It’s your seventh month; you are rounding the last bend! By the end of these next 3 months, you’ll be holding your sweet babe in your arms.

Between now and then, you and your baby will grow and grow and grow! One of his main objectives during this last bit of time in your womb is to put on extra body fat to help regulate his temperature after birth. Your baby will gain 4-7 pounds this third trimester (he is about 2 pounds on your twenty-eighth week), most of it during his last 7 weeks, and all of his growth will show in your big, beautiful belly! As your baby grows, his skeleton is also growing and hardening. In order to complete this work, your baby will soak up around 250mg of calcium from you each day!

As your pregnancy progresses, you may notice the return of fatigue. Your body is working very hard to accommodate its extra little resident, and on top of this, it does become harder to get a good night’s rest. Between the size of your belly and the seemingly constant need to urinate, waking in the night becomes the norm. This is good preparation, though, for once your baby arrives!

By the time you reach 35 weeks or so, you will likely notice a difference in your baby’s movements. This is because he is taking up so much room in your uterus that he no longer has the space to do the back flips and somersaults he has been able to enjoy! However, the number of kicks you feel should stay about the same.

Your baby will be considered full term if he is born anywhere between your thirty-seventh and forty-second week of pregnancy. At this point, it is all a waiting game. Although there are signs for which your care provider can be watching, to show that you are progressing toward labor, there is, of course, no way to guarantee when you’ll have your baby. During this time, your baby is finishing up any growing and weight gain needed, as well as getting his respiratory system ready for that first breath of air.

While it is hard to wait these last few weeks for your baby, you can take this time to enjoy the last bit of one-on-one time you’ll have with your partner and finish any needed preparations. Soon-to-be-siblings may need a bit of extra attention during this time, too. They, too, are getting ready for this big transition and may need a bit of additional support. Other preparations you can make are freezing meals for the first few weeks after the baby is born, making sure your baby’s clothes and blankets are washed and ready, and finalizing your birth plan.

Before you know it, you won’t be pregnant anymore (really, you won’t!), and your baby will actually be here! It is hard to believe, but it happens every time.

Once you enter your fourteenth week, you are officially in the second trimester of pregnancy! While the first trimester is often a time of adjustment for your body, by the second trimester, your body has a much better idea of what its new little resident is all about. The new hormone levels introduced by your baby and his placenta have begun to stabilize, and your heart has had time to adjust to the increased blood volume it has been pumping (which has increased by about 40 percent or so). This translates, for many women, into the elimination of morning sickness and an increase in energy (maybe not back to your “pre-pregnancy” level, but usually better than it has been).

Your baby is still growing and changing rapidly. He is now able to move all of his joints and is often busy flexing his arm and leg muscles. As a result of this, along with his growing size, you may feel the first sensations of movement from your baby. The first time you feel your baby move is so exciting! This can happen anywhere from about 16 weeks to 20 weeks, so don’t worry if you haven’t felt him yet. At your prenatal appointments, it has probably become part of the ritual to listen to your baby’s heartbeat, either with the Feta Scope or the Doppler. This way, you can still feel that reassurance and connection until you are able to feel those first kicks.

Around your fifth month or so, your baby will begin using his circulatory system and his urinary tract. His brain is growing quickly and working hard, as well. During this time, the brain is doing things like designating specialized areas for sensory development. Also, a protective covering called myelin is beginning to form around all of his nerves. This will continue for up until a year after his birth. His respiratory system is also developing, and he will begin taking small breaths of amniotic fluid. This is his breathing practice, and it helps his lungs to get ready for birth.

While your baby starts the second trimester off very skinny and with wrinkled skin, by the end of this time, he will begin to put on a bit of baby fat. This will make his skin begin to appear smoother and make him look more like a newborn. By the time you are ready to head into your third trimester, at 28 weeks, your baby will be about 2 pounds! He can hear and open and close his eyes, and he has regular intervals of sleeping and waking (which can often seem to be opposite from yours!).

Can you believe that, after this, you have only 3 more months of pregnancy left?! It’s sometimes hard to not want your baby here now so you can hold him and gaze at him with your own eyes, but pregnancy is a very intimate time for you and your baby, and it lasts only 9 short months!

Congratulations! You’re pregnant! It’s very exciting to know you will soon have a baby in your arms, but what will the next 9 months bring?

Well, it all started before you even knew you were pregnant. Your baby has been growing since your egg was fertilized, approximately 2 weeks ago. As soon as that sperm broke into the egg, cells began to divide and divide and divide . . . .

