... and downs!!

My second trimester was great, felt like a walk in the park.... well at least I could walk!

My third trimester felt as though I was dragging a 10 ton weight with me, I became constantly tired, worse than during my first trimester, what was once my little 'peanut' on the scan screen now started to pile on the weight, and with this came a number of problems.

I was first admitted to hospital with severe chest pains.... it often felt like my little bundle of joy was trying to escape out of my chest like something out of one of the Aliens films! I was taken in to hospital and given scans and placed on monitors, they gave me an ECG to make sure that my heart was alright, and various blood tests which turned my arms in to pin cushions, only to be told eventually, that it was just my ribcage expanding due to baby growth, I spent 4 days in hospital... not an enjoyable experience, not because of the staff (who were really lovely)... but have you ever tried sleeping on a ward with four other people... 1 of which was a snorer and the other being sick all night.

I was told gentle exercise may help....

So it was also during my third trimester that I started going to Aquanatal with two of my friends.... Now I wouldnt say that these Aquanatal classes were particularly strenous, but I will deffinatley say they were a giggle... now imagine this.... the baby pool at your local leisure centre filled with 10 - 15 pregnant women. Bobbing and floating around with 'woggles' (those floaty tube things). To any spectators we must have been hilarious! But during the later stages of my pregnancy it was something I looked forward to every week!

The chest pains were not my only complaint during the third trimester and I seemed to get hit with alot of problems..

Heartburn... well I never suffered with this before I was pregnant and it was nasty. Combined with the chest pains I often felt like I was having a heart attack at 28 years old!

Carpel Tunnel Syndrome... this is something I had heard about through my work (I work in Health and Safety... go on say it... booo!) And know that is can be caused by repetative activities such as typing, but hadnt realised that it can also be caused by pregnancy, when my feet started to swell with all the extra fluids in my body so did my hands, as if it wasnt difficult enough to sleep with a baby bump, I also started having severe pins and needles in my hands too, this involved another trip to the maternity day unit to be given splints to wear at night. My loving husband thought it was hilarious to see me in the splints as I crawled into bed... saying I looked like Dr Zoidberg from Futurama (You know the crab man thing!!)

Believe me I dont want to scare all you pregnant mums out there, but I wasnt aware that these things could happen so bady during pregnancy, but my third trimester was certainly the hardest.