Changes in Mom
By your last trimester, you will have put on much of your pregnancy weight as your baby fully grows and develops. You should be gaining weight at a rate of about 1 pound per week. You will probably begin to feel some pain in the ribs as your baby grows and pushes upward on your rib cage. The pressure may also give you some indigestion and heartburn. You may begin to see stretch marks as your uterus expands. Your balance and mobility will also change as you get bigger. Throughout your last trimester, as your baby continues to grow, you will begin to experience some discomforts such as leg cramps, mild swelling of the feet and ankles, constipation, difficulty with sleep, shortness of breath, lower abdominal pain, backaches, and Braxton Hicks contractions. You may feel a more frequent urge to urinate again as you did in the first trimester.
Around your twenty-eighth to thirtieth week of pregnancy, or even as early as twenty weeks, you may experience episodes in which your belly tightens, becomes firm, and then relaxes. This feeling, which is very normal, comes from contractions of the uterine muscles called Braxton Hicks contractions. They are a type of warm up or practice for the uterus for labor. Braxton Hicks contractions usually occur no more than four to six times per hour in your ninth month. If you can't tell the difference between Braxton Hicks contractions and true labor contractions, ask your doctor.
All women “carry” differently. Some will carry the baby higher or lower, bigger or smaller, wider or more compact. All these depend on the size and position of your little one, your body type, and how much body weight you have gained.
By your ninth month, your weight gain should be somewhere around 24 to 29 pounds. It may get more uncomfortable to sleep and move around, and it is normal to become moody and irritable. As you near the end, you may notice alternating feelings of fatigue and bursts of energy.
It is a good time to think ahead and prepare for your return from the hospital … with a newborn! Use those energy bursts to start stocking your freezer with foods you can easily pop in your oven or microwave. Cook casseroles, chili, soups, and other dishes that can be frozen and prepared later when you are too busy to worry about cooking.
