Month8
How your baby has grown
Height: approx. 40cm/ Weight: 1,600g
- ① Subcutaneous fat makes your baby chubby.
Subcutaneous fat makes your baby’s body rounder and chubbier. The eyelids are distinctively formed with an eyeball to blink eyes with no difficulty. Lanugo (downy hair) starts to disappear and hair on the scalp grows longer. - ② Your baby’s movement can be felt even from the surface of your abdomen.
Your baby moves the fingers and toes slightly and bends or spreads the arms and legs with enhanced strength. Your baby has been freely changing position in the uterus and starts to position his head towards the lower part of the pelvis in preparation for delivery. Some babies put their heads in an opposite way but still, you have got more time to reverse the position – so don’t worry.
How your baby's body changes
- ① I often feel pain in the hip and back.
Your uterus contracts that you feel a tight lump in your abdomen 4 to 5 times a day. As your body starts to prepare for delivery, the amount of discharge increases as well. You may frequently feel pain in the hips and the back, and easily feel fatigued. As you move into the third trimester, the enlarged uterus may worsen the symptoms of lumbago, hemorrhoids, varices, leg cramps, constipation, streaks, and colorations. - ② I take deep breaths and it’s difficult to eat.
Your uterus pushes up against your lung, leaving you short of breath. Of course you’re breathing, but don’t feel like you have caught enough breath. It gets even worse when you lie down, so sometimes you cannot just lie down on your back. The enlarged uterus comes up to 7 – 8 cm below the breastbone, adding pressure on the bowels and making you feel uncomfortable when having meals.
Health Checkpoint
Not only the oligohydramnios but also hydramnios is an issue here.
The amniotic fluid is essential water of life for your baby, but too much or too little affects both your baby and yourself adversely. Oligohydramnios and hydramnios are related to fetus abnormalities, premature birth and stillbirth, so you must be extra careful. Oligohydramnios is the condition of an excessively little amount of amniotic fluid than normal. Oligohydramnios in the third trimester should be checked for the exact amount on a regular basis through ultrasound test. On the other hand, hydramnios is when the amount of the amniotic fluid surges when a mother has diabetes or a baby is unable to drink the fluid due to a blocked gullet. In most cases, more than 2,000ml of amniotic fluid is considered as hydramnios. This may also cause fetus congenital anomalies, such as anencephaly and hydrocephalus. In the worse case, you may have to be admitted in a hospital.
What You Should Do
- ① Learn basic gymnastics and breathing method before delivery.
Join a pregnant women class and learn various types of gymnastics and breathing techniques in preparation for your childbirth to facilitate comfortable and less painful labor. - ② Avoid making abrupt motions and vibrating places.
Avoid motions and stimulation that pressure your abdomen. Do not carry heavy baggage. Even when you try to pick up a piece of newspaper from the ground, avoid bending only your back forward. Bend your knees and squat to alleviate pressure against your abdomen. Try to take an appropriate amount of rest in-between when making a long-distance trip, and avoid transportation that causes lots of vibrations. Furthermore, mental stress and anxieties are harmful for your baby, so you should take enough rest and sleep to maintain psychological stability. - ③ Watch out for indications of premature birth.
- ⓐ Signs of bleeding : Either a substantial amount of clear red blood or pale blood mixed with vaginal discharges is the sign of premature birth. In such case, you must immediately visit a hospital.
- ⓒ The uterus entrance opened : It is hard for you to realize that your uterus entrance is open. It can be checked through an internal examination. If regular uterus contractions along with pain becomes frequent and stronger (mostly over 3 times an hour), you should see a doctor.
- ⓓ Your abdomen expands at regular time intervals : If you start to feel tension and expansion in your abdomen at regular time intervals, you should take a rest and drink water. If it still doesn’t work, you need to see a doctor.