Welcome to week twenty eight!
You made it! You are entering your final trimester. The 28th week is filled with hope as your baby continues to grow and develop.
You will have very important blood work drawn during or around this week and begin doing something called fetal movement counts. The excitement is building and you are starting to imagine what it will be like to be a mom.
If you haven’t already entered your family and friends into My Story on StorkAdvisor you will want to do so now in order to keep them updated on your progress and notify them when you go into labor.
How my Baby Grows
- Your baby’s eyesight is undergoing important development this week
- He/she has visible eyelashes and can now blink
- Your baby is now the size of an eggplant at about 10 and ½ inches long
- You will feel lots of kicking, stretching and rolling movements
- Your baby now has the ability to breath rhythmically and provide some temperature control
Symptoms Mama may Feel or Experience
- Important lab work is due now if you have not already completed it to evaluate you for gestational diabetes and to check your iron level (see more on iron in week 24 if you like)
- Gestational diabetes is most commonly diagnosed between the weeks of 24-28 when the placenta has enlarged and is producing human placental lactogen
- This hormone can interfere with carbohydrate metabolism and cause your body to build up sugar in your blood
- If your body is unable to produce enough insulin or stops using the insulin properly, your blood sugars rise, and you can develop gestational diabetes
- Gestational diabetes can be very dangerous to your baby if it goes unmanaged by diet or medication (see StorkAdvisor article in Go-to-Topics for more on this pregnancy complication), but your doctor or midwife is trained to help you manage this condition and keep your baby safe
- Most of the time your blood sugar will return to normal after you give birth however if you have been diagnosed with gestational diabetes you may have an increased risk of diabetes later in life
- If your blood type is Rh neg you will also have an antibody titer done at 28 weeks and receive an injection called Rhogam to protect future pregnancies from developing hemolytic disease which destroys fetal red blood cells while in utero
- Starting at this time in the pregnancy and due partially to stretching uterine muscle fibers, you are at an increased risk for preterm labor and birth
- If you are having an increase in uterine contractions which feel like your entire belly is balling up, you should first hydrate and rest as this will usually cause them to space out and go away
- If after rest and hydration the tightening does not resolve you will need to call your doctor or midwife
- The third trimester is when you can feel almost all of your baby’s movement and can start daily fetal movement counts as a way to check on how you baby is doing
- Once a day, when you know that your baby is usually active, make sure you have eaten recently-drink a glass of ice water and rest on your side
- When you do this, you should be able to feel 10 movements of some type other than hiccups in a 2-hour period, if it takes less than 2 hours you can stop counting
Thoughts to Consider
- This is a great time to spend some special time with your partner before the baby comes and life gets particularly busy
- If you have chosen a theme for your baby’s room or you like particular colors, it is a good time to make sure that family and friends know this
- It is also a good time to start working on decorating the baby’s room but remember, don’t buy things off your registry unless you have already had your shower
- If you have started prenatal classes and learned some breathing techniques, you can practice them before going to sleep as this will relax you
- By now you may have noticed specific sleep/wake cycles that your baby has each day, or that he/she has hiccups frequently, take time to write in your journal about things like this or your thoughts as you enter into the final trimester of your pregnancy
Tips for a Healthy Pregnancy
- Continue to take time for yourself each day to do something that relaxes and energizes you, this is different for everyone so find the one or two things that do this for you and plan them into your day
- Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
- Remember that StorkAdvisor has prenatal yoga videos and articles for each trimester
- Even though you are taking prenatal vitamins, continue eating foods rich in protein, iron, vitamins, calcium, whole grains and omega-3 to build a healthy baby
- Foods to avoid are deli meats, raw meats or fish, shellfish and foods high in sugar or carbs