Once these dividing cells (called a blastocyst) burrow into your womb, the placenta begins to grow and will also start producing the hormone hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin). This is what, among other things, turns your pregnancy test positive. The placenta also has the very important jobs of bringing your baby oxygen and needed nutrients, while eliminating the waste that he creates. In addition, the placenta will make sure that your immune system doesn’t reject your baby as a foreign invader and will prevent your blood cells from mixing with your baby’s. These are just a few ways the amazing placenta will support your baby as he grows in your womb.

By the time you are 4 weeks along, your baby enters the “embryonic period.” Your baby will begin developing all of his organs, and by the time you are 10 weeks along (the end of the embryonic period), some of these systems will begin functioning. This is the period of time when your baby’s development is most vulnerable.

As you move along through your pregnancy, you’ll need to take very good care of yourself. You may not feel like eating much, or you may even be throwing up what you do eat, but it is important for your baby that you do your best to get at least some nutrition. One of the things you can try to do to manage morning sickness is to eat many small meals–preferably high in protein–throughout the day, especially right after you wake up. This prevents your blood sugar from dropping, which is a trigger for nausea and/or vomiting in many women. It is likely that you’ll also feel tired during this time. It is important that you get good rest and exercise during your pregnancy.

By the midpoint of your first trimester, your baby has changed greatly. Things like the beginnings for his eyes, ears, and hands are in place, and his tiny little legs are able to kick now! By the time you’re into your eleventh week or so, your baby is past his most critical period, developmentally, and will enter what is called the “fetal period.” His organs and tissues will now begin to mature rapidly, and he will begin to put on weight.

As for you, your baby’s growth isn’t likely to begin showing until sometime in your second trimester. By the end of your twelfth week, you’re already a third of the way through your pregnancy journey! It all goes by so quickly–try to enjoy each and every minute.

Baby’s Development

Ding! Ding! Baby’s up! Congratulations, mama! Your baby is officially full term and ready to be born. The lanugo and the majority of the vernix that protected your little one’s skin in utero has been shed and swallowed in the amniotic fluid. You are now carrying a complete baby inside of you from tiny toenails to an inch or more of hair on her head.

Although it may be uncomfortable, your pelvis is the perfect place for your baby’s head right now. Still soft, your pelvic bones protect your baby’s head from any unnecessary lumps and bump while leaving the more hearty legs and buttocks to kick away up top.

At this point, your doctor will probably start to check for dilation and effacement at your appointments. As birth approaches, your cervix will begin to thin out (effacement) and open (dilation). Checking the extent of this in an internal exam and determining the position of your fetus will give you a good idea of how close you are to delivery. It can be very hard not to start to panic/get excited when your doctor informs you that you are dilated. Some women have been known to walk around 1 inch dilated for weeks without the onset of labor!

Your Body and Emotions

You may be relieved to know that your uterus will stop growing this week. Yes, it’s true…you won’t get any bigger than you are now! You may actually start to lose weight as your appetite decreases due to your limited stomach space. This is quite normal and may even be a welcome change after weeks of steady growth.

Your obstetrician will probably recommend a group B strep test as you approach your due date. This bacterium is present in the vagina and rectum of 25% of women and although it poses no threat to the mother, it can cause problems with the fetus. If your test comes back positive for Strep B, there is a 99% chance that your baby will be infected at birth. Infected babies have a high chance of developing inflammation of the spinal cord, brain or lungs a few days after birth, all of which can have very serious repercussions for your newborn. A positive test result means that you will be admitted to the hospital early in your labor so that you can be given antibiotics before and during labor. These antibiotics effectively prevent the transfer of Strep to your child and he or she can enjoy adjusting to the outside world in perfect health.

Dad’s Tips

Now that you’re on a practicality kick, it may be time for the two of you to consider sleep arrangements after the baby arrives. Many couples are just so excited about delivery and meeting their new baby that they don’t take the time to think about such banal, but important things.
Where you and your baby sleep has a lot to do with your parenting style. More traditional North American parenting philosophy (Dr.Spock, Dr.Ferber) stresses independence in your child at an early age and believes that sleeping separately is the way to achieve that. The attachment parenting (Dr.Sears) believes that co-sleeping with your child from the very beginning creates more confident, self-assured children. The choice of where your family will be sleeping is up to the two of you. More than anything else in the next month or so, you need to do what feels right and what enables all of you to get the best sleep possible.

Baby’s Development

Your baby has put on a lot of weight these last weeks and is now approximately 3.3 pounds. Because of this weight increase, her body is finally becoming proportionate to her massive head. White fat is starting to collect on her arms, legs and body. This fat takes away from the red tinge your baby has had until this point, muting it down to a healthy pink tone. This fat collection will continue and you can expect your little one to gain at least two more pounds by her due date.

