The San Antonio Crunchy Mom's Third Trimester Guide: For Mamas Planning a Natural Birth
- Aug 16
- 12 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
You’re in the home stretch, mama. Here’s everything I’d prioritize before baby arrives, from preparing your postpartum nest to making sure you’ve lined up the people who will support you once you’re home. The third trimester is honestly anything but glamorous for most mamas. Each day that passes, your anticipation for meeting this little life grows, along with your desire to help them out in all contexts!
So let’s make this simple.
Think of this as my sisterly advice for a San Antonio third-trimester guide from a two-time boy mama who knows what it feels like to be excited, tired, emotional, and trying to get the whole house ready before baby arrives. You don’t need to do everything perfectly. You just need a few smart systems in place so those first newborn weeks feel a little softer. Trust me when I say you absolutely want to be prepared to REST and ENJOY your newborn bubble.
Quick note before we get into it, this post is informational and doesn’t replace medical advice!! Always check with your OB, midwife, pediatrician, lactation consultant for your specific situation.
Not quite in your third-trimester yet? Check out my Crunchy Mom's First Trimester Guide or my Crunchy Mom's Second Trimester Guide for more tips relevant to the trimester you are in.
Before baby arrives, don’t forget to document this season.
You’ve spent so much time preparing for your baby’s arrival. But somewhere in the middle of making freezer meals and washing tiny onesies, make sure you leave room to remember who you are right now.
I offer relaxed, heartfelt maternity photography throughout San Antonio, with location planning, styling guidance, and a beautiful experience designed around your growing family.
Table of Contents:
Meal Prepping Tips & Recipes
Systems for Laundering & Organizing baby clothes
Setting up a Mini Nursery at your Bedside
Finding San Antonio Prenatal Bodywork Providers
Finalize your Birth Plan
Understand Physiologic Labor for natural birth
Get support from Doula Rachel Ogea for birth education
Educate Yourself for Baby's First Latch & Breastfeeding
San Antonio Third Trimester Guide
Meal Prepping Tips for when you have one hand to eat
Newborn hunger and postpartum hunger are very real. The problem is, when baby is here, cooking often feels like climbing a mountain. Meal prep doesn’t have to mean filling a deep freezer with 40 labeled casseroles. It can be simple and still save your sanity. Start with meals you already like and actually eat. This is not the time to test a complicated recipes! Though I will share my favorite recipes that i prepped for myself.
Good third-trimester meal prep ideas:
Breakfast burritos wrapped individually in foil
Bacon & Cheddar Egg bites or baked oatmeal cups
Shredded chicken for tacos, bowls, soups, and sandwiches
Soups, chili, or stew frozen in Souper Cubes then transferred to gallon freezer bags
Snack boxes with cheese, crackers, meat sticks, nuts, trail mix, or protein bars
My favorite meals to prep:
One thing about me, I absolutely believe in soups, broths, and teas being the most nourishing thing for your freshly postpartum body. So these are primarily what I prepped! Cozy Wild Rice and Orzo Chicken Soup
Cozy Wild Rice and Orzo Chicken Soup *Notes: Double the veggies & protein, use bone broth, and skip the orzo
If you’re a busy mom or already chasing a toddler, make it even easier. Double dinner twice a week and freeze half!! Doing this felt like the ultimate hack for my winter and spring babies.
A few little tips that help:
Write baking instructions on the lid or freezer bag. You may know what to do, but when you're laid up with your baby, your hubby may be on autopilot.
Freeze meals in portions that make sense for your family.
Keep easy postpartum snacks near your nursing or pumping spot.
Stock drinks with electrolytes, coconut water, or whatever helps you hydrate. I love HEB's Central Market brand Coconut Water.
If you run out of time for meal-prepping, go to Trader Joe's or HEB and find your favorite marinated meat to throw in the freezer. These are easy button dinners you can throw in the oven and whip up some quick green beans or oven roasted carrots as a side.
And please hear this with love, put paper plates and plasticwear on your list. This is survival season, not a hostess competition.
Systems for laundering & organizing baby clothes
Tiny baby laundry is adorable until you realize every outfit has snaps, tags, and wash instructions. Keep it simple.
Here’s an easy way to wash baby clothes, swaddles, burp cloths, crib sheets, and blankets before baby arrives:
Remove tags and packaging.
