit lots of kids and even more bags
  • What I learned during transition in childbirth (the near death experience)
  • What I learned in my third 3rd trimester
  • What I learned when I lost my daughter under the bed
  • What I learned in my second 3rd trimester
  • What I learned as a work from home (and stay at home) mom
  • What I learned in my third 1st trimester
  • What I learned when my 1 year old let herself out of the house
  • What I learned when hosting a progressive dinner with 20 kids
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  • What I learned getting a urine sample from an 18 month old
  • What I learned when my baby ruined my bedding
  • What I learned at the public pool
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Filed Under: Pregnancy, What I Learned0

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I'm Rachel, mother of 5 young kids living in the Florida panhandle with my Australian husband. I write about family culture, family rhythms and routines, and boundaries in motherhood and life. You can see snippets of my daily life here and visit my shop for baby sleep, organizing, and routine help.

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Anyways I started following your routine and we just sat in bed and had what I told him was “quiet time.” We sat and read and made a fort and had warm milk. Then today I told him it was quiet time again and he tried to escape the bed a couple times, but in the end he snuggled up after the warm bottle and fell asleep for 3 hours! I was almost in tears I was so excited! So thank you!

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“Within a week or two our little girl changed!”

I tumbled into post partum depression/anxiety and didn’t know what to do anymore. I was a mess, baby girl was a mess and I don’t even know how my husband was dealing with it all… 

I googled everything I could think about but there was never really something that felt right, that felt genuine instead of just telling do’s and don’ts. 

And then I found your website and read your pieces about sleeping and eating. I carefully read through your schedules and decided to try it.

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And within a week or two our little girl changed from a frustrated baby into this happy dappy smiling ray of sunshine, that is able to settle herself down by sucking on her fists, even in the middle of the night. At 12 weeks baby girl slept through the night and now at 20 weeks old she sleeps a good 10 to 12 hours every night. 

I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience online. The way you wrote your experiences made it understandable, seeing it from the babys side but also the moms side. Maybe we were lucky that your way fitted our baby, but it worked and I tell it to everyone that wants to know!

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I am grateful to have found your blog, as I do a great deal of searching on Pinterest when I am up against a parenting moment that I do not feel qualified to handle.

I will say though that since reading your blog I am really focusing on remembering that every moment is a learning \ experience for my son and I try to take a breath and count to ten. In the few short days that I have been exercising this method I truly have noticed a change for the better in his response to me.

Tami K.

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Hey y'all, I'm Rachel Norman, BA, MS, Language of Listening® parenting coach, mother to 5 babies in 5 years on 3 continents, no multiples. Join me in parenting without losing your mind. Read More >>

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