Her body continues to put the final touches on her organs and all her major systems are busily practicing their separate functions. Her pupils are dilating, her heart pumping, her liver ‘sifting’ and her circulatory system pushing blood through her entire body.

Your baby’s hair and nails continue to grow. When you’re packing your hospital bag, be sure to include a pair of nail clippers. Some babies are born with fingernails that pass the fingertips and can present a hazard as their little arms flail about. It’s a delicate task that may be best approached when she’s sleeping, but depending on the length of her nails, cutting them may be a necessity.

Your Body and Emotions

Squeezed your breasts lately? At this point, you usual breasts seem to have taken a holiday. They’ve grown significantly and are usually much heavier and rounder than before as they prepare to sustain your little one. You may even experience stretch marks from the rapid growth that your rollicking hormones are causing!

At this stage in your pregnancy, your breasts may be producing colostrum. If you are a bit squeamish about breastfeeding, the idea of squeezing your nipples to take a look may make you feel a bit nauseated. It’s time to get over that! It’s as much a part of you as your fingernails and hair. Try gently squeezing your nipples in the next few days and you may be surprised to see a yellowish or even orange, thick fluid appear. Your body is creating this nutrient rich, important fluid to support your newborn in the first few days of life. Your baby won’t get the hang of breastfeeding any quicker than you will and colostrum is highly concentrated so even if she only gets a little, she still receives nutrients and antibodies to sustain her.

You’ve probably already gone through a few different bra sizes and it’s time for you to start thinking of another. Nursing bras are important as you learn and get comfortable with breastfeeding and are widely available at department and maternity stores. Generally, maternity stores have nursing bras that are modern and attractive while still allowing for the sometimes hourly shift in breast size as your let down occurs. Don’t settle for an unattractive bra because you just don’t want to think about breastfeeding at this point. It’s a lot of work and frankly, you deserve the prettiest one you can afford.

Dad’s Tips

You may have done a lot of reading and research about your baby’s development in utero and what your partner is experiencing, but what about the mysteries of caring for a newborn? After spending months learning everything they can about pregnancy and childbirth, most couples are a little taken aback when it comes to the care and feeding of their new family member. Truth be told, newborns are strange little creatures. Especially if this is your first baby, you may find it hard not to panic at every hiccup and rash he develops. Try to fend off some of this anxiety by doing some reading on basic newborn development and physiology. Being armed with knowledge will make the first dramatic days at home a little easier and your partner, in her exhausted state, will appreciate the extra help this information brings.

Baby’s Development

Crucial work is going on deep in your womb this week. The spine acts as the ‘information highway’ in the human body and at twenty-five weeks, your fetus is busy building hers! This week, the vertebrae, joints, ligaments and rings are developing, building the pathway for communication through her entire body.

Her nostrils reach completion this week as well. Amazingly enough, a recent study proved that even at this extremely early stage, babies can detect and show preference for certain smells. Her sense of smell will become so well developed in fact, that once born she’ll be able to detect you based entirely on your own odor. A combination of this elevated sense and the growing sensitivity developing around her mouth this week will make her a ‘nipple searching machine’ in a few short months.

With the development of her spinal cord, her dexterity is improving as well. If you were to place an object in her palm this week, she’d be able to grasp it quite well. She’ll have a similar reflex in her foot for a few months after she makes her entrance into the world. If you tickle a newborn’s foot, their toes curl up in a grasping motion not unlike a hand. Some scientists believe it’s an instinct left over from our more primal years!

Your Body and Emotions

Hopefully you’re documenting your body’s progression so you can compare your size this week to when you were only a few weeks expecting. Your uterus should be roughly the size of volleyball this week, jutting out past your hipbones. What a difference from when you had the tiniest of pooches!

Your increasing size may be putting a great deal of pressure on your pelvis and back. Because of this, some women will start to experience sciatic pain that will continue until delivery. Sciatica occurs when the baby’s body or head starts to press on the pelvic bones and as a result, compress the nerves along the spinal cord in the lower back. The pain can range from slight to absolutely debilitating and is often described as a quick, nasty shot down one or both legs. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done about this except to be patient. Some treatments that may help include lots of rest, avoiding bending at the waist, support cushions for sleep and finally, lots and lots of massages. Enlist your partner to give you a nightly massage or make an appointment with a masseuse or physiotherapist. Sciatica is not easy to live with so don’t hesitate to take all the steps necessary to ease at least some of the pain.