Sort by color if you’re worried about bleeding.
Wash with a gentle, fragrance-free, non-toxic detergent. I love Zum!
Skip fabric softener and dryer sheets, since they can irritate sensitive skin and full of toxic ingredients. Use wool dryer balls instead!
Use a normal or delicate cycle, depending on the item.
Dry on low heat or hang dry anything delicate like knitted one pieces or blankets.
Fold by size!! After washing everything, I always sort it out by size and use storage bins to store the next size up.
A helpful little system is to separate newborn and 0-3 month clothing. Some babies never wear newborn size for long (mine never wore newborn), and some live in it for weeks. Keep both easy to grab justttt in case you have large babies like me. :) Also, don’t wash every single outfit in every size before baby comes. If your baby outgrows something with tags still on, you might be able to exchange or gift it!
Last helpful tip I wish I realized with my first baby: Check fabric tags for 100% cotton BEFORE taking the tags off and washing everything! I did not realize this would be something I cared about at first, but now if anything is not 100% cotton, it is immediately getting gifted or given away. Synthetic fabrics often have forever chemicals that will sit on your babies skin and in my experience, my babies would get so hot and sweaty in anything but cotton.
Setting up a mini nursery at your bedside
I always plan to sleep with my baby in their bedside bassinet, or co-sleeping next to me for the first 6 months. That means I have a mini nursery set-up at my bedside! My bedside bassinet has a shelf below the bassinet where I have baskets to keep most of these things handy, otherwise I organize the rest into my nightstand.
Keep these nearby:
Diapers (I'm convinced these help my babies sleep through the night)
Wipes (I've heard mixed reviews on these but I love them)
Diaper cream (non-toxic and safe for cloth diapering)
Burp cloths (100% cotton)
Extra pajamas (Organic Cotton)
Pacifiers if you plan to use them
A small trash bag or diaper pail (We've used this one into toddlerhood)
Nipple cream (LOVE this one!)
Water bottle and nursing snacks (boobie bars are GREAT in a pinch)
Heating pad for mama (or baby if they get cold, you can heat up their bed using this before you lay them down!)
Extra Chux Pads for mama & baby diaper changes (these ones arent an awful color)
The goal is not a Pinterest-perfect cart. The goal is that when baby spits up, leaks through a diaper, and wants to eat again 10 minutes later, you don’t have to fully wake up the whole house!
One more thing to put on your third-trimester list…
If you haven’t scheduled your maternity or newborn portraits yet, now is a great time to get them on the calendar.
Most of my maternity clients schedule their sessions around 28–34 weeks, while newborn sessions are planned before baby arrives so you don’t have one more thing to think about once you’re home.
Finding San Antonio Prenatal Bodywork Providers
By the third trimester, your hips, pelvis, lower back, and ribs may be aching and asking for some love. If you want chiropractic care during pregnancy, look for someone trained in prenatal care and ask whether they are Webster Certified! These are my tops recommendations!
Living Water Chiropractic (for Mamas in Boerne, TX)
Essence Chiropractic (for Mamas in San Antonio and Boerne)
Blossom Family Chiropractic (for Mamas in Bulverde, TX)
Empowered Chiropractic (for Mamas in San Antonio, TX)
The Webster Technique is commonly used in prenatal chiropractic care to support pelvic alignment and comfort. My family personally sees Living Water Chiropractic through every stage of life and we love them for it! A good San Antonio prenatal provider should welcome your questions and work as part of your bigger care team.
Another incredible resource for San Antonio prenatal body support is Nurture Massage Therapy! Nichole is the kindest soul and is so passionate about her perinatal work.
More San Antonio resources for expecting moms
Planning your maternity photos?→ Best Maternity Photography Locations in San Antonio
Need help choosing what to wear?→ What to Wear for Maternity Photos in San Antonio
Looking for newborn photography?→ San Antonio Newborn Photography Experience
Finalize your birth plan, but remain open-handed
A birth plan is not about controlling every detail. Birth is birth, and sometimes it moves in a direction nobody expected. However, it is so important to dream about your birth and how you want to feel empowered through it. A birth plan helps your team understand your preferences before contractions get intense. There may come a point in labor where all your cares go out the window, but having a team that knows your dreams and desires, and advocates for them is priceless.
