Trish: [00:00:00] Hey mamas, welcome back to Pregnancy Unpacked. Today we're breaking down weeks 29 to 30 and buckle up because I've got a story for you guys. But we're also gonna be talking about what's happening with your body right now. The mental prep of third trimester, and the real power of knowledge, support, and intuition, including a jaw dropping VBAC birth story from one of my students who's been with me for a.

While Miss Sarah, and it's gonna leave you guys like gripping your seat, grinning crying and fist pumping in the air. You know that feedback? Fist pump. Okay, so let's unpack it.

So we're gonna start out talking about your sweet little baby, right? Your baby is about the size of a butternut squash. Which is like 15 to 16 inches long, and the baby is nearly three pounds. Your baby's little tiny brain is maturing [00:01:00] so rapidly. This is why you're feeling more kicks, more rolls, more stretches.

Their lungs are starting to produce what is called surfactant, and that is getting their lungs ready for their first big breath. Their little bones are hardening, but thank you, Jesus. The skull stays soft so that they can come through the birth canal for birth. They can detect light and dark from outside the womb, and they're probably squishing your bladder now and it's probably not feeling so great.

So you're probably having to go to the bathroom a lot more again. What's happening with mama? This is where things are really getting real. You're probably feeling some back pain, some pelvic pressure, some lightning crotch. If you don't know what a lightning crotch is, this is exactly what it sounds like.

Like all of a sudden you feel like lightning shoots into your crotch. It can be quick and brief or sometimes it can keep happening. What I recommend is you support that tummy get up slowly and it, there's really just. Nobody can [00:02:00] understand it unless they've had it. The other thing that is still probably lingering or getting worse might be your heartburn.

Maybe you just started having heartburn. My students and my members wholeheartedly recommend papaya enzymes. They say that it helps so much. Also sleeping on an incline, making sure that you're not eating a few hours before bed if you're still feeling sick and you have to nibble on things, girl, you do.

But heartburn can be so intense. Here's something else that's like so insane, but you can have fatigue and insomnia, like be super, super tired, but also not be able to sleep all at once in the third trimester. So some things that I recommend, one of my students who struggled with insomnia and I've been struggling with insomnia, recommended a podcast called Nothing Much Happens. It is. I don't do the paid one. I'm sure the paid one's amazing, but I listen to it often, and now I've trained my brain that if I can't sleep and I turn that on, I literally go right [00:03:00] to sleep. So check that out. You could also listen to me on like half speed maybe. I don't know if it says soothing.

I'm not sure. She's super soothing. You're probably having more and more Braxton Hicks, and if you're wondering, these are gonna feel like, you know, tightening. Sometimes you can feel some pain. I do have a lot of information on Braxton Hicks. We will link that in the show notes to some social media posts.

Pretty sure I may have a blog post. I'm, I'm pretty sure I do have a blog post on false labor. So Braxton Hicks are really important 'cause that's your body gearing up. The more babies you have, the more Braxton Hicks you're gonna have during pregnancy. So some of you may not have, well, let me say that again.

You probably did have them in your first pregnancy. You may not have known. 'cause there's many times when I hook someone up to the monitor. For an NST or just to check. And I'm like, Hey, do you feel those? And they're like, Nope. But they're having Braxton Hicks. So Braxton Hicks is just like practice contractions, getting your body ready.[00:04:00]

The other thing that could be really causing you a little bit of mental stress is all the things, hospital bags, birth plans, feeding plans, birth class fears, all of that. So this is where I want you to pause, and I want you to take a deep breath. You don't need to do it all at once. Make a list. And just start doing the next thing.

But you do need to start listening to your intuition because your knowledge, your gut, and your support, that is where the magic happens. You have to have knowledge, you have to trust yourself, and you have to have an epic support team. Okay, you guys, speaking of that, I wanna tell you about Sarah. She's one of my VBAC lab mamas, and she really leaned into that intuition and that trust of herself.

So I hope you guys are ready. 'cause she just had her baby last night in a whirlwind and we are in her labor bat signal right now, which is something that. If you buy one of my classes, if you join one of my classes, either the calm Labor birth pod, or the full birth class, calm Labor, confident Birth, [00:05:00] or the VBAC Lab, you can add on a Labor BAT signal, which is a direct DM messaging with me and my doula.

And Sarah has been one of our students for a while now. She comes to the Pregnancy Hangout. She shows up for the VBAC Lab Hangouts, which is something I do that no one else does. We hang out on Zoom because I. Love connection and I love just. Being there for you guys. Right. She asked her questions, she shared her fears.

We've worked through the trauma of her first birth. 'cause her first birth, she was induced for severe preeclampsia and she was induced earlier, so her body was not ready. I wanna say she was 36 weeks, but I, I'm not, I, I'm pretty sure that's right. And so she's induced for severe preeclampsia, which is really scary.

