What productivity really looks like in those final weeks of pregnancy
At long last, the three-week countdown has begun. I know this because my knuckles have spontaneously turned arthritic, my waistline has been stretched by little knees, and I am vigilantly ChatGPT-ing, ‘Is it normal to sleep 18 hours per day?’
The exhaustion is chronic now, and so is the lightning crotch. Not to mention, this is the most amount of thoughts I’ve had in weeks. I’ve been trying my darndest to muster up a few good articles before the baby arrives because God knows I’m not an influencer and have absolutely no intention of showing up online with peptide eye patches and a camera roll full of reels next month.
I do have a draft I’m working on, though. It’s about sex appeal in the third trimester and navigating the erotic identity crisis that is the last month of pregnancy. But maybe I’ll save my research (and last three brain cells) for that looming six-week hiatus… I mean, healing period that awaits us in the fourth trimester.
Things have really changed, eh? These last few weeks are not for the weak… Between rotisserie hour taking up a majority of the day and taking enough naps to make my Apple Watch question if this is normal, I’ve rendered productivity down to an embarrassing minimum.
As someone who generates much of their self-worth from what they look like and how much they can accomplish in a day, the ‘final stretch’ is shredding through every last ounce of my dignity. I think ‘productivity’ has suddenly been redefined to making one dino nugget meal per day, vacuuming the living room carpet, and finishing whatever mom books I have left on my Kindle.
It helps that the nursery is ready, the hospital bags are packed, and everything on our before-the-baby-arrives to-do list has been done for weeks. We continue to muster up whatever energy is left for those daily workouts—though ‘daily’ has been shafted to once every three business days. Cleaning is now synonymous with a HIIT workout ‘cause by the time I finish mopping the floors, the sciatica is so bad I need a mandatory recovery week.
Luckily, the nesting urge has worn off quite a bit. But every time I see dust on the baseboards, it takes a full session of cognitive behavioral therapy not to bust out the micro-fibre cloths. Humbled as I’ve been, I now keep the condo clean enough for spontaneous water breakage while reminding myself that newborns are practically blind and will not be judging me by crumbs on the stovetop.
The dilemma is that I stretched nesting and preparation so far in advance that there’s really nothing else to do now. The registry was a 70-for-70 so there’s nothing else to buy. The car seat is installed and the stroller is ready. Everything has been washed and sterilized. All we really have to do is plug in the bassinet and charge the breast pumps. And with three weeks left, I can’t say I’m rushing to check those off the list.
I look around and see that the time for true productivity has long passed.
I took a very intentional sabbatical when I found out we conceived. The kind of sabbatical that has no set ‘return date.’ And though I’m glad to have alleviated the pressure to perform, I still wrestle with the publisher mindset that just wants to crack out a million books. Maybe that’s why I’ve taken to Substack so passionately; I feel every last bit of editor-in-chief in me fighting for another publication.
That might just be the hardest part of this ‘waiting game.’ My days aren’t full of breastfeeding and diaper changes yet, so I can’t fully justify not working. And the nest is ready to welcome baby bird, so I can’t stay busy gathering twigs anymore. I just find myself in this gestational limbo that feels entirely out of options… and energy.
It’s ironic too, because everyone seems to tell me the same thing: use these last few weeks to rest before your days blur into months. But there’s something so suspicious about this command, as if the world tells you to relax but might judge you if you actually do. So, instead, you cram a bunch of menial tasks into your day to appear productive while fighting for your life to stay awake and pleasant.
The fact is… my bones wish a b*tch would just sit tf down. But I just feel so overdramatic when I confess my latest symptoms and so guilty for rationalizing doing ‘nothing.’ You can’t notice the tiny feet kicking me in the ribs or the nerve pain when I try to make a fist. You can’t see the belly tape I have on my knees because I may or may not have squatted too much yesterday—or how justifiable it is that I’ve fallen asleep in the middle of a conversation.