Talk with your San Antonio prenatal Care provider about this. At a minimum include preferences for:
Who you want in the room (who do you feel comfortable being naked in front of? Or roaring like a mama bear in front of?)
Pain relief options (Water, Birth Comb, Tens Unit, Pregnancy Ball, Counter-Pressure, Heat/Cold Therapy, Epidural, etc.)
Movement during labor & Pushing positions (Positions for each phase of labor or depending on baby's positioning)
Intermittent or continuous monitoring (Intermittent monitoring with a doppler IS possible!)
Eating and drinking during labor, based on your birth location’s policy (Mama, please choose a birth location that lets you fuel & hydrate!!)
Delayed cord clamping (Team Wait Till White - google it)
Skin-to-skin contact (you want the dreamy golden hour!)
Newborn procedures (Immunizations, Circumcision, Eye Ointment, Vitamin D, etc. - Evidence Based Birth has great resources on these)
Feeding plans (Example: Exclusive breastfeeding, latching immediately after birth is AMAZING for both mama and baby)
Also talk through your plan with your provider before labor. Ask what’s routine at your hospital or birth center, what choices you’ll have, and what situations might change the plan. Remember, you are fully resourced to change providers if your provider is not respecting and honoring your birth choices.
Remember, birth is never predictable. It's a completely raw event that unfolds in your life that you can completely prepare for, but have no control over. Breathe, know your options, pray for your dream birth, and leave it in the Lord's hands.
Understand physiologic labor if you’re preparing for natural birth
If you’re dreaming of an unmedicated or low-intervention birth, learning physiologic labor can help you understand what your body is doing.
Physiologic labor means labor that starts and progresses on its own, supported by the body’s natural hormone flow. Oxytocin helps contractions. Endorphins help with coping. A calm, private, supported environment can make a difference for many people.
The stages of labor include:
Early labor
Contractions start and may be spaced out. This is often the longest part. Rest, eat light foods if allowed, hydrate, take a shower, and distract yourself.
Active labor
Contractions become stronger and closer together. This is when many moms need more focused support, movement, counter-pressure, breathing, and encouragement.
Transition
This is usually the most intense part before pushing. It can bring shaking, nausea, pressure, fear, or the classic “I can’t do this” feeling. Sister, that can be a sign you’re very close.
Pushing and birth
Your body may begin bearing down. Positions like side-lying, hands and knees, squatting with support, or upright positions may help, depending on your body and your care team.
Placenta delivery and recovery
After baby arrives, your body delivers the placenta. Skin-to-skin, feeding support, warmth, and monitoring matter here.
For natural birth prep, learn comfort measures before labor, not during it. Practice breathing, resting your jaw, relaxing your shoulders, low sounds, hip squeezes, and position changes. Work with a doula for extra support leading up to and during labor!
Get support from Doula Rachel Ogea for birth education
You do not have to wing it. A doula or birth educator can help you and your partner understand labor, comfort measures, and informed decision-making.
If you’re in San Antonio, collaborating with Doula Rachel Ogea for Spinning Babies-informed support or evidence-based birth classes could be a WONDERFUL option. Spinning Babies focuses on body balancing, movement, and positions that may support baby’s positioning and maternal comfort. Evidence-based birth classes can also help you understand common interventions, consent, risks and benefits, and how to ask better questions.
A good class can help you feel less panicky and more prepared, even if birth takes an unexpected turn.
Educate Yourself for Baby's First Latch & Breastfeeding
Ordering a breast pump through insurance
If you plan to pump at all, even occasionally, don’t wait until you’re sleep-deprived and leaking through your shirt to figure out pump supplies.
Aeroflow Breastpumps is one popular way to check insurance coverage and order a breast pump and supplies. Coverage varies by plan, but many insurance plans cover a breast pump, replacement parts, milk storage bags, or other postpartum supplies.
Here’s the basic process:
Go to Aeroflow’s website and enter your insurance information.
Fill out the pregnancy and provider details they ask for.
Review the pumps or supplies your plan may cover.
Choose the option that fits your feeding goals.
Aeroflow typically helps request the prescription from your provider if your plan requires one.
Watch for shipping updates and save any insurance communication.
A few sister tips:
Don’t choose a pump only because it’s popular. Think about how you’ll use it! At first I got a spectra, and it worked great! I didn't love being connected to tubes though so the second time around I got the Eufy S1 Pro and LOVE IT SO MUCH.
