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Pregnant with Food Allergies: Pushing Through the Third Trimester

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I cannot believe I am writing this post with an almost six-week-old baby boy sleeping next to me. It’s amazing how long that third trimester seemed at the time. But here I am, getting up a million times during the night to feed my sweet little boy, not to get up to go to the bathroom or to take another TUMS for my heartburn.

I am happy to report that, yes, there is an end to the third trimester, and yes, it is ABSOLUTELY worth it! I distinctly remember thinking during my first trimester that there is no way the other two trimesters could be as rough as the first, but the third trimester definitely challenged that thought. However, I learned a lot, and am happy to share my tips (both related to food allergies and not) with you today!

  1. Continue adapting your diet according to your symptoms and allergies. I was not completely prepared for my symptoms to change again as I reached the third trimester, so I quickly had to adapt my meals and snacks again. The biggest obstacle I faced during the third trimester was heartburn (I had no idea how terrible heartburn could be)! This meant I had to adapt my diet again to be very bland, in order to keep the heartburn at bay. I also had to find things that weren’t very heavy to eat towards the end, as baby boy got bigger and took up more and more space.
  2. If you haven’t already, invest in a pregnancy pillow. Now, this isn’t allergy related at all, but boy did I love my pregnancy pillow. I highly recommend getting one – here is the pillow that I used.
  3. Attend a childbirth class. My husband and I attended a childbirth class while we were in the third trimester, and I was so glad we did! A lot of my questions and fears were addressed during the class. We learned and practiced breathing techniques, toured the hospital, shown where to park, and given an outline for a birth plan. These were all very helpful!
  4. Create a simple birth plan (and be prepared to have things change). Our hospital provided a birth plan template online, which was very helpful for us to use. If your hospital does not offer this, there are plenty of birth plan templates offered online with a quick google search. Not only did I use the birth plan to list my preferences for labor and delivery, but also to list all of my allergies (both food and medication). This was also great for my husband to reference as I was a little preoccupied 😉 The next time we do this (in a few years), I might also print out a single page of paper that lists my allergies to medications and food to have on hand for the nurses after delivery. One of the most difficult and frustrating parts after delivery was having to explain my allergies every single time we changed nurses. It would have been nice to just have a list for them to reference.
  5. Call the hospital cafeteria to see if you have safe food options to eat. Unfortunately, our hospital used peanuts in their cooking, so I wasn’t able to eat anything aside from packaged saltines and graham crackers. My mom thankfully was able to run to the store for me and bring some bland food to eat for my meals. Because I ended up needing a c-section, I had to stick to small, bland meals while I was in the hospital.
  6. Pack your hospital bag (sooner than later). I used Lauren McBride’s hospital bag checklist when packing my hospital bag. I thought this was the most realistic list, compared to some of the lists on Pinterest that seemed to be endless! You’re not going on vacation – you’re having a baby 😉

Here are some pictures from my third trimester:

Before we took our maternity pictures
Baby shower at Nolan’s work
Family and friend baby shower
On a walk to get baby boy out!
One of our last pictures we took before baby boy joined us!
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I’m Caitlin! An allergic mama :) I’m raising two boys while continuing to navigate life with anaphylaxis. I’m excited to share recipes, reviews, and helpful hints with you!
    • Lisa
    • May 28, 2019
    Reply

    So this is awesome!!!

    1. Reply

      Thank you!

  1. Pingback: How My Allergies Affected Labor and Delivery | Caity's Kitchen

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