👶Pregnancy Week By Week👶 ◆Week Twenty-Seven◆ ◈Second Trimester◈ Baby baby, it’s getting a little cramped in there. Your baby is really pushing the boundaries of its accommodation and your uterus needs to expand a little more everyday just to fit it all in. This will inevitably mean you’ll feel some ligament and muscle discomfort when you are 27 weeks pregnant. Your back, pelvis, sides of your belly and even your legs could be feeling aching and sore because of the effects your pregnancy hormones are having on all your connective tissues.Gaining excess weight will not help your comfort levels. An average total weight gain over the 40 weeks of gestation is around 10-12 kilograms. The baby, its placenta and the amniotic fluid, your increased blood volume, extra circulating fluid, your breasts and a little extra fat are all responsible for adding up the kilograms. Physical changes this week: As your tummy is expanding, so is your rib cage. It needs to so that your uterus has more room to lift upwards and outwards. You may find yourself getting breathless around now because your lungs don’t have their usual space to expand down into. You could need to take the occasional deep breath. Talking on the phone, climbing a steep flight of stairs or walking quickly can all mean your breathing rate increases. Watch your posture and avoid slouching, give your lungs as much room as they need to do their work of oxygenating you and your baby.Your tummy could be getting itchy this week, with a sensation of ants crawling over it. This is probably due to the collagen fibres in the middle layer of your skin stretching. Rubbing some moisturising cream into your belly after showering may help. Avoid water temperature extremes and drying soaps. Aim to wear only cotton or natural fibres against your skin and avoid overheating.Sleep may escape you when you are 27 weeks pregnant. You could find yourself going to bed very tired but just unable to drift off when you want to. Your brain could be flooded with thoughts and you problem solve until the wee small hours. Talking of wee, you’re probably finding you still need to get up and go to the toilet a couple of times a night and that’s not helping your insomnia. There’s no point lying in bed tossing and turning for hours. If this happens, get up for a while. Watch some television, have a glass of milk, take a shower or read a book. Small comfort measures like clean sheets, fresh air, a fan blowing across you and a pile of supportive pillows can all be helpful.Even if you’re longing for an afternoon lie down, if you’re having trouble sleeping at night then try to resist the temptation. Instead, go to bed early and use your body’s tired signals to their maximum advantage. Try having a regular bed-time routine and avoid using your computer just before going to bed. You want to deactivate the stimulus in your environment, not switch it on.You could be feeling irritated by Carpal Tunnel Syndrome this week. Fluid retention causes the carpal tunnel in your wrist to swell, placing pressure on the nerves which supply each hand. Physiotherapy can be very effective, so can a wrist splint which may need to be organised by your physiotherapist. If you are bothered by these symptoms, try sleeping with the affected hand elevated on a pillow. This will help drain your hand of excess fluid. Emotional changes this week: You are probably getting excited at this stage. If you are working, you will need to lodge your application forms for maternity leave soon, if you’ve not already done this. Do some preliminary research into your leave entitlements, your planned return to work and your employer’s arrangements for taking maternity leave. Having a definite date in mind for when to finish work can be something to mentally work towards when you feel as if you’re getting nowhere.You may be starting to think about the changes the baby will bring in your relationship with your partner. When a duo becomes a trio, there is always some shuffling and reestablishment of roles. If you already have older children, this realignment of personalities in the family will become more complex. Yes, things will be different between both of you but they need to be. Parenthood is so significant and momentous that there need to be big changes in order to do it well. Changes in your baby this week: Your baby can be measured from its head to its heels from this week on. It’s spending less of its time curled up and more time unfurled. An average length at 27 weeks gestation is 38 centimetres. Your baby is growing quickly, with more all important fat forming under its skin and around its vital organs. Your baby is less skinny than it was and is filling out. Big changes with your baby’s eyes this week, with more maturation of their retinas. This important light sensitive portion of the eye is essential for your baby to see properly. They’ve been able to open and close their eyes for a couple of weeks now, so there’s lots of visual development all around.Your baby has learnt how to soothe itself and can now suck its thumb when it wants to. This simple pleasure is not so much an involuntary act from 27 weeks on. It is still breathing the amniotic fluid in and out of its lungs, practicing for those all important first breaths when it is born. All of your baby’s oxygen needs are still being catered for by the placenta. -Kia 💚
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 09:07:50 +0000
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