What’s Happening With Mom?
Every month, you’ll get to feel like livestock at the county fair as your doctor records and charts all kinds of statistics. Your weight and blood pressure will be recorded, your belly is measured, and the doctor’s office will test your urine for sugar and protein. And you won’t even get a ribbon. No fair!
The doctor will also measure your baby’s heart rate, can calculate how big your baby is by measuring your belly (technically called your fundal height) and by now will be able to tell which way up your baby is. You might be wondering if that lump you can feel jammed in your ribs is a head or a tush, but your doctor will be able to tell you. The ideal way for your baby to be born is head down, but right now your baby is super active and will probably flip around several times before birth.
Even if you were not diabetic before you are pregnant, women can occasionally become diabetic while they are pregnant. This week, your doctor will test to see if you are one of them with a glucose tolerance test. This is one of pregnancy’s most boring tests. It involves drinking a cup of very sugary liquid, sitting and waiting an hour, then having blood drawn. Bring a book, or some knitting.
Because diabetic people metabolize sugar much more slowly than normal, your doctor will be able to tell if you have gestational diabetes by looking at how much sugar is left in your blood after the hour. If you do have gestational diabetes, you’ll need to follow a special diet until your baby is born.
What’s Happening With Baby?
The bones and joints in baby’s hands are fully developed, with mini fingernails and tiny curled-up fingers. Your baby can flex those little fingers and curl them up into a fist, as well as feel their face, umbilical cord, and the walls of the uterus.
It’s dark inside, so hearing and touch are the first sensations babies feel. Your baby can hear your voice, and the sounds close by you. That’s why, after birth, your baby will love being curled up close to you, wrapped in a soft blanket and listening to your voice, because it’s so familiar and comforting.
Tags: baby's heart rate, Blood pressure, diabetic, fingernail development, fundal height, gestational diabetes, glucose tolerance test, hand bone development, voice recognition, weight gain
