Your baby at 28 weeks pregnant: Week-by-week guide to development

HerFamily

Welcome to week 28 of your pregnancy! This week, your baby is as big as a pineapple. Here’s what else you can expect this week.

Your baby

As the third trimester begins your baby is now around 38 centimetres long and weighing approximately 1 kilogram. Their eyelids can open, and your little one is beginning to blink. The lungs are continuing to develop and get stronger. Baba is also becoming more active, with distinctive sleep and wake cycles. Your baby’s brain is growing, with billions of neurons forming the foundation for future learning and development.

You

You’ve made it! You’re in the third trimester. You may be experiencing a mix of emotions as you edge closer to meeting your baby – no shock there, the hormones are *intense*. You might notice your belly growing more rapidly, and those baby kicks are stronger than ever. From 28 weeks onward, you might struggle to get or stay asleep. If you find yourself up in the middle of the night, do something chill like reading, or having a decaf tea, or listen to a relaxing podcast, then when you feel tired, let yourself relax into sleep again.

Need to go to the loo every 15 minutes? That’s because your growing baby is pushing the uterus on to your bladder. And no, this is not going to help an already broken sleep pattern.

As your pelvis softens and expands and soft you may feel sharp aches and pains in the front of your pelvis. If it becomes extremely sore to walk, climb stairs, or even touch you will need to be referred to a physiotherapist.

Anything else?

Now that you are officially in the third trimester and on the home stretch, you might have started thinking more about the actual birth and what is about to go down in just a few short weeks. Have you considered using the HypnoBirthing technique? More and more women are signing up for these courses, and HypnoBirthing Ireland say that 65-70 percent of HypnoBirthing mums don’t need any form of pain relief because the technique helps them experience any pain as ‘pressure’.

More: More Pregnant Women Than Ever Are Using The HypnoBirthing Technique

Getting closer to your due date also means getting closer to the day when you finally get to meet your baby!

Have you made any decisions yet about a name? Knowing the sex obviously makes it all the more easier to pick one, but fear not if you have chosen to be surprised on the day (I did – it was the best decision ever!) because there are so many gorgeous unisex names nowadays to chose from.

More: 10 Really Cute Unisex Names We Are Obsessed With Right Now