April has arrived, which means we’re in the final 2 month stretch… which MEANS this has been going by so fast, I can’t believe it!! I feel so lucky to be feeling great through the third trimester. Overall, I’m just really enjoying all of it and love being pregnant. Ok, quick updates below!

Nesting

We finally cleared out our guest room this past weekend to transform it into the nursery. Expecting the crib and pendant light for the nursery to arrive this week and I can’t wait! Found this cute lamp and so many other baby things that I’m dying over. I keep my LTK and Amazon storefront with all my latest finds, but I feel like I’m also on Etsy all day finding the cutest items, so I’ll be sure to include everything I find.

Thankfully, Bridge has been down to nest with me and we’ve literally been going around the house cleaning out and organizing every little area. Mostly to get ready for our baby shower we’re having in a few weeks at the house, but it feels life changing getting rid of random stuff we never use. It’s basically a mixture of Spring Cleaning & nesting before the baby lol. Either way, I am so here for it.

Exercise

I’m feeling energized and healthy in my day-to-day and making movement a priority. And look, I get it, I know a lot of us don’t have the energy for it in the last trimester especially, but for me, it’s just making sure to be consistent. Whether it’s a workout, a long walk and some breath-work and stretching, or the occasional Pilates class with my pelvic floor physical therapist, I really try to move every single day.

I already know I’m a morning kind of workout gal, so that right there tells me if I don’t get it done before ~1pm, it’s likely not going to happen. That’s also around the time my energy starts to go down and I need a nap lol, so I’ll give myself the first part of the day to find some way to move and it always makes me feel great!

I was following my gym-based strength guide, Level Up, through the majority of my pregnancy (testing it through my first trimester and once it was released December 26th 2023, I started the 8-week guide with everyone again in January and completed the full 8 weeks!) and modifying it for comfort as I got further along. Now, I’ve started testing and designing the workouts that will be going into my Pregnancy Workout Guide, which will be released later this year!!! Getting so excited about it and including my pelvic floor PT in it to provide us more helpful tips and info. Stay tuned!

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Nutrition + Pregnancy Cravings

I’ve been able to maintain my normal eating habits through most of my pregnancy so far (aside from a few weeks in the first trimester that I didn’t enjoy meat). Trying to eat as much protein with each meal and snack as possible for all the benefits of maintaining muscle and eating enough to fuel all that I’m doing + growing another human. Read more about the importance of protein in this blog post: How I Eat 100+ Grams Of Protein Daily.

I discovered this week I finally found a craving–if you’ve been following along, you know I’ve had somewhat of a boring pregnancy (thankful for it!!) and haven’t had any cravings up until now besides an apple and peanut butter every single day– and it is CITRUS. Like I absolutely NEED an ice cold orange most days and every day without fail the last few weeks I’ve been taking a big swig of either organic orange or grapefruit juice the second I wake up in the morning. It might not be the best nutrition hack, but let me tell you, it is HEAVEN.

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Sleep

I’ve been sleeping really well and usually get up once per night to pee. I feel like in order to survive the days right now I need to try and sneak in a 20-minute nap sometime between 1-6pm daily, and Coco is absolutely loving that. Obsessed with my pregnancy pillow and highly recommend it! You can check it out here.

So far, I’ve had two charlie horses/calf spasms during the night when I stretch and I’m not going to lie, I am completely traumatized by the pain lol. You know when your muscle tenses up and gets hard as a rock and it’s difficult to get out of the spasm??? Ok, you know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever had them. Apparently they’re really common during your third trimester, so recently I’ve been upping my magnesium supplement, eating more potassium (bananas, organic Harmless Harvest coconut water with no added sugar, etc), using magnesium spray for the bottoms of my feet at night, using calf compression boots at night, and continuing to drink my electrolytes with tons and tons of water throughout the day to try and prevent them from happening.

Baby Update

Baby is the size of a coconut and starting to move more. It’s a crazy experience to feel some kicking under my ribs, and I’ve felt hiccups a couple times now that absolutely melts me.

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Welcome! I’m Rachael.

I enjoy sharing my love for food and fitness. I'm a registered dietitian, certified personal trainer, and a New York Times Bestselling author. Here you'll find all kinds of recipes and kitchen hacks, as well as workouts and fitness motivation. Enjoy! — xx Rachael

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