Читать книгу Blooming Birth: How to get the pregnancy and birth you want - Lucy Atkins - Страница 49

YOUR BODY | Risk of miscarriage drops considerably, nausea usually lessens and you may be lucky enough to get an energy surge. Abdominal pains and twinges (your ligaments are stretching), tender breasts, heartburn, bleeding gums, cramps, a dark line down middle of belly (linea negra), food cravings, nasal congestion, leg cramps, occasional nosebleeds and constipation are all normal. If this is not your first pregnancy you may feel the baby move as early as the start of the trimester.

YOUR EMOTIONS | Placenta Brain starts creeping in: forgetfulness and disorganization are common, as are creativity and insanely vivid dreams. Your belly should finally start looking like a pregnancy not a surfeit of pies. Start talking to your partner about how a baby might affect your relationship, budget, lifestyle: big issues need to be dealt with. Also talk about how your new girth is affecting your sex life (many men can be scared of hurting the baby and need reassurance).

BIRTH PREPARATION | Book maternity leave. Start to focus on your feelings about the birth, beginning to resolve past birth experiences if this isn’t your first; work out what preconceptions you have about birth, from family, friends, media images. Read Chapter 5 carefully: visit your hospital and other birth-place options in your area. Consider hiring a doula (see Chapter 9). By end of trimester: register for childbirth classes.

EXPERIENCED MOTHERS ADVISE | Wear tight clothes to show off your belly (tents will just make you look fat). Hide bathroom scales. Take advantage of energy if you have it. Start dealing with emotional issues around childbirth: it can be a long haul.

YOUR BABY | Month 4 About five inches long and 4 oz, strong heartbeat, thin transparent skin, soft hair over body. Little finger- and toenails are forming and he’s moving well in an increasing amount of amniotic fluid. Month 5 Ten to 12 inches, with hair, eyelashes, eyebrows and even the occasional hiccup. He can hear your voice and you will probably start feeling him move (about 18–22 weeks). A scan around 20 weeks can tell you the baby’s sex. Month 6 Eleven to 14 inches, about 1lb, his eyes are open. Pruny skin covered in ‘vernix’. Now looks like a small, very real baby. Ten to 20 per cent of babies if born now will survive.