15 Surprising Things Women Experience in Their Third Trimester

It's common for pregnant women to experience varicose veins and hemorrhoids, especially during their third trimester. This is because of a combination of factors, including the increased weight that your growing uterus puts on the veins between your legs and your heart, which slows down the blood circulation. Pregnancy hormones can also relax the walls of veins, which can lead to swelling, and an increase in fluid retention also plays a role.

As your uterus and pelvis begin to expand in preparation for delivery, your intrauterine ligaments begin to stretch. This process, which can be excruciating for some, is caused by a hormone called relaxin that relaxes the ligaments surrounding your pelvis.

When you consider all of the fluids you're retaining, the increase in blood volume, the growth in your breasts, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid, it's no surprise that many women can easily gain between a half a pound to a pound during each week throughout their last trimester.

Many mamas-to-be experience intense dreams as they approach their due date. It's believed that pregnancy hormones may cause these crazy dreams during the last trimester of pregnancy.

Women have less serum calcium in their body during their third trimester than they did during their first. At this time, a developing baby is transforming cartilage into bone and getting all of his or her calcium from mom.

Many women begin waddling by 36 weeks but not because of the sheer size of their bumps. During this time, the baby is dropping in mom's pelvis in preparation for birth. This repositioning can make it harder for mom to walk without the waddle.

When a variety of pregnancy symptoms collide during the third trimester, it can make the mom-to-be much more clumsy. From a big belly messing with your balance to surging hormones playing with your mind, it's hard to keep it all together during the last months and weeks before the baby is born.

Just when you think it isn't possible for your breasts to get any larger, they continue you to surprise you. This rapid increase of breast tissue during the third trimester adds to the two pounds of weight that many women experience by the end of pregnancy.

The extra weight that your pelvis is trying to support makes incontinence a likely experience during the end of pregnancy. Not only does gravity put more pressure on your bladder thanks to the weight of your baby and the amniotic sac, but the stretching and weakening of your perineal muscles can also lead to some unpleasant accidents.

Not only are your breasts rapidly growing during this stage, but they are also getting ready to feed the baby once he or she is born. Some moms-to-be experience leaks of yellowish liquid, called colostrum, which is the first substance your baby will nurse after birth.

Pregnant ladies shouldn't be alarmed if they notice a change in their voice during the third trimester. Thanks to increased fluids and mild swelling of the vocal folds, some women experience a slightly lower voice for the remainder of their pregnancies.

Your belly isn't the only thing changing shape — so are your eyeballs! Tiny factors, like water retention causing the thickness of your cornea to increase as well as hormones, can cause blurred vision that is typically temporary.

The joys of digestive troubles aren't reserved for the first trimester of pregnancy. As the due date gets closer, a growing uterus pushes your intestines and stomach up to make room. With the discomfort from their organs being in a different position, some women lose their appetite and even a few pounds during the last weeks.

The pressure that a growing uterus puts on nerves can also cause numbness and tingling in limbs. Luckily, these symptoms typically resolve after the baby is born.

Women intake 20 percent more oxygen during this stage as they work harder to breathe. Not only is the uterus growing upward, which gives lungs less room to expand, but your little one is also metabolizing more from you as well.