7 Ways to Prepare Your Mind & Body during the 3rd Trimester!
Show Notes:
[1:39] Our Reviewer of the Week is s_frye, and she said, "I have listened to this podcast during my first and second pregnancies. The second time around, I also purchased the My Essential Birth course to prepare for a “natural” delivery in a hospital setting and hired a doula. I was more prepared the second time. The podcast is wonderful and is packed full of information. However, I would recommend investing in the birth course as it gives a comprehensive, organized and sequential overview of the L&D process and how to prepare. Thank you, Stephanie and team for your amazing work to support and empower pregnant women!"
[2:38] If you are listening, and you are in your third trimester, this is 100% for you! You're going to want to write down and keep track of these tips for when you are a little bit closer, and they are things that you can certainly start doing right now as well!
[3:15] #1: The Three Free Pregnancy Exercises! They are simple. They are made to help your baby be in a more comfortable, ideal position for labor and delivery. It is for your body to strengthen and lengthen different parts of your body that are going to be used during pregnancy and during labor. It's supposed to make everything easy and more comfortable.
- Forward Leaning Inversion
- Pelvic Tilts
- Seated Squat
[7:18] #2: Learn about birth! Learn everything that you can about birth, particularly that labor process, because that's what you're coming up to right now. You're preparing your body, and hopefully, you're doing some preparation in your mind. This is a great time to start a birth course as well! It is so smart for us to know our options and the ideas behind them so that we have confidence in making decisions during labor when things are very fluid, and we don't necessarily know which way it's gonna go. We have people in our birth space, hopefully, that we can lean on during different parts of birth. Be prepared by knowing your pain medication options, should you choose to use them, how to be more comfortable during birth, how your birth partner can help you along the way, support you physically and emotionally along the way, all of that is going to be helpful.
[10:57] #3: Create a birth map/plan! You're going to create that birth map that I just talked about. You can call it a birth plan. You can call it a birth map. We have a visual birth map that you can totally customize. It's totally free, easy, downloadable. You just drag and drop the different things that are important to you. So if there's other things that are really important that do need to be on there, like no episiotomy, because that's something that your provider does, and it's something that you need the nurses to remind them about, and it's something that you don't want, that's the kind of stuff that needs to be on there.
[14:51] #4: Eat your protein! Be proactive, make sure you're getting that protein. You're going to aim for like 80-120 grams of protein, maybe even a little more. In the third trimester, you actually are supposed to eat more protein. Listen to our episode with Lily Nichols (a registered dietician) as she talks about how to maintain a healthy diet during pregnancy.
[16:05] #5: Pack your birth bag! Whether that is because you're going to a hospital, you want to pack a transfer bag just in case, or the stuff that you're going to bring to the birth center. Whatever that looks like for you, now's the time! We're going to give you guys a hospital bag checklist. Don't forget simple things like phone cords, chargers, camera stuff, clothes for the baby, you know, that kind of thing, but all of it's on there.
[18:32] #6: Find a pediatrician for your baby! This is something that I think a lot of us, myself included, don't think about at all. Or we put it off and then it's too late. Ask around just like you did for your birth professionals. Ask your friends, ask family members, ask other people that have similar values that you do, or prioritize different things that are going to match what you're planning to do for your family and for your baby. Then reach out to a couple pediatricians and meet with them in person, one on one, and ask questions.
[20:56] #7: Start your labor prep if you're 36 weeks or later! Start things like drinking red raspberry leaf tea. The idea is that it helps your uterus to be strong and contract in a helpful way for getting ready for labor. Evening primrose oil is something that you can take orally and vaginally, and this can help to ripen and soften your cervix so that there is less of that to be done when it is birth time. Start eating dates! Women who consumed about three to four of the medjool, which are the larger dates, or six to seven of the small deglet dates a day, helped to ripen that cervix and improve your Bishop score so that things are just a little bit more smooth and comfortable as you go into labor. Listen to Episode 131 for ways to start labor naturally now!
I hope that this week's episode spoke to you, especially if you're in that third trimester and you're feeling like, "Oh my gosh, what is coming next?" Labor is so exciting and I can't wait, but what am I supposed to be doing? Here is your checklist. Do these seven things and come back to me.
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