Magic of the 3rd Trimester
As I write this, I am cozy in the second trimester.
As I write this post about the third trimester, I am cozy in the second trimester. The second trimester I always find to be so comfortable… belly getting round, feeling sensual, and with appetite running high. The second trimester holds some of the sweetest golden days of pregnancy for myself and many women.
I find the first couple of weeks of pregnancy secret and lovely.
I have also really struggled with morning sickness and trying to understand how to get around it. I find it amazing the women who do even throw up still are able to make it through! I have been through 5 pregnancies now, plus a number of miscarriages, and never thrown up! Yet, I still find morning sickness to be the worst part of pregnancy.
When pregnancy is smooth, quantum health offers a lot. I shared about this in my Lesson 09: Quantum Health in the First Trimester inside the Practitioner learning program.
When pregnancy is complicated, we can also gain a lot from the integration of quantum health into conventional treatment protocols. I shared about this in Lesson 10: Quantum Health in the Complaints and Complications of Pregnancy (2 part video series).
Since the second trimester tends to be relatively easy sailing, I recorded a quick little audio for my Practitioners about finding your ideal clients and getting to know them during this time. With the extra breathing space, a lot of women can start thinking more deeply about what they really want for care and may choose to transfer care or enlist additional support at this time.
From my current vantage of the second trimester, I know the third coming up will hold some new challenges—and also joys!—that haven’t quite arrived at my doorstep yet.
For example, I really enjoy belly mapping. Right now, I know by my baby’s movements they flipped from sideways (transverse) to head down sometime around Winter solstice. Talking with my older kids about it, they all really enjoyed hearing about their patterns in the womb, too.
My oldest, little froggie, stayed so tight in an OA position the main movement I ever felt leading up to birth was her hiccups down low, front and center.
My second, little punching octopus, stubbornly situated himself OP. I felt him pushing my belly in all 4 quadrants all the way until about 6 hours before he was born! Then, in the tub, he finally rotated in one big whoosh to be born OA.
My third, little ballerina, was so persistent in her ROA that I could always feel her knees up in my upper right quadrant, and at one point thought it might be twins after all! After she was born, she would often put herself back in that position with her little knee out.
My fourth, little twister, would turn from ROA to ROP every time I would take a trip in the car! Finally, I tried the old wive’s tale of scrubbing all my floors by hand to encourage him to rotate into an easier position for birth. This took over 2 hours in my split level home, but sure enough, by the end he had rotated and stayed ROA until birth.
We’ll see in a few months how this little one growing now situates themselves once things get tighter for them! Will it be another ROA baby like my most recent two? It seems like my body’s imbalance tilts them that way—I have significantly more stretch marks on the right side of my belly than the left—but you never know until you get there! Right now, I can perceive movement patterns but I can’t yet feel individual parts when I palpate my belly. Being able to do belly mapping is one of the things I look forward to about the third trimester.
Since the third trimester is also the next set of lessons in my Circadian and Quantum Childbearing Year practitioner program, I’m currently thinking about all of what it brings not only personally, but also from the more professional perspective.
Emotionally and spiritually, there’s so much personal exploration that can happen in the third trimester. In my work here at Brighter Days, Darker Nights, I’m mainly focused on the health aspects of pregnancy.
I find a healthy foundation makes those other works easier.
This is not to say you can’t experience growth through trials and challenges because I know firsthand you can (my tips for navigating the NICU here).
Humans and parents are really amazing for their resilience through all kinds of situations.
Which is to say:
I have so much respect and admiration for all the families I have walked with through these experiences of welcoming new life—each family gets a completely unique fractal version of the universal experiences of procreation and the divine continuation of life. Thank you, to all who have invited me into their journeys as I truly find it an honor to listen and engage with you through these special times.
Learn more about private consultations at my main website if you think personal support would be resonant and helpful: nikkokennedy.com.
Today, I’m writing you to share some helpful insights for supporting health in the third trimester.
Here are what I see as the main health goals of the third trimester:
Support the health of mama’s blood to nourish herself and the placenta (which really means supporting her bones, where all types of blood cells are made and recycled)
Support baby’s nervous system development to the fullest extent possible before birth (the nervous system is only place in the baby that could possibly still develop a major congenital abnormality in the 3rd trimester because all the other systems formed in the first or early second trimester)
Support mama’s collagen health to help her stay stretchy, strong, and full of intercellular communication (the amniotic sac and umbilical cord are two major structures compose of collagen that need to stay strong all the way until the very end of the pregnancy and birth processes, plus collagen supports the baby’s nervous system and blood-brain barrier which is crucial for preventing any lasting outcomes for the ~60% of babies who will develop newborn jaundice)
Support nutrition with a high protein diet so there are plenty of antioxidants, hormones, and amino acids to go around for both mother and baby (protein intake needs are significantly elevated by 16 weeks, but by the third trimester, the demand goes even higher as this is when the most protein is deposited in the baby)
Support the production of the hormones and neurotransmitters so she can go into and stay in labor easily (my investigations into circadian health show the importance not only of oxytocin, but also melatonin, the endocannabinoidome, dopamine, and glutamate/gaba and all of these depend on protein, fat, as well as light and darkness, which is an often overlooked aspect of pregnancy care)
I’m recording a new lesson about how quantum lifestyle choices support each of these health goals through a healthy 3rd trimester. It will be released this Saturday, and the follow-up lesson about using these health supports for the most common complaints and complications of the third trimester the following week.
Subscribers of my highest tier will automatically get these new lessons by email. If you aren’t yet a member, upgrade to the highest tier today to get these videos and lifetime access to my research archives! Your welcome email includes the links to start the practitioner lesson series as well as other bonuses to support your learning.