Dad’s Tips

Amazingly enough, you no longer need a Doppler machine or stethoscope to hear your little one’s heart beat. Whereas before you needed to wait for your partner’s appointment with her obstetrician to be reassured by the steady swooshes of your baby’s heart, now all you need is your ears. Try this for fun! Choose a quiet time of the day or night when background noise is almost non-existent. Lay your head on her belly and listen carefully. You may have to move around a bit to get the right position, but your baby is at such a size now that you should be able to hear her heart thumping away.

Baby’s Development–It’s time to accept the fact that those hideous maternity jeans may be the only viable option! This week, the top of your uterus should reach your belly button and the bad news is, it’s going to start to grow an inch a week from this point on. Your old skinny jeans are just not going to cut it any more…

Inside your swiftly expanding belly, your fetus is experiencing a period of peak sensory development. All of the five senses that will serve her in the future are forming and taking their places in the appropriate portions of her brain.  Her body is concentrating so hard on this process that nerve cell production is starting to slow down as the emphasis becomes on the proper connections rather than quantity.

All your fetus’s organs are continuing to grow and its systems start to practice. The heart still pumps blood, the kidneys make urine and the chest expand and retract. Arms and legs will start to twitch more than ever as your baby enters an extremely active 10 week period. Prepare for some sleepless nights and shocking sensations as your little one learns the limitations of the womb and of his body!

Your Body and Emotions–Now that you are ever broadening, you might start to find yourself clumsier than usual.  This is due to two important factors. The first is that your centre of balance is shifting as your body changes shape. In essence, you have to relearn how to move now that you are growing steadily outward. The second factor is that you simply aren’t used to maneuvering a pregnant body around. You may find yourself unable to squeeze through turnstiles or sit behind the steering wheel as you used to. Allow yourself some time to get used to your changing body. Before you know it, you’ll be carting your melon sized bump around like a pro.

Your growing belly may also be causing you to experience a vertigo-like sensation known as postural or supine hypotension.  Your body is working exceptionally hard to push your new volumes of blood around your body and as a result, you may experience low blood pressure.  If this feeling of vertigo occurs when you change positions suddenly, it’s known as postural hypotension.  If you only feel it when you are lying down, it’s supine.  Both situations are not threatening to you or your baby, but will probably quite alarming when you first experience it.  Take it slow when you’re changing positions.  If you experience supine hypotension, it’s due to the extra pressure your growing uterus is putting on your aorta or vena cava where they run along your spinal cord. Many women find that lying on their left side puts the pressure off almost immediately and the sensation ceases.

Dad’s Tips–As your partner’s pregnancy progresses, you may be noticing some changes in your lifestyle already. Your relationships with friends who don’t have kids may start to feel a little strange, as the monumental occurrences happening in your life may hold no interest for them.  Their nighttime exploits, conflicts at work and drinking stories, although still interesting, may seem to be a little trivial to you as well. Don’t worry – all good relationships whether with men or women, move in cycles of closeness. You may feel disconnected from a friend or two now, but eventually you may come back together with a common bond.

 If you aren’t already, you may want to consider saving drinking or smoking for times when you are not with your partner.  If she enjoyed these vices with you on a regular basis, she may start to resent the fact that you are still lighting up and slurping your cocktails around her.  Don’t make any rash promises like, “I’ll quit drinking too.” because due to the stress you’re under, they’re bound to break. Rather, promise to avoid these things when she’s in your company. It will make these nine months easier for her and therefore, a little easier for you.

Baby’s Development

At the start of your second trimester, your fetus is approximately 3 inches long, which is roughly the size of half a small banana. Your little banana is the same weight as your placenta at this time, but in the next few weeks, it will definitely start to put on some weight.

This week, your baby’s intestines will move down from the umbilical cord into his abdomen where tiny ribs are already forming. Vocal cords are developing and ultrasounds taken at this time show that some babies are already smiling. Interestingly enough, if the mother’s uterus is poked in the right position, the fetus will even show a rooting response. This ‘need for the nipple’ is so entrenched in your baby that they’re already practicing searching for it before they’ve even seen a breast!

Now that the tail is gone, your baby’s face starts to look more human this week. The wide spread, ‘alienesque’ eyes are slowly disappearing as the eyes move closer together. The ears are almost at their intended position and they have already developed their own distinct fingerprints. Its mind boggling to think that nestled within you are ten, individual little fingerprints that won’t change throughout your child’s journey to adulthood and beyond.

Your Body and Emotions

Now that you’re ‘out of the first trimester woods’, so to speak, your body is about to begin a period of rapid growth. In the next few weeks you’re going to start to actually look pregnant and before long, your much awaited bump will make its appearance.

