The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Third Trimester

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How you may be feeling . The emotional challenges of the third trimester . How your baby is growing . The group B strep test . Choosing your baby's doctor . Breastfeeding versus bottle-feeding . The circumcision decision . Going past your due date

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Third Trimester

By the time you reach the third trimester, the novelty of being pregnant is starting to wear off. You're sick of wearing the same three mix-and-match maternity outfits, and you wish that friends and strangers alike would keep their comments on your size and shape to themselves. The only good thing to be said about the third trimester is that by the time you've lived through it, you're more than ready to give birth. Even if you've been dreading labor up until now, you may suddenly find that you're eager to get the whole show on the road. After all, the pain of giving birth is a small price to pay if it means that you don't have to be pregnant any longer.

If, on the other hand, you aren't troubled by many of the infamous third-trimester aches and pains, you may still be enjoying pregnancy as much as you did during the second trimester. You may love feeling your baby's movements and spend a lot of time looking forward to the day when you finally get to meet him or her.

As you've probably gathered, this chapter focuses on the highs and lows of the third trimester. We talk about the physical and emotional challenges, tell you what you need to know about your baby's position prior to labor, and give you the facts on group B strep—an important but admittedly scary topic. We then pass along some pointers on choosing your baby's pediatrician, deciding whether to breastfeed or bottle-feed, and making the circumcision decision. We then wrap up the chapter by giving you some pointers on staying sane if your due date comes and goes and you're still pregnant.

The complaint department
By the start of the third trimester, your uterus is large and hard, your baby's movements are visible, and you may be experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions (the so-called practice contractions that prepare your body for labor). You may continue to experience some of the aches and pains that you experienced during the first and second trimesters, but you will likely experience a few other complaints as well. Here are some of the most common third-trimester aches and pains.

" My husband had to endure our air-conditioning going full blast all the time during heat waves. We even had to install ceiling fans in the hallway and our bedroom because I was just too hot.
—Jacqueline, 34, mother of two "

Shortness of breath
Like the majority of other third-trimester complaints, the breathlessness you may be experiencing is caused by your growing uterus. During the third trimester, the diaphragm—the broad, flat muscle that lies underneath your lungs—is pushed out of its place by a good 11/2 inches, decreasing your lung capacity. You'd be feeling even more breathless if it weren't for the fact that the high levels of progesterone in your body trigger the respiratory center in your brain, causing you to breathe more deeply. This helps to ensure that your baby receives plenty of oxygen, despite your diminished lung capacity.