Week 27 Of Your Pregnancy

Congratulations, you’re on the home straight! In week 27 you say goodbye to the second trimester!

Your baby is now around the size of a cucumber and will gain around 250 grams a week for at least the next ten weeks. You’re probably wondering how it’s all going to fit inside your belly. Let’s just say it’ll be snug!

CHANGES TO YOUR BODY:

You are probably putting on around 500 grams a week, which is normal. Your ribcage will have expanded all the way up to your belly and you will look unmistakably pregnant. Pregnancy swelling can occur around this time and you might notice your ankles, feet and face looking a bit puffy. If your fingers are swelling up you may want to take off your wedding rings or other jewellery.

You will probably find those annoying symptoms are ramping right up, or perhaps some new annoying symptoms have appeared. You could be experiencing leg cramps, breathlessness, constipation, haemorrhoids or all of the above! With all that speedy growth that your baby is doing you may find that your skin is itching. In most situations this is completely normal – it’s just your skin stretching to accommodate your baby. But in some rare instances it can be a sign of something more sinister so be sure to report itching skin to your doctor. To learn more about itchy skin while pregnant, read here.

LIFESTYLE CONSIDERATIONS:

Excessive wind can be a problem around this time as your expanding uterus might be putting extra pressure in that area. Pregnancy hormones can also make your digestive system slow down which means that you could find you are more gassy than usual. Eating smaller meals more frequently can reduce the strain on your digestive system and help reduce the problem.

GENERAL ADVICE:

Between 20 and 32 weeks of pregnancy, it’s recommended that you have a whooping cough immunisation to help protect your baby against whooping cough. Whooping cough immunisation is a very contagious and dangerous illness for babies so now would be a good time to see your GP or midwife to organise it for you. In Australia, this immunisation is free for all pregnant women in their third trimester.

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