At 28 weeks baby boy is the size of a bunny, from weeks 29-32 he is the size of a puppy and by 34 weeks he is the size of a lion cub
28- I've been welcomed into the third trimester with a god almighty cold and sore throat - I feel like an actual piece of you know what. I'm extremely uncomfortable at night at the moment, I hate laying on my left side (the side you should lay on) but if I turn over to my right side, where his head is currently, he will wriggle and let me know I'm squashing him. I had my uterus measuring appointment this week, still have a water infection that just won't seem to clear - hoping everything will subside soon.
"His eyes are now partially open and he is able to blink. Even though the eyes may have some colour, the final pigmentation requires exposure to light. He is getting chubbier now and muscles are beginning to develop some tone. He has a 95% chance of survival should he be born this week."
29- Human contact and communication needs to be minimal this week - I think i'm finally getting my share of hormones, took a while! I don't want to be spoken to, looked at or anything LOL, it sounds so ridiculous but I just want to be by myself and doing nothing this week because EVERYTHING IS BOTHERING ME! All the movement now, I feel him all the time now and it's just lush.
"His brain is now in charge of maintaining body temperature and also controls breathing. I might even feel him cough this week. His skin is less wrinkly now and more looking how it will at birth. He will be bursting with energy at this point and I should feel every movement!"
30- My weird dreams are back, you know that Frankenstein out of Hocus Pocus? I dreamt he was chasing me around a shopping center last night. I've read it's down to continuous hormone changes. Feeling extremely fatigued aswell, but putting that down to the lingering cold that has lasted three weeks so far! We went for a 3D scan this week, and took Todd's parents. It was absolutely amazing to see my smiley little one in there, he is perfect and it seems we already have a thumb sucker!
"He can now see and his eyes are wide open, even though it's dark in the uterus he will be able to see his environment. He is shedding the lanugo present on the skin. However the hair on his head is growing thicker. He may begin to position himself for birth now."
31- My belly is rock hard! Struggling to eat full blown meals now where there isn't much room. Have decided to stop moaning and love Todd more, he came home late from the gym one night this week and I told him off, but he'd actually been wrapping up some gifts to me to say well done for growing our human! I got a white company dressing gown candle, a bath bomb and some face masks, he's literally so thoughtful I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
"He weighs approximately 3.5lbs now and fat continues to accumulate under the skin. From now he will gain around half a pound a week. 30-40% of his time is spent practicing breathing. Bones are hardening and preparing to support his body after birth."
32- HEARTBURN.
"There's not much space left in the uterus now. He can now use all of his 5 senses and he is busy looking around, grabbing whatever is around, tasting amniotic fluid and listening to my voice"
33- Baby's bag and my hospital bag are now packed! I keep thinking he is just gonna pop out one day soon and I'm worried I'll be unprepared so I got it all packed and done - will be uploading a blog post on both bags soon (I say bags, I have a suitcase lol!) Acid reflux and heartburn still ruining my evenings but eating little and often makes it more bearable, gaviscon does not touch the sides so will be getting a prescription for something stronger next week!
"Even though bones are hardening, the skull isn't solid and the skull bones are not fused together. This is because it allows the head to reduce in diameter to pass through the birth canal. He can now tell the difference between day and night"
34- I had my 34 week midwife check which changed my mind on where I wanted to give birth, he is doing just dandy in there and it's so lovely to hear his heartbeat! Both our "hospital bags" are packed now, so we are as ready as we can be! I've moved my leaving date from work forward by a few days to get an extra weekend in there, so I'm leaving on the 23rd November, using two weeks for annual leave and my official mat date is 6th December, 3 days before D-Day!
"He probably weighs 5lbs now. His immune system is no longer relying on the antibodies from the placenta. This self-immunity is important to protect him at birth and for the rest of his life. The vernix on his skin is dissapearing, however there will still be some visible at birth. He is weeing a pint of urine a day into the amniotic fluid - ay?!"
Blimey, last blog post of the pregnancy diaries coming t-minus 5 weeks!
Love, Rey x