As your uterus starts to grow, you may experience what is known as ‘round ligament pain’. This is the aching that accompanies the rapid growth of your uterus throughout this trimester and you’ll probably become accustomed to it before long. Women describe it as either a brief, sharp pain or a dull aching throb. It generally accompanies a change in position or sudden movement. Round ligament pain is normal and nothing to worry about, as it is simply a sign that your pregnancy is progressing normally. If any bleeding or cramping accompanies this pain however, you need to see your doctor immediately.

You may also be noticing some changes in your breasts these days. Some women will notice their breasts changing immediately and it is actually an indicator of pregnancy for them. They may become fuller and heavier and some women describe an itching sensation as the skin stretches. You may notice that your areolas are changing color as well. Depending on your skin tone, your nipples may become a dark peach to a deep brown and may even increase in size. This is nature’s way of creating a nursing ‘bull’s-eye’ for your little baby. Because their vision is so limited when they are born, they need the intense color and size to be able to seek out your nipple and establish breastfeeding. Not to worry however, the color will return to normal once nursing is established.

Dad’s Tips

It’s simply not enough to give your partner emotional support when you’re faced with becoming parents. She’ll want you to learn as much as she is about what’s going on in her body and what to expect from the first few months of parenthood. Take an interest by picking up some reading material from the library or your local bookstore. If she sees that you are actively educating yourself about the changes she’s going through, she’ll be extraordinarily impressed. Her body and mind may feel totally out of control at this point and knowing that her partner has committed to helping her deal with it will bring a lot of love your way.

Baby’s development

This week marks the first huge growth spurt for your developing baby. Its size will increase rapidly, upward to 0.44 to 0.52 inches in seven days. If last week your embryo was a BB pellet, by the time week seven draws to a close, it will be roughly the size of a small raspberry.

Your baby’s organs continue to grow and this week marks the arrival of intestines and an appendix. The heart and lungs are developing nicely and a brain and spinal cord starts to grow from the neural tube. The little arms and legs that appeared previously are taking on a fin-like appearance however, as digital plates that will become the hands and feet start to make them look a little more human.

Your embryo is getting a mouth! Beneath the dark spots that will one day be your little one’s eyes and nose, a black line is appearing that will develop into a mouth. In terms of eyes, their development increases and retinas and lenses start to form.

The cardio vascular system is the first to develop in your embryo and in the seventh week, your baby starts to produce his or her own blood type! If you could look closely, you’d be able to see little veins appearing under its thin skin with its very own blood, newly created by its liver, pumping through them. It’s amazing to think that your baby’s blood is already circulating inside of you, all within seven short weeks!

Your body and emotions

Your system is pumping out a huge amount of pregnancy hormones this week and you’re probably feeling the effects. Like it or not, your placenta won’t be developed enough to take over the job until the second trimester and until that point, you’re the one who has to endure the side effects.

Tired? Some women respond to the increase of hormones and the monumental work their body is doing in the first trimester by experiencing zombie like exhaustion. One woman confessed to locking her classroom and sleeping under her table during her breaks to get a few extra minutes rest. If you are still working, you may start to feel like some tasks are insurmountable! Don’t despair…this exhaustion will pass. Until that point, get as much rest as you can. If you already have little ones wandering around, lie down for story time or nap with them. There’s no shame in giving your body what it needs.

The hormones that are turning you into the walking dead are also responsible for the changes you may be seeing in your skin. Some women get the stereotypical glow and enjoy the best skin of their lives at this time and throughout their nine months. Others are plagued with acne worse than when they were teenagers. Be careful with the treatment you choose if you are suffering from terrible breakouts. Check all ingredients online and be sure that they are graded as safe for humans during pregnancy. You may simply have to endure some months of terrible skin until your placenta gets to work…

Dad’s Tips

Did the two of you used to love eating as many Buffalo wings as you could on a Friday night and now she turns green at the thought of them? Was your woman an avid salad eater and militant vegan and now she can’t get enough ultra hot pepperoni? Welcome to the wonderful world of food cravings and aversions. Chances are she’s not doing a lot of cooking lately and you may in charge of dinner/take out. Trying to tempt her appetite may be impossible or you may not be able to keep enough food in the house. Either way, it’s just her body dealing with the huge amount of hormones that it’s producing. Try to be sensitive to her needs at this point. For example, don’t cook onions or bacon and fill the house with the smell if it makes her sick. Don’t hang around the bathroom, eating your cheesy pizza while she’s dealing with her nausea. Like all the fun things that you used to do together (drinking, fast food, smoking) you might want to save your indulgences until you’re with your friends.