Читать книгу Blooming Birth: How to get the pregnancy and birth you want - Lucy Atkins - Страница 50

YOUR BODY | Interrupted sleep, nasal congestion, shortness of breath, heartburn, itchy skin (it’s stretching), stretchmarks, abdominal aches, backache, varicose veins, feeling hotter, bleeding gums, swollen ankles and feet and haemorrhoids: it’s a laugh a minute. Then again you may feel on top of the world. ‘Braxton hicks’ contractions can start now (a tightening feeling in belly: just practice contractions that are not labour). Your sex drive may evaporate or accelerate. Incontinence and frequent peeing are common. Do your pelvic floor exercises.

YOUR EMOTIONS | Anxiety about birth is normal. But really get on top of your fears. Keep talking to your partner about all of this. You may feel more vulnerable (or, conversely, powerful). You’ll probably get increasingly tired. If you have other children, start preparing them now for their sibling’s arrival. You may start ‘nesting’ furiously towards the end and everyone will think you’ve gone mad.

BIRTH PREPARATION | Start childbirth classes. Start work on your Blooming Birth Plan (Chapter 7). As you near the birth make sure you are happy with your choices (you can still swap – even late in the day), really deal with your fears and worries about birth (get professional help if you are bogged down), and solidify your plans about how you’ll cope with pain etc. Make practical plans regarding other children and the birth/work handover/finances. Work on your confidence: you can do it, you will cope.

EXPERIENCED WOMEN ADVISE | Celebrate your hugeness: get a photographer to take pics of you or an artist to sketch you, don’t try and hide your belly (it’s futile and you’ll end up looking like Hattie Jacques). Ask people for a seat on the tube or bus (they may not offer but don’t suffer in silence). Sort yourself out about the birth and talk to your midwife about all worries. A doula can be invaluable at this stage. Pack hospital bag two weeks early and buy baby clothes/cot/nappies etc. by 38 weeks.

YOUR BABY | Month 7 Fourteen to 17 inches long, 2–3lbs, she’s putting on much needed body fat and her lungs are developing. Month 8 Sixteen to 18 inches, 4–5lb, she wakes and sleeps, can respond to sounds and knows your voice. Her bones are soft and flexible and she’s starting to get into position for birth. Month 9 About 19 inches and 6+lb, she has less room to kick and wriggle, her vernix covered skin is plumped out, the fine hairs covering her body are almost gone: she’s getting ready to be born.