Third Trimester + Early Postpartum Updates

June 2021

This is a long one, so get ready!

The third trimester feels like it was forever ago, when in reality it’s only been a few months. Time moves differently when there's a newborn in your life. If you're curious how my first and second trimesters went you can read about them here and here.

Healthwise, the third trimester felt a lot calmer than the first two. For nausea, I stuck with my Unisom and B6 routine, even going down to 1 dose a day (no vomiting since February minus during labor 🎉). I also kept up my daily low dose aspirin routine to help prevent any blood pressure issues towards the end of pregnancy. Compared to my pregnancy with Ellie, my blood pressure stayed pretty stable and I had very little swelling, which was a huge relief. At the end of March I was able to snag my first vaccine appointment and I got my second dose in mid April so I was fully vaccinated before baby arrived. Thankfully the only side effect I noticed was a sore arm (I got the Pfizer vaccine). Mike got his 2 doses in April/early May just before baby's arrival. I was especially excited at the possibility that baby would be somewhat protected through my vaccine when she arrived. Now we just need to get Ellie vaccinated.

The last month of my pregnancy felt especially chaotic in terms of general life stuff. Our 13 year old cat, Bleeker, died. I got him right around the time I met Mike so he'd been with us for our entire relationship. It felt like the ending of an era. With Ellie at home due to the pandemic she had grown very attached to him too, calling him her best friend. Needless to say, it was rough on all of us. During this time I was also actively collecting focus group and survey data for my research as well as doing virtual site visits for students in my seminar class at their internships. There were lots of moving pieces to coordinate and little details to keep track of which was a struggle for my brain at 35+ weeks pregnant.

In April we got word that my dad's estate was officially settled; 1.5 years later. It wasn't an overly complicated process as he didn't leave much behind but it was a bit of a challenge to do things from across the country (during a pandemic). Shortly after that, my mom was hospitalized and needed major surgery for the second time in less than 2 years. As you can imagine, the last month of pregnancy was an emotional rollercoaster.

As my due date approached I was so ready to be done with work. I could barely make it through the day, even with a nap. Having an evening seminar course and office hours didn't help the situation either. A lot of weeks I ended up working short days and finishing up work on the weekend (mainly grading), because I could not keep my eyes open. I was kicking myself for not preemptively taking time off before my due date. At my 40 week prenatal appointment I asked the midwife to write me a note recommending that I stop working. Despite being exhausted I was only getting sleep in short increments which made work feel next to impossible. However, I never actually needed to use the note because my water broke right on schedule!

With Ellie, the birthing process was especially difficult and grueling; however, recovery was a breeze. Hannah was born via a wonderfully empowering and healing VBAC that went as smoothly as possible so I expected recovery to be a breeze again. No such luck. Recovery hasn't been terrible, but it hasn't been easy either. When that "magical" 6 week mark hit I felt far from recovered. Unbeknownst to me, I injured my tailbone during birth which made sitting next to impossible. I spent the first few weeks lying on my side for most of the day because sitting was too painful and being upright for long periods of time was exhausting. I was also adjusting to breastfeeding, which for me was pretty painful for the first few weeks with both babies (not to mention triggered headaches and neck pain). I was also producing a lot of milk, making feedings difficult at times and my boobs super uncomfortable. Physically I felt like a mess.

While breastfeeding improved and my supply has regulated for the most part, there was more postpartum fun awaiting me. With Hannah's birth I needed about 20 stitches for a second degree tear. This in of itself was no big deal (despite being terrified of tearing beforehand). However, the pain from my stitches started to increase significantly around the 3 week mark, so much so that I was convinced my stitches were opening backup. After playing phone tag with the midwives they agreed I should be seen in the office; however, they couldn't get me in before my 6 week appointment. I spent the weeks in between going back and forth about whether or not to go to urgent care or the emergency room or just wait it out. In hindsight I should have reached out to my primary care doctor.

Turns out my stitches were not opening back up. Instead my body had "over healed" and extra (very painful) tissue, aka granulation tissue, had formed. After talking to a few health professionals and consulting Dr. Google it sounds like it's fairly common. Certainly would have been helpful to know about beforehand! I got to about the 8 week mark and my pain wasn't improving so my midwife prescribed me some estrogen cream to help with healing (and it worked wonders!).

Between the issue with granulation tissue, my tailbone, and a recurrence in low back pain I scheduled an appointment with a physical therapist who specializes in postpartum recovery. I've had 3 sessions so far and I'm already noticing significant improvements. PT should be standard practice for postpartum life! Recovery is slow going but I keep reminding myself that I was pregnant for 9 months... my body needs more than a few months to heal.

A little after the 8 week mark we all got our 1st cold since before covid. Thankfully it didn't hit us too hard. I think Ellie and I got the brunt of it and we were probably knocked out for about a day. Hannah didn't seem to be bothered that much other than eating and sleeping more than usual. I think worse than the cold was my anxiety around having a sick newborn and worrying that things would escalate quickly (which they did not!). With Ellie starting Kindergarten in the fall I'm sure there is lots more sickness in our future.

As far as work goes, I did nothing for the 1st 8 weeks postpartum. Since week 8 I've done a small amount of course prep that I wasn't able to finish prior to Hannah's arrival. I've also been doing some email management. I'm not actually answering emails but I really didn't want to have to sift through hundreds of messages on my return from leave so I've been going into my inbox regularly and deleting or filing things away for review when I return.

Mike took 6 weeks off from his part time job, which was awesome. Now that he's back at work it's helped us settle into a bit of a routine that essentially revolves around Hannah’s sleeping and eating (which she does a lot of). I hate to even write this because once I put it out there she'll change things up on us, but we've actually gotten a few 6 to 8 hour nights. Of course, that means that we have to be in bed when she goes to sleep to actually get that much sleep... but I'm not complaining! We're not venturing out much beyond walks around the neighborhood and nearby parks/playgrounds. And each day blends into the next, but I'm also loving it. This time is the first time in a long time where I feel like I'm actually resting and not jumping from one thing to the next. So... that's what life has been like for us recently! Here's to more rest!