If you’ll pump at work, portability matters.
If you’ll pump mostly at home, comfort and suction settings may matter more. But still consider being tethered to a machine or whether you'd like to be more mobile (or have to be with a toddler).
Order extra duckbills, valves, flanges, and milk bags if they’re covered or affordable when Aeroflow sends you reminders!
Measure for flange size, because the standard size in the box isn’t right for everyone. If you see a Lactation Consultant, she can help you with this!
If you’re unsure about anything, ask a lactation consultant before baby arrives. It’s much easier to learn your pump when you’re not also recovering, feeding a newborn, and running on tiny naps.
Learn breastfeeding basics before the first latch
Breastfeeding is natural, but that does not mean it always feels easy at first. A little knowledge goes a long way.
Basics to know before baby arrives:
Newborns eat often, usually around the clock.
Colostrum comes in small amounts, and that’s normal!
A deep latch should feel like tugging, not toe-curling pain.
Baby’s mouth should cover more than just the nipple.
Wet and dirty diapers help show intake, along with weight checks.
Cluster feeding can be normal, especially in the early days.
Nipple pain, clicking, poor weight gain, or shallow latch are reasons to get help. I absolutely loved working with Alamo City Breastfeeding Lactation Consultants - San Antonio
Set up support before you need it. Save the number for a lactation consultant, ask your hospital about lactation help, and know where to go if feeding feels hard.
Also, combo feeding, pumping, donor milk, and formula are not failures. Feeding your baby with love and support matters most.
To-Do Before Baby Arrives
Your final third-trimester checklist
☐ Prepare postpartum meals
☐ Wash and organize baby clothes
☐ Set up your bedside essentials
☐ Install your car seat
☐ Finalize your birth preferences
☐ Save your local support resources
☐ Prepare your breastfeeding/pumping supplies
☐ Schedule your maternity portraits
☐ Book your newborn photographer
☐ Give yourself permission to slow down
You’ve spent months preparing for everyone else. Don’t forget to preserve this season for yourself, too.
Frequently Asked Questions about San Antonio Third-Trimester Pregnancy Support
When should I start third-trimester prep?
Many moms start around 28 to 32 weeks, then finish the big things by 36 or 37 weeks. Focus on meals, car seat installation, baby laundry, birth plan, and your bedside setup first.
Do I need a birth plan if I’m giving birth in a hospital?
Yes! In fact I would argue this is the most important place to have a birth plan. A birth plan lets your nurses and provider know your preferences for pain relief, movement, newborn care, feeding, and backup plans. A strong birth plan can help prevent the cascade of interventions at your hospital birth.
How do I know if I picked the right breast pump?
Think about how often you’ll pump and where. If you’ll pump at work, portability and replacement parts matter. If you’re mostly pumping at home, comfort and settings may matter more. However I would consider how mobile you want to or need to be, even at home!
Are Webster Certified chiropractors safe during pregnancy?
Always double check that your provider is in fact Webster certified! If they are, chiropractic care is a WONDERFUL way to support your body and your baby's positioning at the end of pregnancy.
What should I keep closest to my bed for newborn nights?
Diapers, wipes, burp cloths, swaddles, extra pajamas, bassinet sheets, nipple cream, snacks, water, and a charger. Keep it boring and practical. That’s what you’ll actually use!
Hi, I’m Lauren!
I’m a San Antonio motherhood photographer, mama to two little boys, and the photographer behind Lauren Kay’s Photography.
I’ve been in the third-trimester-prep trenches twice now, so this guide is a collection of the things that genuinely helped me feel more prepared, and a few things I wish I’d known sooner.
When I’m not photographing motherhood, you’ll usually find me chasing my boys, gardening in my backyard, or dreaming up ways to make this season of life a little more beautiful.
You’re almost there, mama.
You’ve prepared the meals, washed the onesies, thought through your birth preferences, and gathered your support system.
Now leave a little room for remembering this season, too.
Whether you’re still dreaming about your maternity portraits or already thinking ahead to those first quiet days with your newborn, I’d love to help you document this chapter of motherhood in a way that feels natural, meaningful, and true to your family.
Planning maternity photos?
Already preparing for baby’s arrival?
Serving San Antonio, Boerne, New Braunfels, Bulverde, and surrounding Central Texas families.
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