At the 31st week of pregnancy, the weight of the fetus will be about 1.6 kg, full height - 38-39 cm. The baby's nerve endings begin to function, pain sensitivity appears. The mother may have disturbances in night sleep due to active and strong fetal tremors. Now is the time to explore the issues of pain relief during childbirth.
How many months?
The 31st obstetric week is the eighth lunar month of pregnancy. Approximately 29 weeks have passed since conception. Read interesting about timing here: Timing of pregnancy: obstetric and embryonic - how to determine and not get confused in timing - https://razvitie-krohi.ru/beremennost/kak-opredelit-srok-beremennosti.html
Fetal development
In the first trimester of pregnancy, each week made huge changes in the development of the fetus. Now your baby has all the organs and systems formed for a long time. The main direction of further development is the improvement of the brain and nervous system. For example, the fetus develops nerve endings. This means the appearance of general and pain sensitivity. The nerve fibers themselves are getting better and better every day to conduct signals from the brain to the nerve endings and back. This is a complex process that goes unnoticed for us, but in fact controls our entire life.
The baby begins to develop natural protective reactions. For example, if now, during a reflexive movement of the hand, the fist accidentally hits the eye, the eyelids will spontaneously close to protect the eyeball.
In addition, the child's body prepares for the upcoming life outside the mother's body. The fetus continues to develop subcutaneous fat. Thanks to this substance, the baby's skin gradually loses its bright red color, becomes slightly paler. However, the full skin color of the baby will be determined only for some time after birth. There is a gradual smoothing of the skin, which makes newborns look so plump.
The facial features of the fetus become more defined, individual. The nails grow to the tips of the fingers, and their growth does not end there. Many moms are amazed at how long their babies' nails are at birth, but this is actually completely normal.
At this time, many children are already positioned completely correctly. The head is below, the buttocks are under the mother's breast, arms and legs are crossed and pressed against the body. Wearing a brace will help your baby stay in this position and not roll over again.
However, we must not forget that the fetus can be located differently and turn over until the very birth. If at a later date the baby still has not taken the required position, the bandage will have to be abandoned in order to give the child the opportunity to turn as it should.
The movements of your grown baby are now felt almost constantly. Muscle contractions are also a pre-birth workout. The strongest tremors can even wake you up at night. Be patient and calm about this. Later, especially immediately after childbirth, many mothers admit that they miss the feeling of life inside themselves and the movements of their baby in the tummy.
Why talk?
Many parents do not understand: why talk to a child who has not yet been born? After all, he does not understand anything and will not begin to understand soon! Answer: to learn how to do this after the birth of the baby. Of course, there are a huge number of "talking" toys and educational cartoons almost from birth. But your voice and your communication are irreplaceable. Unfortunately, parents often do not understand this and are limited only to duty words like “don't cry”, “be quiet”, “sleep” and “eat”. And then they wonder why the child does not pronounce sounds well, does not obey and cannot normally establish contact with peers. And all these problems begin in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Calm conversations and belly strokes have another practical value. Almost all mothers notice that with such actions, fetal movements become less sharp. Considering that now the baby is pushing at times very painfully, talking and stroking will bring relief to the mother herself.
These are not strictly scientific data, but observations, but they are true: even a child who has not yet been born needs your attention and communication. This also applies to parents and other relatives.
What's going on with mom
The 31st week of pregnancy for most women is the beginning of the vacation. When pregnant with twins, this time occurs two weeks earlier. Many women have many different things to do at this time. But it turns out that most of all you want to rest and sleep. This is a completely normal condition.
From the beginning of pregnancy, the weight can increase by about 10 kg. This is a very average figure. Some mothers don't gain that much even in all 40 weeks, but they feel great. There are women with more weight gain. This must be treated very carefully for several reasons:
- Excessive fullness makes it difficult for you to move.
- The burden on the heart, already increased, increases even more. This is an unfavorable factor for the health of the fetus and yours.
- If excess weight is the result of abundant nutrition and an improper diet, not only you can get fat, but also your baby. A large fetus means difficulties in childbirth and the risk of obesity in a child at a later age.
- A significant increase in weight may indirectly indicate internal edema. This is one of the signs of late toxicosis. Read about this dangerous complication of pregnancy here.
Psychological preparation for childbirth
You need to spend some time thinking about what's coming in a few weeks. Childbirth is a complex process. Since the main fear of expectant mothers is the fear of pain, explore the issue of anesthesia delivery.
There are several methods for alleviating the suffering of a woman at different stages of labor. For example, antispasmodic therapy can relax certain muscles and reduce the pain of uterine contractions.
With epidural anesthesia, a catheter is inserted into the spine. The drugs reduce pain, but maintain sensitivity.
Narcotic pain relief is used when it is impossible to apply epidural anesthesia, for example, with an intervertebral hernia.