We only see output. And the lack of it, too. And this just might be the hardest thing a pregnant woman in her last few weeks goes through. Because she’s silently expecting herself to perform like she’s still in the second trimester while feeling the pathological equivalent of being hit by a freight train in the third.
So, what is a new mom to do when she can no longer churn out the same results as she once did? It’s clear that this article is not for the woman who gives up easily—no. This is for the chronic overachiever whom not even heartburn and swollen feet can get down.
The truth above all truths is simple: productivity can still be productivity while looking very different. And in this season or, let us say, brief chapter in your gestational journey, rest is not the absence of productivity. It might quite literally be the goal. And, to support that statement, I must disclose that I… just took a nap.
I was letters away from completing a sentence when I suddenly… went offline. That happens a lot these days. But when I woke up, I had a sudden revelation: it was time to make dinner. Baby gave me the nudge to eat in the next twenty minutes ‘or else.’ So I threw a little maccheroni ragu together and pre-prepared tomorrow’s dinner. Voilà: productivity, redefined.
You see, it’s not always about pumping out turkey dinners in one shot. Lately, productivity is making two meals in one go so that I don’t have to peel potatoes on a 3% battery tomorrow. It’s taking a nap between paragraphs to wake up with your next sentence in mind.
Sure, I’m not designing the pages of my next bestseller. But getting the laundry done and folding it over the course of two days is almost as satisfying!
So, let’s retire the old metrics for the next few weeks and take stock of what productivity really looks like when your body is working overtime. There are still plenty of ways to feel accomplished without running yourself into the ground. So, let’s begin… wildly enough, with working out.
Working out
At this rate, we’re no longer training for the marathon that is pregnancy. We are walking and stretching to get baby out! I’ve said this since the very start, I’m not just working out for a healthy baby, I am exercising for a smooth recovery.
Now that my physical capacity has quickly rendered itself down to none, I just don’t have the energy (or the nerve circulation) to strength train anymore. Shit, I’m getting winded from praying nowadays, and squatting isn’t targeting my glutes anymore but my ability to stand for the next three days.
So, perhaps this is the time to pivot your workout routines. For many women, a good gym session is enough to make the whole day feel productive. But in those last few weeks, a good 15 minutes on the medicine ball and some lightweight resistance bands really do spell “more than enough.”
Stretch, roll your ankles… or, at this rate, cankles, if you must. Do some 360 breathing or hip openers. Anything to loosen up those tight muscles. It’s funny how pregnancy hormones loosen your joints, but somehow you feel stiffer than ever. And while some of us aren’t necessarily preparing for a vaginal delivery, those tried-and-true stretches will still help with that late-term discomfort.
Diet and nutrition
Does anyone else feel like a whole day can be ruined if you ate a bad meal? With my appetite growing faster than my baby’s fundal height, I can quickly spiral downwards (or rather, my food upwards) if I don’t eat consciously at this stage.
And while I was treading somewhere between Martha Stewart and Nara Smith in the second trimester, the last few weeks are giving Jenny Craig.
So, pat yourself on the back… or, in this case, the belly, if your Uber Eats app is offloaded. Sometimes a home-cooked meal is as productive as it gets—even if that means meal prepping, gluten-free Dino nuggets in the air fryer, or YouTubing a dump-and-go Crock-Pot recipe. And don’t get yourself down if “productive” only meant drinking some water today.
I can boastfully say that we have reserved fast food and SkipTheDishes orders for dire circumstances. And even though I have entered “dire” territory, I still muster up every last ounce of energy to make a homemade meal every day. To me, that counts as massively productive.
Creative pursuits
Not everyone is an entrepreneur, works from home, or gets an early maternity leave. A job alone counts for ninety percent of productivity, even if, at the end of the day, you’ve accomplished nothing else.
For all my WFH or SAH-moms and/or wives, count your blessings that productivity isn’t measured by nines or fives.
