You’ve made it to the final str-e-tch, congrats Mama! The end is almost in sight. In your Third Trimester, you may be starting to feel the strain of these final months of pregnancy, both physically and mentally.
So, take a step back and breathe. She helped you through your first trimester and now, our Mama Sarah is back with her top Third Trimester survival tips – you got this, Mama!Â
1. HeartburnÂ
Ugh. That dreaded burning in your chest that strikes just as your head hits the pillow. Heartburn: another one of the oh-so-fun pregnancy symptoms that may decide to crop up right about now. Â
- Eating little and often and avoiding large meals can really help to reduce the severity of heartburn and prevent uncomfortable bloatingÂ
- Always have a bottle of Gaviscon to hand. It’s pregnancy safe and they do it in an aniseed or mint flavour. Mine has been so bad both times that I’ve had to skip the regular strength and go straight to the stronger one in the pink bottle. I find the tablet form more effective than the liquid; I like to keep both easily accessibleÂ
- Sleep with an extra pillow at night so your head is elevated Â
- Keep a food diary to find out what your ‘trigger’ foods are so you can avoid them where possible. Common ones are spicy food, chocolate and coffee. Mine is chocolate (boo!) Â
2. Restless Legs Â
I never suffered with this during my first pregnancy, but boy did it get me badly second time around. At first I thought I was just getting stiff legs from sleeping curled up on my side (I’m normally a back sleeper, you see). However, after one particularly bad night of what felt like a million wake ups; tossing and turning and trying to get rid of the weird sort-of-like-cramp-but-not-cramp sensation in my legs, I realised what it was. Although there’s nothing you can do to get rid of it, I have found the following things reduce the severity and number of times I’m waking up:Â
- Massage your legs before bed with the Mama Mio Lucky Legs Cooling Gel to relax your muscles and alleviate crampsÂ
- Avoid all caffeine (including chocolate) after lunchtimeÂ
- Go for a half hour walk in the day or do some form of gentle exercise that involves moving your legs – whatever you can manage at this pointÂ
- Keep up the folic acid/vitamins. Not sure if this one is actually working but I read somewhere in the depths of Google that folic acid can help so I’m ensuring I take my Mama Mio Pregnancy Gummies every day religiously stillÂ