However, it should be remembered that any drug through your blood will get to the child. There are no harmless medicines. Therefore, it is better to tune in to this: if the pain is tolerable, then it is better to refuse anesthesia. It is possible and necessary to use pain relievers only in case of unbearable pain, as it interferes with concentrating on childbirth and hearing the recommendations of doctors and midwives.
Interestingly, many mothers after the birth of their first children admitted that their pain was much less than expected and did not last long enough to become unbearable.
Scientific fact. According to some reports, higher animals that gave birth with anesthesia immediately abandoned their babies. Under the influence of anesthesia, the production of a special hormone of attachment was reduced to a critical level, and the maternal instinct simply disappeared.
There are also non-drug methods of pain relief during labor. These include aromatherapy, acupuncture, acupressure. These methods do not have 100% scientific confirmation of their effectiveness and are not available in every maternity hospital. In addition, any effect on biologically active points should be performed only by a professional, otherwise side effects and unpleasant consequences may occur.
Discharge and pain
A grown tummy forces the center of gravity of your body to shift. Because of this, deflection in the lower back may increase. And while walking and in a standing position, you probably lean back. In twin pregnancy, this is especially noticeable, since the total weight of babies, uterus and amniotic fluid is higher. This condition leads to the fact that every now and then you have a little pain in the lower back or the whole back. This condition is almost inevitable and is considered normal.
Light pains, especially in the lower abdomen and its spontaneous tension speak of training contractions. Here you need to pay attention to the frequency and frequency. If contractions are repeated at regular intervals and / or more often than four times within an hour, this is an alarming sign.
Vaginal discharge should be scanty, transparent or white, without a pungent odor. A lot of colostrum can be excreted from the breast. This process is individual for each mother.
What not to worry about. If there is still no colostrum, you should not worry - this is just a feature of your body. In some cases, colostrum is not produced until the day before birth.
For any deviations from the norm, be sure to consult a doctor. Intense pain, profuse watery discharge, and bleeding means you need emergency medical attention.
Video: Pain at 31 weeks of gestation:
Premature birth
At the 31st week of pregnancy, your fetus is not yet considered full-term. If the child is born at this time, he will generally be viable, but largely underdeveloped. Such a newborn will survive only with qualified medical care and special equipment.
Doctor's observations
At least once every two weeks, you need to attend an antenatal clinic. A day or two before that, be sure to pass routine blood and urine tests, directions for which the doctor issues in advance. Such frequent checks are absolutely necessary. Pregnant women can experience a variety of health problems. Many diseases do not initially make themselves felt, are asymptomatic. But in the blood and urine tests, unwanted changes in the body will already be visible, so laboratory control is very important.
You may be assigned a scheduled ultrasound scan (if you have not gone through it earlier). During the study, the doctor will determine the main parameters of the fetus, check the symmetry of the development of the limbs (arms and legs must be of the same length). Plus checking the location of the placenta, the general condition of the fetus, the presence / absence of any pathologies.
Photos tummies
Ultrasound. 31 weeks pregnant (3D)
Photo of ultrasound:
Recommendations
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- Food: meat, fish, cereals, dairy products, vegetables, fruits. Be very careful about the expiration date of the products. With food poisoning, many toxins are formed in the body, which will inevitably enter the blood of the fetus and harm it.
- Limit salty, sweet and completely fatty foods and fried foods.
- If you have a lack of water or, on the contrary, an excess of amniotic fluid, you should not go on a water diet. The amount of amniotic fluid has nothing to do with how much you drink.
- There should be plenty of fresh air around you. Ventilate the rooms where you are, walk more often.
- Dress strictly for the weather. Hypothermia can easily lead to colds, and overheating can cause lightheadedness and even fainting.
- Even if your only desire is to sit, lie and sleep, don't forget about physical activity. It is needed to eliminate and prevent recurrent edema, dilated veins in the legs and to train the heart. But your loads should be moderate, without sudden movements and stress.
- Swimming is considered the best physical training method. Water supports you and prevents you from overexerting yourself. It is believed that this particular sport helps the baby to take the correct position in the uterus.
- Sexual life can continue as before if it pleases you and the child's father. Contraindications remain the same: lack of water, the threat of premature birth, multiple pregnancies.
- To avoid shortness of breath, walk and climb stairs slowly. Full breathing will be restored only closer to childbirth, when your belly drops slightly.
- Avoid sitting “cross-legged” so as not to disrupt blood circulation in the pelvic organs.
- Wear a brace to relieve stress on your back and lower back.
- Compression underwear and stockings will help you to more easily endure unpleasant sensations in the lower back and abdomen, and will reduce the load on the blood vessels of the legs.
While on maternity leave, make sure to prepare carefully for meeting your baby.
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