Third Trimester of Pregnancy

THIRD TRIMESTER OF PREGNANCY

The 3rd trimester of pregnancy lasts from the end of the 26th week to the end of the 40th week. By this time, all the major organs of the baby are fully formed and continue to grow and mature.

For you, it will be period where you will have a return of some of the discomforts of the 1st trimester as well as an addition of some new symptoms.

Foetal Movements: The baby moves quite vigorously at this stage of your pregnancy. You may feel heavy thuds as she strikes out with her limbs and hits the walls of the uterus. Some movements may be strong enough to cause you some amount of pain.

Some women complain that the movements are stronger at night and they can hardly sleep. But this is usually due to the fact that the woman herself is at rest and is more aware of the movements.

Although the fetus moves a number of times, it is important to note that it has to move a minimum of 10 times in 24 hours. Less than that, and it could signal that the baby is suffering from some amount of distress.

Feeling of heaviness: There is a feeling of heaviness as the size and weight of both the uterus and the baby increases.

Fatigue: You may have a return of the fatigue that you had in the first trimester. The weight of the uterus and the baby increases to a great extent and you may find yourself exhausted with carrying all that weight around. This is more true if you yourself have put on too much weight or have not taken a nourishing diet or any multivitamin capsules throughout your pregnancy.

Backache: Your backache, if you had any may increase. You may feel a dragging sensation in your lower abdomen as the ligaments here get stretched. In women with a poor posture, the curvature of the spine increases, making her walk in the typical ‘waddling gait of pregnancy’.

Use of pregnancy support belts, prenatal cradles and maternity belts and girdles will decrease your backache to a great extent.

Increased frequency of passing urine: The heavy uterus presses on the bladder just in front of it and the capacity of the bladder to hold urine decreases. You may need to go to the bathroom more frequently. Sometimes the urgency may be so great that you may have to rush to the bathroom. You may even find yourself leaking a little urine occasionally, especially when you laugh or sneeze or lift any heavy weight. This is quite normal.

The fetal head also wedges into the lower part of the uterus at this stage and presses on the bladder increasing the frequency of passing urine.

Constipation: You may suffer from constipation when the heavy uterus presses back into the rectum. Progesterone can also decrease the movement of your gut, contributing to constipation. Use of soluble fibres like Psyllium Husk capsules will decrease your constipation to some extent.

OTHER PRESSURE SYMPTOMS:

The feeling of fullness in your stomach may make you feel unable to eat as much as you would have liked although you feel hungry. This is because of the pressure of the uterus over the stomach.
Breathlessness can occur due to pressure over the lungs and the diaphragm (a muscle separating your abdomen from your chest), especially while sleeping at night. You may need to sleep propped up on pillows for comfort.
Edema over the ankles and feet may occur due to pressure over the veins returning blood from your legs.
Varicose veins may occur for the same reason. You may need to wear support stockings to decrease the severity of the varicose veins and oedema over your ankles and feet.

Chloasma of Pregnancy: Some women develop pigmentation over their nose and upper cheeks that have a typical butterfly shaped appearance. This usually decreases after delivery but may need specialized treatments like microdermabrasion or chemical peeling of the skin for complete removal.

Lightening Sensation: About 2 weeks before childbirth, you may feel your abdomen becoming lighter. This is because the head of the baby moves deeper into the pelvis and there is a decrease of the pressure symptoms in the upper abdomen. This is more true of taller women.

ON EXAMINATION: Your doctor will measure the height of the uterus as before. At term, she will find the uterus occupying almost the whole of the abdomen.
Stretch Marks, if any, are more silverish than purple although a few recently formed purple or pink stria may be seen.

Foetal parts and movement are felt freely. If you lie down on the bed with knees flexed, you can palpate the back of the baby on one side of the abdomen as a smooth firm oval surface. On the other side of your abdomen, you will feel a number of small knob –like structures that move when you press on them. These are the baby’s limbs.

The FHS is heard clearly over the back of the baby, on one side of the abdomen. In a cephalic presentation (when the foetus is in a head down position), the FHS can be heard on one side of the abdomen, below the umbilicus. In a breech presentation (when the baby has her head up and buttocks down), the FHS is heard to one side of the umbilicus or above it.

Regular and intermittent contractions of the uterus (Braxton Hicks Sign or contraction) occurs towards the later part of this stage of pregnancy. If you are pregnant for the first time, you may mistake these for labor contractions.

But these contractions are painless, while labour contractions are painful, and gradually increases in intensity and duration.

Supplementary Vitamins to be taken at this stage:

High strength Multivitamin Capsules.
Iron capsules.
Calcium tablets.
Fibres like Psyllium Husk if there is constipation.

Custom Search

This site is a Question and Answer Site on Obstetrics and Gynecology . Here you can ask any medical health question you like from the privacy of your home. And our online gynecologist Dr.M.D.Mazumdar, MD (O&G), will reply within 24 hours.

The advantage of online consultation is that you can ask your question from the privacy of your home at any time you want - morning, day or midnight. You can plan out what you want to ask or even prepare a questionnaire about your concerns. Our expert would be glad to answer every detail.

We charge a nominal fee of USD 20 ($20) per question (for Indian viewers, the charge is a discounted USD 9, about Rs 400.00 only) to help keep this site up and running. All payments are made through the third-party Paypal credit card processing system to ensure absolute credit card security and reliability.

The procedure of asking a question is quite simple. Clicking on the link below takes you to the Paypal website where the payment is made. After the payment goes through, you will be directed back to this website where you can ask your question.

And rest assured, you will get your answer within 24 hours. And usually, even sooner.

OTHER TOPICS IN NORMAL PREGNANCY: