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"In the third trimester of pregnancy, it is very common because of the increasing size of the baby and the increasing pressure to start to have some uterine irritability or some spasming in the uterine muscle. So the uterus that holds the baby is just a muscle. And as it gets stretched, it can cause some contractions, some light contractions, some contractions that are not painful, or you might even have some uncomfortable, painful contractions if you're ever concerned, or you think you may be going into labor, it's really important to talk to your healthcare provider, but some of that discomfort can be normal in the latter part of your pregnancy as the baby gets bigger. And even when the baby elbows and kicks, that can create a contraction that can cause the uterine muscle to tighten up. There are a lot of changes happening at the bottom of the uterus. That place is called the cervix and the cervix normally is quite long and thick and really holds the baby in. But as you get further along in pregnancy, because of hormone changes and pressure that cervix can start to get thinner and softer, and it can even start to open a little bit. And that would be dilation of the cervix, which in some cases at the very end of pregnancy can be normal. But if it happens too early, it may be a concern. So something that your doctor and you would want to talk about now, of course we don't examine our own cervix and I strongly recommend that you don't put anything in your vagina. Sexual intercourse at this stage of pregnancy is usually okay, as long as it's not painful or particularly aggressive, but it's usually quite safe. Now in the semen, however, there's prostoglandins and those prostoglandins can create contractions. And so being a little bit careful if you're prone to premature labor that having sex at that part of pregnancy is something you'll want to talk to your doctor about, but having changes in the cervix and changes in the uterus and stretching of the uterus are all things that you can expect at the third trimester in that latter part of pregnancy as your body prepares for labor and delivery."
"In the third trimester of pregnancy, it is very common because of the increasing size of the baby and the increasing pressure to start to have some uterine irritability or some spasming in the uterine muscle. So the uterus that holds the baby is just a muscle. And as it gets stretched, it can cause some contractions, some light contractions, some contractions that are not painful, or you might even have some uncomfortable, painful contractions if you're ever concerned, or you think you may be going into labor, it's really important to talk to your healthcare provider, but some of that discomfort can be normal in the latter part of your pregnancy as the baby gets bigger. And even when the baby elbows and kicks, that can create a contraction that can cause the uterine muscle to tighten up. There are a lot of changes happening at the bottom of the uterus. That place is called the cervix and the cervix normally is quite long and thick and really holds the baby in. But as you get further along in pregnancy, because of hormone changes and pressure that cervix can start to get thinner and softer, and it can even start to open a little bit. And that would be dilation of the cervix, which in some cases at the very end of pregnancy can be normal. But if it happens too early, it may be a concern. So something that your doctor and you would want to talk about now, of course we don't examine our own cervix and I strongly recommend that you don't put anything in your vagina. Sexual intercourse at this stage of pregnancy is usually okay, as long as it's not painful or particularly aggressive, but it's usually quite safe. Now in the semen, however, there's prostoglandins and those prostoglandins can create contractions. And so being a little bit careful if you're prone to premature labor that having sex at that part of pregnancy is something you'll want to talk to your doctor about, but having changes in the cervix and changes in the uterus and stretching of the uterus are all things that you can expect at the third trimester in that latter part of pregnancy as your body prepares for labor and delivery."
"What if your baby decides to be feet down or bum down and not in the normal sephalic or head down position? Well, most babies will spend some of their time in the breech position with their bum or their feet down, but usually by 32 to 36 weeks, babies will have made that transition to head down and they'll usually start to grow big enough that they won't switch around or somersault any longer after about the 36 week mark. So you'll notice when you go to the doctor in the third trimester, which is that latter third of pregnancy, that the doctor will start to record whether your baby is head down or maybe transverse, which means sideways or maybe breech, which means bum down or feet down and head up. And when the baby is in the position with the head up, then we need to start to think about delivery. And is the baby going to deliver in that breech position? Or are you going to need a C-section to deliver that baby? So we don't worry too much until 36 or 37 weeks as we get closer to delivery, but at full term, which is around the 37 week Mark, if the baby's still in a breech position, your Dr. May talk to you about what's called an external cephalic version. And that's where they gently attempt to move the baby from head up to head down, to get that baby back in position so that it can have a head down. So phallic vaginal delivery, often and external cephalic version won't work, and the baby will stay in a breech position all the way till your due date. And some of the things you need to be thinking about in that situation is for example, if the water breaks and the feet or bum are down, sometimes the umbilical cord can come down and that would be an emergency because if that umbilical cord comes out before the baby, it can be compressed in the birth canal and it can cut off the oxygen supply to the baby. That's why being in a breech position makes it a little bit higher risk and more important to be monitoring for things like your water breaking or going into preterm labor or having contractions, because you'd want to get to the hospital sooner. If you were in a breach, if your baby was in a breach presentation. Now, the other thing to think about is, although some doctors will do breech vaginal deliveries, there is a lot of indication that sometimes that can be more dangerous for the baby. Um, sometimes it's more dangerous because the head is the biggest part and if the bum and the legs and the, the abdomen and the thorax all come out, but the head is still left behind. It can sometimes lead to a reduction in oxygen for the baby because of the umbilical cord, which is already out the birth canal is getting compressed. So there are only certain indications and certain, very experienced healthcare providers who are trained in vaginal breech deliveries, who would be willing to do a vaginal breech delivery. And if you're interested in a vaginal breech delivery, it's really important to have that lengthy and very cautious conversation with your healthcare provider about the pros and the cons of a vaginal breech delivery versus a cesarean section for a breech delivery. And those are the kinds of conversations that you will want to have well before you're in the labor and delivery room, but all in all, having a baby in a breech position does not necessarily mean that there's anything wrong with the baby or that anything is going to go wrong with your labor and delivery. It just means that we need to be a little more cautious about how that baby is going to be delivered and what you and your healthcare provider decide is best."
"In the third trimester, there are a lot of physical changes that are happening and a lot of stretching and, and a lot of discomfort in some situations. But some of the things that may be a red flag indicating that you need to see your doctor call your doctor right away would be if you started to have contractions that were painful and that were starting to last longer, or we're starting to get closer together. So if you're having repetitive contractions, it's really important that you either go right to the hospital, you call the ambulance, or if it's not too severe, and you can have that phone call into your doctor and get some good advice that may be okay too. The other things that would be concerning would be if you had a big gush of water. So your water is the amniotic fluid that holds the baby. And it really shouldn't break until you start to enter labor or until you're in labor. And so if you feel like you've had a big gush of fluid, and you're sure you haven't wet your pants, which can sometimes happen with the pressure of the baby on your bladder, if you've had a big gush of fluid and you're pretty sure it's not urine, then you absolutely need to be assessed by your doctor to see if your water's broken. And if maybe you're entering labor. Another thing that would be a concern or a reason to seek help or advice would be if you had bleeding. So as the cervix at the bottom part of the uterus starts to thin and soften because of hormones and pressure of the baby. You can have some pink tinge to mucus or some changes in the vaginal discharge, but if you have any concerns about there being blood, even dark brown or bright red blood, those would be reasons that you need to get in touch with your doctor right away."
"As an obstetrician, I get this question all the time. How much should my baby move? And there's really no clear answer for that. It really depends on your baby. And it depends on how much room the baby has in your belly to move. But it's important to be always thinking about the normal patterns of your baby. Does your baby go through sleep and wake cycles? And during a wake cycle, it would have a lot more movement than during a sleep cycle. And we also notice that as babies get bigger, they can't do the big rolling movements that they used to do. So it starts to be a bit more like little bumps, as opposed to big elbows and big knees and those somersaults that babies do in the second trimester. So as you reach the second and then into the third trimesters baby's movement might change, but you will still notice movement if you've been highlighted as someone who has to really monitor baby's movement. So if the doctor or your healthcare provider is concerned, for some reason, it may be that you're monitoring movement to ensure that the baby's getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs, because sometimes if there's a problem with the placenta or the umbilical cord or the pressure of the blood flow to the baby, then the baby's movement can be one of the first indications of that by decreasing its movement. That baby is saving energy because it has to put energy and reserve because maybe it's not getting enough from the placenta or umbilical cord. So just feeling your baby's movement and taking a rest, having laying on your left side so that you're tilted over a bit and just putting your hands on your belly and maybe closing your eyes and just focusing on, are you feeling baby's movements and then do some counting of how many movements are you feeling? And those are the kinds of things that you can talk to your doctor about, or make a phone call and just explain how many movements you've got or how the movement has changed. I know that babies will go through a lot of shifts in their amount of movement. Again, depending on whether they're awake or asleep, depending on how much energy they have, and also just depending on their personality and who they are. So if you feel like your baby's movement is changing, that's not so much anything to worry about, but if you feel like you haven't felt the baby move as much as usual or your doctor has advised you to keep track of baby's movement, then you really want to be vigilant about reporting that back to the doctor because that decreased movement could be an indication that something's wrong."
"One of the ways that you can really take care of yourself in the third trimester or the latter part of your pregnancy is to make sure that you eat really healthy foods and that you stay very, very hydrated. So drink lots of water, make sure you get enough sleep and make sure you get enough rest. So being on your feet may create swelling or discomfort. It may even cause some contractions to start to happen. And so it's really important to be able to get off your feet and to rest when you need to, when you're resting, however, make sure that you're not laying directly on your back. Make sure that you're over to your left side a little bit, or that you've put a pillow wedge under your hip because the baby in the uterus is so big. It compresses the important blood vessels that are running down the back of the abdomen and are ultimately feeding the baby, the oxygen and nutrients that he or she needs. So if you're laying directly on your back, you can compress those vessels and then the baby won't get the nutrients that it needs. So always be rolled over a little bit to the side. If you notice that you have swelling, which is really increasing, or it seems to be associated with other symptoms like headache or visual changes, or maybe you're not having as much urine as you used to, or you're having some numbness or tingling or any strange symptoms that go along with the swelling or discomfort, you definitely need to see your doctor because that can be an indication of an increase in blood pressure or something we call preeclampsia or a clamp SIA or gestational hypertension. And all of those things can contribute to the baby. Maybe not getting the nutrition that it needs. So some of the symptoms of hypertension or preeclampsia would be swelling, decrease in urine output, visual changes, severe headache, neurological symptoms, anything strange like that. Absolutely make sure that you see your doctor right away. And if it's something that is severe enough, that would be a very good reason to call nine one one and have an ambulance come and get you. Ultimately, those symptoms can progress to seizures and that's called a clamp SIA, and that is a medical emergency. So if you're having any of those symptoms on that continuum, or even increasing swelling, that seems to be out of control, then you need to be seeing your doctor to make sure you're having your blood pressure monitored. And all of those other symptoms being taken into account that is absolutely one of the most important and most urgent medical emergencies that can occur in pregnancy normally into the third trimester. So if your blood pressure has been starting to climb or you're having any of those symptoms, you absolutely need to make sure you're being very closely monitored."
" Welcome to the third trimester or the latter part of your pregnancy. So we break pregnancy down into three trimesters and the third trimester runs from approximately week 27 to week 40 and week 40 is usually considered full term actually week 30, seven to 40 is full term, but a lot of people go overdue until week 41 or even 42, but there are a lot of changes that are occurring in this trimester. The baby is obviously getting bigger and that's creating a lot of pressure in your abdomen. And the things that can result from that pressure would be things like heartburn or having trouble eating, or maybe needing to change the types of foods that you eat. That aren't quite so filling. So smoothies will work well or salads or soft foods, but just be sure that you're getting the nutritional content that you need in your foods and in order to keep you and your baby healthy, other things that can happen that maybe aren't so pleasant, but usually go away after delivery would be things like hemorrhoids from constipation or pressure in your abdomen and on your rectum and varicose vein. So that's where the baby's compressing those big veins and it can lead to dilation of the veins in the lower legs. And even sometimes in the vulva and those are called varicose veins. And again, they'll generally go away after delivery after the pressure of the baby isn't there anymore, and your breasts are getting much bigger and they might may start to develop some secretion of colostrum or pre milk as the milk glands actually start to prepare for the milk production that is going to be needed when the baby comes along. So there are a lot of things going on in the third trimester, some very enjoyable like feeling the baby move and having that baby with you all the time. And you can probably start to notice the baby has a bit of a personality, but there's also some real physical changes that are happening in your body. And some may be quite uncomfortable. Most of those things are all normal, but if you ever have any concerns that some of those physical changes are not normal, really important to talk to your healthcare provider. Enjoy!"
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