Unfortunately, two common favorite sleeping positions—on the belly and on the back—are not the best (and certainly not the most comfortable) choices during pregnancy. The belly position, for obvious reasons: As your stomach grows, it’s like sleeping on a watermelon. The back position, though more comfortable, rests the entire weight of your pregnant uterus on [...]
What you’re probably feeling is the pregnancy equivalent of growing pains: the stretching of muscles and ligaments supporting your enlarging uterus. Technically, it’s known as round ligament pain, and most expectant moms experience it. But there’s a wide variety of ways to experience it. The pain may be crampy, sharp and stabbing, or achy, and [...]
The aches and discomforts of pregnancy aren’t designed to make you miserable, though that’s often the upshot. They’re the side effects of the preparations your body is making for that momentous moment when your baby is born. Backache is no exception. During pregnancy, the usually stable joints of the pelvis begin to loosen up to allow easier passage [...]
Yet another checkup, and by this time you probably know the drill. This month, you can expect your practitioner to check the following, though there may be variations depending on your particular needs and your practitioner’s style of practice: Weight and blood pressure Urine, for sugar and protein Fetal heartbeat Size and shape of uterus, [...]
As always, remember that every pregnancy and every woman is different. You may experience all of these symptoms at one time or another, or only a few of them. Some may have continued from last month, others may be new. Still others may be hardly noticed because you’ve become so used to them. You may also have [...]
Your Baby This Month Week 18. At five and a half inches long and about 5 ounces in weight, your baby is filling out nicely and getting large enough that you might even be feeling those twists, rolls, kicks, and punches he or she is perfecting. Another set of skills your baby is mastering now is [...]