28 weeks and still feeling great...is the last trimester really that bad?

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I am 28 days pregnant today. I can't think of a single friend I have who doesn't say that the third trimester of her pregnancy was terrible. But somehow, I just don't see it happening. I know I have a long way to go, but I feel great! I have a lot of energy, I'm not feeling cranky or hormonal, I have gained a healthy amount of weight, and my chief complaint right now has been some colon pain, thanks to my uterus sitting right on top of it, and some occasional sciatica (which was actually worse around 20 weeks than it is now). I've had acid reflux as long as I can remember, and can honestly say it has been better during this pregnancy than I expected, so even though I do have heartburn, it's not THAT bad. I haven't had a headache in months and, while my feet are sore, they're not swollen, and neither is my face or ankles. I know I still have about 12 more weeks to go, so I'm wondering when other people started feeling really bad again, and I wonder if I'm being overly optimistic in thinking I'm going to continue to feel fantastic throughout the rest of my pregnancy. I would like to continue to think positively, but I don't want to completely overestimate how good I'll be feeling this time next month! So...is the other shoe about to drop? Am I heading to the hell of the third trimester or can others encourage me that the good times continued for them?

I'm anxious for baby to get here, but other than that, I love being pregnant! (And I would NOT have said that during my first trimester...)

[Anonymous]

you will probably be fine until the last month. it sucks.

[Anonymous]

The last trimester was my favorite by far. I was so excited to meet my baby soon, feel her strong movements, and get the nursery ready. Yes, my pelvic bones hurt a lot, I went to the bathroom constantly, I developed a varicose vain in my vulva of all places, and I had heartburn, but the excitement factor far outweighed those issues. Plus I had lots of energy -- at least in bursts. I did tire more easily so I tried to take a short nap everyday or sleep late whenever possible.

My feet swelled the last couple of weeks, but I still wore my same shoes, and I never blew up from water retention. I did drink a ton of water and work out and/or walk until the day I went into labor though. Anyway, I would redo that trimester again, despite all the random issues that pop up. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I had a great 3rd trimester with the previous one! The entire pregnancy was awesome actually. Keep up the great outlook and keep taking good care of the little, minor symptoms and you'll feel great the whole time. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Each pregnancy is different. I was a rock star with my first -- had energy to spare and felt fantastic. I'm now on my third and am totally exhausted and cannot wait for it to be over. It's probably a combination of being 5 years older and trying to keep up with two active kids. I do think that the positive attitude will do great things for you so keep it up and ignore the folks who say you will crash -- I'm doing that for you!

[Anonymous]

I felt really great until a week ago, 32 weeks. It isn't that I feel TERRIBLE but I have severe leg cramps at night, don't sleep well (aside from the leg cramps!) so I am tired much of the time and my ankles are terribly swollen despite drinking a ton of water and exercising. That said, with 7 weeks to go, I am confident that the home stretch will be ok. Even if the last month is bad as most people say, it is only a month and in the grand scheme of things, I can live with that. ENJOY this time! I should have done more when I wasn't so tired!

[Anonymous]

No, it doesn't get too bad until you get too big, and even then for me 3rd was way better than the 1st trimester. With me it was the last month that was tough, I was just tired of my size (and my weight gain was minimal), the trips to the bathroom, and just of feeling tired. i couldn't wait to deliver. It is tiring in physical sense and and psychologically I got tired of being pregnant - couldn't wait to deliver to see the baby and not be pregnant anymore.

[Anonymous]

Like 8:08 poster, it wasn't until I hit 32 weeks that I really got uncomfortable. Granted, I know people who had kidney stones, serious morning sickness, etc... throughout and luckily, I never had any problems outside of some round ligament pain. Once I got to 32 weeks, I really popped and starting having trouble sitting for long periods of time, difficulty getting up from a seated or laying down position, and as of 33 weeks, excruciating leg cramps every night. Obviously, I'm still mobile, working full time, and feeling pretty good so I try not to complain to those who have fared much worse, but carrying around 25-30 lbs of extra weight with you especially all out front will eventually start to wear on a person no matter what!

Stay positive and hopefully you'll be spared!

[Anonymous]

Everyone is different, maybe you'll be fine!

[Anonymous]

I felt 100% great during the last trimester. No pain, no heartburn, not too hot, nothing. Only way I knew I was pregnant was from the kicks.

[Anonymous]

It's lovely to hear so many people say they had a fine third trimester or minimal discomforts. My first trimester was actually sort of hard on me -- I didn't have hyperemis or anything, but I was nauseated and deeply fatigued 24/7 and had a hard. I guess I'm just a little bit nervous that I will start feeling bad again. It's not so much because I'm anticipating something negative, but more that, when I tell aquaintences I feel great, they often say things like "just wait, you haven't hit the hard part yet!" I think I have a lot of people around me who have just had really hard pregnancies. So your words are especially encouraging, thank you!!!!

[Anonymous]

Agree with the PPs that your attitude makes a huge difference. My OB liked to tease because as my pregnancy continued (I had a September baby so I was 8-9 months along in July and August - hot humid hot muggy hot!), she'd ask how I was feeling and I'd say, "Well, my back hurts, and I've been getting heartburn, and my ankles are swollen, and I'm having a hard time getting comfortable in bed, and my hips are starting to ache... but I feel fine!" My attitude was, everything I felt was normal and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about most of it, so... *shrug*... what are you gonna do?

[Anonymous]

My theory is, there is a finite amount of discomfort in every pregnancy. If you were sick in the first trimester, you've paid your dues and you can have an awesome 3rd trimester. I always felt like a rock-star at the end (though by of my babies came a few weeks early, which may help

[Anonymous]

My pregnancy was great until week 35. It's like a switch went off- I blew up like a balloon, my hands and feet swelled (had to take off all of my rings!), and generally I was just so uncomfortable it was unbearable! That's not to say this will happen to you, but in my experience, the last five weeks were brutal.

[Anonymous]

The last month of your pregnancy will feel longer than the previous 8 combined.