What Every Women Needs To Do In Their Third Trimester

DUN DUN DUN….. 

The third trimester!

So you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy ay?

Congratulations once again. This is the time where everything changes girlfriend.

You are about to be a mommy and you are about to have full responsibility for another life.

So today we’re going to talk about what every woman should be doing In their last 3 months of pregnancy…

Your last 3 months of pregnancy which is called your third trimester is probably the toughest one besides the morning sickness in your first trimester of course.

Recommended read: 10 Easy Ways To Prepare for Postpartum While You Are Still Pregnant

If your planning for your baby now that’s a great thing! I have a super awesome pregnancy planner that I love from Coffee&Coos and RealMomRecs other amazing content creators for moms!

I was hardly prepared for my baby when he was born but you do not have to be!

This pregnancy planner is so freaking amazing and you need to check it out here!

If you are feeling super stressed out about baby’s arrival then the pregnancy planner is for YOU!

Your feet are swollen, you’re short of breath probably, not to mention the horrible heartburn that you’re probably experiencing. I know I experienced really bad heartburn at this stage of the game.

You might even be wondering if you should start your maternity leave early.

which is fine to each his own if you need to leave work, leave, trust me. Your first priority is you and your baby at this point.

Being in your third trimester comes with a whole bunch of other responsibilities and I’m going to let you in on them right now…

Finish the nursery if you haven’t already.

Yes girl, I know. You don’t want to be thinking about doing anything more backbreaking than carrying that big ol’ baby belly around town. But hey that’s what baby daddy is for right?

Make sure you have him finish all the little details for the nursery because once baby gets here you guys won’t have much time to do those kinds of tedious things.

These pottery barn inspired nursery cribs are awesome for your baby’s room.

Buy the final baby necessities.

If there’s anything that you don’t have right now that you know you need to go get it. Because the last thing you need to do is come home and then actually need something that you don’t have yet.

Go through your baby checklist and find out what is missing and order it on Amazon,  because who wants to be walking around right now at this point in time. Get all that stuff sent to you.

Please don’t forget to use your Amazon Prime.

Because I know you signed up for it already so you can get in on that 2 Day free shipping right?

If you haven’t signed up for Amazon Prime yet you can sign up now and get a  30-day free trial here…

Check out this quick list of 17 things you MUST have the first 17 days with your newborn.

Make sure you know exactly what you’re doing for maternity leave.

Make sure you go over all the details with your boss just so you know when you’re leaving and when you’re coming back and if you’ll actually have the same position as before you left for maternity leave.

The reason I say this is because I went on maternity leave and then my lovely boss decided to replace me with someone else so when I came back I was surprised to learn that I was put in a completely different part of the building and basically demoted.

Not cool right?

I’m not saying that’s what you should do if this happens to you but that was my verdict about the situation.

But in conclusion, make sure that your maternity plan is set in stone before you leave.

Here’s how to save for maternity leave.

Plan where the baby is going to sleep.

When Nikki was first born I tried putting him in a bassinet and that just didn’t work for us.

But then my sister basically bopped me over the head and told me to use a playpen. So we sure did. I just put his playpen right next to my bed and we were good to go for the night.

Not that he actually slept through the night at first but we were still good to go on a place for him to sleep when he actually did sleep. HA.

Check out why I believe you don’t need a bassinet and what actually works10x better for sleeping in your room with the baby.

Choose a pediatrician.

Choosing a pediatrician for us was easy peasy lemon squeezy.

When Nicky was born the pediatrician that was assigned to him was really nice so we just stuck with her. We still use the same pediatrician and he’s 4 years old right now (in 2018).  

so I’m saying if the hospital provides you with a pediatrician and they take your insurance you might as well just roll with it.

 but if you have somebody else in mind that you know or a friend’s pediatrician that you know then that’s good too.

Whatever your heart desires. 🙂

Pick out a childcare facility.

Picking out a childcare facility for me was a piece of cake because I worked at a preschool at the time so he just went to work with me.  

I would suggest looking into child care facilities that maybe your friend’s kids go to or your co-worker’s kids.

Either way, you can call and set up a tour of the school and collect all of the paperwork that goes with it and compares schools and see what works for you.

Personally, I would go to a school that provides food so you don’t have to worry about making their lunch every day.  

but if you’re a little more of a crunchy Mommy and you’re concerned about school food then you can always ask the school if you can bring your own food for your child and usually they don’t have a problem with it.

Although I have heard of some schools that require doctors’ notes for special diets.

I think that’s a rarity though.

Usually, the problem with bringing your own food is all just an allergy precaution for other children so that’s why they do that.

Honestly, in my opinion, picking out a childcare facility is not as overwhelming as people make it out to be.

Designate an area in the kitchen for a breast pump or bottle essentials.

when the baby has their own cabinet and drawer for their stuff it makes it a lot easier to keep everything in the same place.  everything should always have a place.

and therefore your baby needs a place in the kitchen as well. I just used one drawer for all of his bottle necessities and one cabinet for the formula and other things that related to feeding him.

I had a dr. Brown’s bottles for him (because he was a colic baby) so there were lots of parts to it.

Organizing a drawer and cabinet specifically for his needs really helped me get things done faster in the kitchen.

Order your breast pump if you haven’t already

I actually got a hand-me-down breast pump but I never used it because it was an electric one and quite honestly I don’t like those.

If you haven’t ordered your breast pump now is the time to do it.  

You’re going to need that thing. I got a really good manual one and found that it was way easier to use.

