Month9
How your baby has grown
Height: 45 to 46cm/ Weight: 2,300 to 2,600g
- ① The subcutaneous fat increases and wrinkles disappear.
The skin color becomes less reddish due to the increasing subcutaneous fat, and the baby becomes chubbier and cuter. The sebaceous glands, the skin protective substance- become very thick. The nails and toenails grow to the tip of the fingers and toes.
- ② Your baby’s shape becomes similar to that of a newborn baby.
As your baby’s figure becomes more like that of a newborn baby, it starts to look like a normal human being. The external genital is completely formed to distinguish male from female. All the internal organs besides the lungs are almost complete. This means that even with premature birth, the baby can be delivered safely, although it may experience some difficulty in breathing, if proper measures are taken.
How your baby's body changes
- ① An increasing sense of discomfort.
As your abdomen expands, your uterus rises up to the pit of the stomach, pressing the bowels and the lungs. You may lose appetite and experience indigestion. Your heart activities are further stimulated that you feel a sense of tightness in your heart, leaving you short of breath. As the enlarged uterus should be supported, you may feel your legs going to sleep and become swollen often. While you would start to feel a sense of comfort as the due date nears, you may also feel worried and impatient, and experience bouts of fits as you find it hard to handle such stress.
- ② More severe backache and difficulty in daily activities.
As your abdomen expands, backache becomes severe and you become increasingly slow in actions. You feel uncomfortable and even experience pain in the hips and pelvis. The enlarging uterus presses the bladder, causing you to urinate more often. Even after urinating, it feels like you haven’t done enough. The vaginal discharge color gets darker and the viscosity becomes thicker. Your gums may weaken and bleed.
Health Checkpoint
Check if your baby is in the breech presentation through ultrasound test.
As the third trimester begins, your baby starts to turn its head to the uterus entrance and fix its posture before delivery. This is called the ‘cephalic presentation.’ Reversely, some babies don’t go through the above procedure and fix the posture with the head upwards. This is called ‘breech presentation.’ You can check this through an ultrasound test. Breech presentations are highly likely to be found in multifetal pregnancy, hydramnios, placenta praevia, and uterus myoma.
What You Should Do
- ① Eat small, frequent, tender meals.
As the uterus comes up to the tip of the stomach, you may experience indigestion or nausea like you did from morning sickness. You may lose appetite as well. Try not to force yourself to eat. Just relax and eat small and frequent meals.
- ② When lumps are felt in the abdomen, lie down on your back to take a rest.
It is most effective if you take a deep breath. When you lie down, put a cushion under your knees so that your back can be rested. When you rise up, avoid abrupt motions as they might apply pressure on your abdomen. Rise up slowly to the sides and lift your upper body while supporting it with both hands. When going outside, protect your abdomen against peripheral external impacts by holding it with one hand.
Tip. Childbirth goods
- Clothing: newborn babies’ jacket, underwear
- Bedclothes: inner cover, outer cover, blanket, sleeping mat, pillow
- Bath product s: babies’ bathtub, gauze towel, big towel, baby oil, soap, swab
- Miscellaneous: thermometer, humidifier
- When formula-feeding: nursing bottle, sterilizer