On the other hand, the measure of productivity can shift drastically for self-employed or maritally-blessed mamas. As a matter of fact, having such an independent measure of work productivity can increase the pressure to perform at rates you previously accomplished. You can’t just clock out, point to some reels you made, and call it a day. So, choose a creative pursuit with no audience, deadline, or monetization plan attached to it. Write something you may never publish. Paint badly. Or bake purely because you know you’ll be craving something sweet later.
Prayer
If all you can manage to do between now and the time of naissance is pray and speak life over your own, you’ll have quantifiably done ‘the most’.
Spending time with the Lord and praying ceaselessly is hands down the most powerful form of productivity in the third trimester. While everyone is eating dates and practicing hypno-birthing, praying and prophesying over your child’s (and family’s) life might just outweigh anything you can do at this point.
It may not feel as productive by the world’s standards, but its benefits honestly cannot be measured, and it will produce fruits for eternity.
On days I feel more restless than others, mentally and physically, a good sermon or worship podcast turns the entire day around. If, at the very least, I’ve read my scripture and/or communed with God, my day feels far more accomplished than filling it with anything else.
I admit, I’ve needed God so much more in my pregnancy than ever before: to calm my anxious thoughts, speak life over my child and family, and pray for a smooth postpartum. But even more than that, I’ve needed peace that surpasses all understanding—and all ChatGPT answers too. I’ve struggled with so many battles as my belly grew and suffered in silence more times than I can count. No What to Expect When You’re Expecting book could give me the answers or peace that Jesus has. I’ve genuinely concluded that I can’t do this without Him, let alone raise our baby and have a flourishing motherhood.
More than I’d like to admit, I’ve tried to take this journey on myself without weighing what it actually takes to create life. So, when push comes to “PUSHHHHH,” I’ll know better than to white-knuckle my way through it. Because if “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), then leaning on Him does not equate doing nothing.
Of course, surrender doesn’t mean lying sideways on the couch and watching the clock until your water breaks. If you still need to scratch that itch, there are gentler ways to make rest feel like you’re doing something.
Ways to relax that somehow feel productive
Read those motherhood books
A few of the books—and other good reads—that have filled my days lately:
Labor of Grace by Madeline Marlatt
To Train Up a Child by Michael and Debi Pearl
Moms on Call by Laura Hunter (LPN) and Jennifer Walker (RN, BSN)
A good Substack essay or two
The Bible, of course
Take a bath
Add magnesium salts so lying in water for an hour feels prescribed rather than avoidant.
Some days, I sit there until the water turns cold and my husband has to check if I’m alive.
If nothing else, it takes the edge off the aching bones and third-trimester nerve damage.
Do something light and creative
My mom went on early maternity leave with my sister and still remembers how stifling the boredom became in those final weeks. Find something creative enough to occupy your mind, but light enough that it doesn’t require a deadline or deliverable.
Make some art. Draw something. Write an article, as I am, with no obligation to publish it if your brain goes AFK halfway through.
Weather, time, and body permitting, take a short walk around the neighbourhood. It clears your head and conveniently checks one of those pesky “how to induce labour” recommendations off the list.
You might be counting the seconds to baby’s arrival, but timing always rests in God’s hands. Often, there’s just nothing you can do after you’ve done it all. If you’re at the point where the nest is complete, the registry is full, and everything’s been washed and baby-proofed, then take it from a fellow chronic overdoer: just enjoy these last few miserable days of pregnancy.
Before you know it, all the energy you used trying to stay busy will be redirected to a baby in demand. It’s okay to shut your brain off, watch a couple of TV shows or movies in bed, and do what you can to be comfortable in the last stretch.
God only knows that this is the hardest part. But you won’t be in limbo for long. Sooner than you know, your baby will be here. You’ll long for days of empty productivity while simultaneously juggling an entirely new definition of it. So, relax max, mama. And when you struggle to do that, just remember that it’s okay to switch it off sometimes. Often, it’s on the other side of that nap you were reluctant to take that your perfect next step awaits you.
The marathon is almost finished, my dear x