You can also get one for free by heading over to this sign up form to see if you qualify for a free breast pump through your insurance company.

Sterilize breast pump and bottles

I definitely recommend sterilizing everything before the baby gets there so you don’t have to worry about it when they’re actually in the house with you and you’re going to feed your baby.

You can buy one of these fancy bottle sterilizers on Amazon.

If you have a dishwasher then you could just put everything on the top rack and set the setting to pots and pans. The sterilize setting.

They also make little baskets that you can put all of your bottles and accessories in and put it on the top rack of your dishwasher.  whatever you choose to do just go ahead and do that before the baby gets here.

Put the car seat in the car

Quite honestly, for the life of me, I cannot get a car seat in a car to this day.

 luckily Baby Daddy helped me with this situation. So ladies grab your men and get them to do this for you, they’ll put it in nice and tight.

(OK that sounded kind of weird but we’re just going to roll with it okay…. )

If your baby daddy dipped on you (sorry for his loss) then go to your local fire station and have one of those handsome chaps install it for you.

Pack your hospital bag

First of all, do you have a hospital bag?

Because if you don’t then you definitely need to get one of those too. But assuming that you already have a hospital bag, you’re going to need to pack it.  

Make sure you include things for you, the baby, and your partner. I also want to take the time to remind you to remember the Boppy Pillow. It saves lives.

Here is a list of things you need in your hospital bag.

Take a hospital tour

If you haven’t done this already then now is the time.

 You want to choose a hospital that has a really good pediatric unit. So do your research. Visit every Hospital ask a ton of questions and evaluate.

Ask your friends on Facebook what hospital they went to or ask a family member what they would recommend if you’re unsure.

Wash and organize baby clothes and cloth diapers (if you’re going that route).

Yes… your girl was a little crunchy.

I love cloth diapers and I made sure I had them all nice and ready for my baby when he got home.

This is really self-explanatory just wash the clothes with an eco-friendly baby laundry detergent and put them away.

Heres some amazing tips on how to organize your baby clothes like a pro.

The same goes for the cloth diapers.

Baby proof the house

Make sure you do all of the necessary things to effectively baby-proof your house.

We don’t want any accidents mama. Some things to consider: Bumpers for the edges and corners of the tables, especially if they’re glass tables. Covers for every single electric socket. Put all the glass figurines away up far far away.

I had a little Precious Moments glass figurine sitting on the floor to go to donations (I know how smart right) and in 5 minutes of me trying to clean the kitchen, Nicky got a hold of it, broke it, and cut his hand and leg.

It wasn’t a “let’s go to the hospital right now” kind of cut, but there was blood.

So just put all the glass away right from the start. Don’t wait bc they’re immobile at first.

They’ll start moving SOON after. Be prepared NOW.

Heres a great article on how to babyproof your entire home on the cheap.

Schedule a newborn photo session

If you want to get all fancy with it you can schedule a newborn photo session.

Personally, my Hospital provided those so we just went with that.

The pictures came out really well. The funny thing is though we didn’t even buy them.

They gave us samples with the watermarks on them So we just kept those and saved the money. But I completely understand if that’s something that is very important for you.

Make sure you schedule those newborn photo sessions as soon as possible.

While you’re on that hospital tour just make sure you ask If they have a newborn photographer because if they do then you don’t have to worry about this tip.

Make freezer meals

If you are not on this freezer meal trend, girl you need to be.

Especially if you’re about to have a baby. It’s literally the easiest thing ever.

All it consists of is buying large Ziploc bags or whatever freezer bag of your choice and throwing a bunch of ingredients into it, mushing it around, and putting it in your freezer.

Then when you’re ready to eat, you just throw it in a Crock-Pot or in the oven and Wham bam thank you, ma’am, bon appetit…

Trust me once that baby comes out of your belly you are not going to want to be cooking.

So I would suggest you get yourself a Crock-Pot and make yourself some freezer meals before It’s too late.

Buy some postpartum recovery supplies

Girl because you know you deserve some postpartum recovery Essentials. Don’t slack on this and get the good stuff. The hospital only gives you so much.

The brand I really like is Earth Mama Organics. I suggest you check it out because it’s the bomb.com.

 you will feel so much better and you definitely want to be pampering yourself as much as you can after that baby gets here.

So this is it, girlfriend! You’re about to have a baby!  

Your entire life is about to change for the better.  I’m so glad that you took the time to read until the very end.  this lets me know that you’re going to rock this motherhood.

I am so happy that you are about to embark on the most unforgettable journey that you will ever have in your entire life.

Check out this in-depth Pregnancy Planner to help you easily get organized for your baby’s arrival.

If you enjoyed this article please share it with another mom to be 🙂

6 thoughts on “What Every Women Needs To Do In Their Third Trimester

  1. Very helpful tips! I’m due on Mon April 23 so I only have to sterilize bottles, make freezer meals and put car seat in car! All will be done tomorrow morning!

    1. Hey Alesha!

      I am so glad you liked the “what you need to do in your third trimester” list! You are almost there! Congratulations! Good luck to you and your family with the new bundle of joy!

      Jenn @ Habitat for Mom 🙂

  2. Thanks for all the info Hun! I’m 7 months now and I feel like I’m so behind but I’m staying positive and trying to catch up. Only thing is we have our baby shower next month so we are waiting to see what we get.

    1. Your welcome Shirley! Congratulations! Don’t worry I am sure you will catch right up! I hope everything goes well and you get what you need at your baby shower! xoxo 🙂

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