What You May Be Feeling
Dec 18, 2010
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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 and/or because you are eclipsed by new and more exciting signs indicating that labor may not be far off:
Physically
- Changes in fetal activity (more squirming and less kicking, as your baby has progressively less room to move around)
- Vaginal discharge becomes heavier and contains more mucus, which may be streaked red with blood or tinged brown or pink after intercourse or a pelvic exam or as your cervix begins to dilate
- Constipation
- Heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, bloating
- Occasional headaches, faintness or dizziness
- Nasal congestion and occasional nosebleeds; ear stuffiness
- Sensitive gums
- Leg cramps at night
- Increased backache and heaviness
- Buttock and pelvic discomfort and achiness
- Increased swelling of ankles and feet, and occasionally of hands and face
- Itchy abdomen, protruding navel
- Stretch marks
- Varicose veins in your legs
- Hemorrhoids
- Easier breathing after the baby drops
- More frequent urination after the baby drops, since there’s pressure on the bladder once again
- Increased difficulty sleeping
- More frequent and more intense Braxton Hicks contractions (s0me may be painful)
- Increasing clumsiness and difficulty getting around
- Colostrum, leaking from nipples (though this premilk substance may not appear until after delivery)
- Extra fatigue or extra energy (nesting syndrome), or alternating periods of each
- Increase in appetite or loss of appetite
Emotionally
- More excitement, more anxiety, more apprehension, more absentmindedness
- Relief that you’re almost there
- Irritability and oversensitivity (especially with people who keep saying “Are you still around?”)
- Impatience and restlessness
- Dreaming and fantasizing about the baby