Mum
It’s time to feel big, fat and beautiful. Your baby is fully developed and growing rapidly in your womb. Remember to rest plenty – after all, you’re not doing it for yourself, you’re doing it for your child.
Your uterus is pushing against all your vital organs, making you short of breath. You may also experience heartburn and back pain. Pregnancy hormones are busy loosening your joints and ligaments in preparation for birth. This can make you less stable on your feet (you have stopped wearing high heels, right?) and cause pain when you move, bend, or pick up things.
Dad
You may not need to touch the bump in order to notice it move. Or lurch. Or roll. No doubt about it, it’s a real baby in there. A quick checklist for you: Baby car seat installed? Baby’s room insulated and painted? Baby clothes, washed and folded and put away?
The first few months with a newborn will be hectic. If you know your way around the kitchen, whip up a few casseroles and freeze them in dinner-sized portions. She will thank you when the baby’s here.
Baby
You are the size of a pineapple. Although your skeleton is hardening, the bones in your head won’t fuse together, in order to make your journey through the birth canal easier.
Things to keep in mind
- Inquire about resources available to new mums (e.g. lactation consultants, post-birth mental health support).
- This is your reminder to check on all of your obligations, appointments, to do’s and shopping lists. The pregnancy brain fog can really set you back, so keep going back to those lists to ensure you’re on track for when baby arrives.
- Prep for postpartum (easy meals, maternity pads, breastfeeding pillows – all that good stuff!).
- Stretch your body, move your muscles and keep doing those kegel exercises – your pelvic floor will thank you later!
Photos in the bumpandbaby.co.nz/week-by-week/ are by Lenart Nilsson. Lenart's series was bought to fame when his photo, considered the greatest photo of the 20th century, appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1965. “Everyone interprets images differently, depending on their social, cultural and religious background. In the digital era, I believe it is more important than ever to go back and take a look inside ourselves. What better way of doing that than with these photos?” ~ Jane Stene, art gallery director and curator of Lenart's definitive black and white series, told the The Guardian in 2019. It is Lenart Nilsson's wish that his images are never used for political debate about pro-life.