Right. That's a scary situation, especially your first baby and you're not prepared for that. And she ended up having also magnesium toxicity. So a whole nother thing ended up in an emergency C-section. So that left her with a lot of fear and grief and [00:06:00] feeling like her body had failed her. But this time, okay, this pregnancy was different.

Was it perfect? No. They labeled her, and I'm gonna put that in quotes. Chronic hypertension. She also had gestational diabetes and you know, they really were leaning into induction and she does not wanna do one, right? Because of the last situation, which I always remind my students that no matter what, this is a new baby, a new pregnancy, a new birth.

So you don't wanna bring that into your new birth. That's why both of my classes have a, a section on. Like debriefing your birth and working through your trauma. So here's what she did. She leaned in. She learned, she participated in the community. I have. I have thousands of students that join and never come to the Hangouts, even though they're available to all of you guys.

I really recommend that you lean into the community. So she came to the Hangouts, she built out her birth plan, and she made sure that she had Alison, our team doula and me on her labor bat signal, [00:07:00] and. You know, she had this availability, be able to ask us like, what's happening? This is what they're saying.

So fast forward to 8:00 PM last night, she sends a DM that says, I'm doing my classic, you know, like panic cleaning. She's stressing, right? She, she, 'cause Alison and asked her, how are you doing? Like, tell us how you're doing. She said, you know, I'm having some. Contractions like or Braxton Hicks. But she was doing some classic pan panic cleaning, which I also do.

I'm obsessive compulsive panic cleaner when I'm stressed. And so this morning Allison sends her a DM in her labor rat signal, and she asks her how her night was, and she's encouraging her to like trust her body and blah, blah, blah. And Sarah sends back a picture. Of her baby. Well, first she sent a DM that said, we had a very interesting evening last night with a sweat emoji followed by a baby picture.

My girl almost had her vback baby in her car, and Allison [00:08:00] and I were literally screaming and dancing and. So excited because that's what happens when you lean into your body. You learn your body, you trust your gut, and you have a real support system to help you navigate the twist and turns. And I'm so darn proud of Sarah, so she's listening.

Sarah, you go, you rock. You're amazing. Anyway, so here's what you can take away from that, even if you're not planning a vbac. 'cause a VBAC is just planning a vaginal birth, right? You're allowed to have fears. Sarah had fears. You're allowed to ask for help. Sarah asked for help. You're allowed to change your story.

Birth is not about perfection. It's never gonna be perfect, right? It's about being prepared, about having support and understanding what's happening, so you can navigate the twists and turns, which is exactly what Sarah did. Okay, so back to weeks 29 to 30, start prepping your birth space, like event. I want you to, to visualize it.

What does it look like? What does it feel like and how do you make that [00:09:00] happen? Write it out on paper. If you got my third trimester prep packer, you're one of my students, we, we have a whole section on this, but prep your birth space to be comfortable for you because what's comfortable for me might not be the same for you.

A touch of home, you know who's gonna be in there, who's allowed to be in there, and also. Your hospital bag list, like start thinking about that. Talk to your provider about your preferences, about your fears. Write them down so you remember, and then let's really start lining up your support system, whether it's a partner that's your doula, your birth class, your friends, your coach, whatever.

If you're in a membership like Mind call Mama Society, whatever it is, like get your sort support system steady, okay? I want you to practice every day connecting to your body, like even five minutes of deep breathing. Like, just remind yourself. You are so powerful.

And when those fears and anxiety rises up, I want you to put your hand up and say, stop. Nope. Mm-hmm. I'm not accepting that. So let's say you're afraid of tearing. [00:10:00] No, my body is powerful and I'm gonna prep it. Just remember, like you get to choose what you think about what you reflect on. You get to choose how you approach your birth.

So here's the other thing that I really want you to know. Like. No matter how your birth unfolds, you are powerful. You're powerful because you built a human. And you're bringing a human into this world and you're willing to do that. So take a nice deep breath, put a hand on your belly, and remind yourself that you are powerful and don't ever forget it.

Okay, you guys, I hope you enjoyed this little short session here, and I want you to remember to keep prepping, keep preparing, and getting ready for a powerful. Birth. You are so amazing. I love that you're here. Make sure you listen to the birth experience, the regular episodes where we deep dive into specific [00:11:00] topics and interview other guests.

And as always, you are invited to enroll in one of the birth classes, either the birth pod, which is labor nurse mama.com/guide, or the full birth classes you can learn about either one. At Labor nurse mama.com/calm because I want you to have a calm, beautiful, powerful birth and I would love to be a part of your birth team.

Okay, you guys hit subscribe, leave a review, and as always, I will see you again next week. Bye for now.