You are 28 Weeks and 3 Days 81 days to go…
If you’re starting to feel that you’ve been eclipsed by your belly, it’s time to do something just for you.
Your baby today
This image offers the first view of the eye opening. The lids
have separated and the dark pupil can be seen. There is no true
reflection of color on ultrasound so the white of the eye is colored the
same as the eyelids and face. The “eyebrows” are in fact shadow.
Like many pregnant women,
you may feel that you’ve disappeared behind your belly; that the
essence of who you are has been lost in the guise of “pregnant woman.”
People may no longer ask about how you’re feeling, or what’s going on in
your life. Instead of “How are you?”, they might ask, “Is everything OK
with the baby?”
It can be difficult
for people, and even for you, to remember that you still exist in a role
that is separate from pregnant woman or mother. If during your
pregnancy you are feeling very frustrated by this, consider doing
something just for you, maybe some pampering or a dinner for two, to
make you feel special again.
… Nutrition
Grazing through the day
You need to eat plenty of good-quality protein
to encourage your baby’s growth and keep you in glowing good health, so
try to eat either eggs, cheese, lean meats, fish, legumes, or grains at
every meal. Add to that lots of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and
some unrefined carbohydrates .
Break the food down into
a plan of five to seven small meals and snacks each day. If you usually
have soup and a sandwich for lunch, try a vegetable soup mid-morning,
and have the sandwich later; prepare snacks such as raw vegetables,
cheese, nuts, and fruit and graze on them through the afternoon. Perhaps
have a bowl of oatmeal early evening, followed by fruit later.
There are no “rules”
about when food needs to be eaten, so eat these “mini-meals” when you’re
hungry. As long as you get the nutrients you need and don’t overeat,
you can graze as often as you like.
… Doctor
| Q: |
I have a sharp pain in my lower back and leg. What causes this?
|
| A: |
This sounds like sciatica, a sharp pain that travels down the
back and leg when the sciatic nerve—the longest nerve in the body—is
trapped in a joint in the lower back. This is not related to your
pregnancy, although it can get worse in pregnancy. For lower back pain,
warm baths and a warm compress can help, as can gentle massage by an
experienced practitioner. Exercise such as yoga or water aerobics
classes can help strengthen back muscles, but check with your doctor
before embarking on a new exercise regimen. Watch your posture and wear comfortable, supportive shoes.
If you have
sciatica, ask your doctor to refer you to a physical therapist. You’ll
be shown exercises to help relieve the pain and minimize the risk of it
recurring.
|
You are 28 Weeks and 4 Days 80 days to go…
Your baby’s growth depends on many factors and its rate varies through the course of your pregnancy.
Your baby today
The sleep–wake cycle is now more established, however just
because your baby is moving you cannot assume that he is awake. He
spends little time fully active with his eyes open, so many of the
movements you are feeling are happening while he is asleep.
The growth of your baby
relies on a steady stream of nutrients. Most nutrients are transferred
unaltered across the placenta, but some substances are made by the
placenta itself and a few are produced from scratch by your baby. These
include the hormone thyroxine, the production of which depends on iodine
from the mother crossing the placenta. Thyroxine has several functions
and its level needs to be controlled very precisely. The placenta forms a
nearly perfect barrier to thyroxine, enabling you and your baby to
adjust thyroxine levels independently of each other. In the early stages
of pregnancy, genetic factors largely determined the size of your baby,
but by now environmental factors are becoming more important. Overall,
your baby’s final birthweight is determined about 40 percent by genetic
factors and 60 percent by environmental factors. Your baby grows at a
steady rate from 24 weeks until the last 2–3 weeks, when growth
continues but more slowly. (If you’re expecting twins, your babies grow
as if alone in the uterus up until 28 weeks but from this point there is
a reduction in their growth rate.) Your baby’s internal organs account
for much of his current growth. The liver and brain, in particular,
continue to enlarge and muscle mass increases. Later, fat will be
deposited under the skin, rounding out your baby’s contours.
The number of twin births has been jumped 66 percent from 1980 to 2003.
The number of triplet births or more increased four-fold in the same time period. Twins are born, on average, 17 minutes apart.
… Twins
Buying for your twins
The clothes you buy for your twins
should be easy to put on and take off, and, of course, machine
washable. You’ll probably be given outfits as presents, so just buy the
basics.
For each baby, you’re likely to need at least:
Keep in mind when
choosing diapers that twins are often smaller on arrival than a single
baby, and you may therefore get through a wide range of sizes in the
first few months.
It’s advisable to
buy a good-quality double stroller, since it will be used for quite a
while. When choosing a stroller, a side-by-side model is preferable to a
tandem stroller, so that your babies can see each other and communicate
as they grow older.
