Pregnancy Week 32

How big is your baby? Your baby will be weighing in at around 3.75 pounds (1.702kg) and measuring 16.69inches (42.4cm). How big are you? Your uterus now sits about 4.72 inches (12cm) above your bellybutton and about 12.59inches (32cm) above your pubic symphysis. How is your baby developing and growing You may begin to experience back pain now. Back painis generally caused by weak stomach muscles, as this will force you to push yourshoulders back in order to support your growing uterus. This week your baby will :

• Be able to register on all five of his/her senses.
• Your baby’s iris, which is the colored part of the eye, will open in darker lightand close in brighter light.
• Your baby’s toe nails should be completely formed by now.

Changes In You By now I am sure that you would have already started to experience Braxton Hicks – which are the early practice contractions your body usesto start preparing for labor. It is important that you understand the differencebetween real labor contractions and Braxton hicks, as this will mean you are ableto tell the difference between the real lobor signs and pre-term labor signs. Braxton hicks can be extremely uncomfortable at times, and there are a number ofways in which you can help relieve them:

• Drink lots of water
• Avoid Caffeine
• Use this time to practice breathing techniques
• Try and maintain an empty bladder

Your Nutrition Should you be expecting twins or multiples, then you should be paying special attention to your nutritionand weight gain. Food will always be your best source of nutrition, but it willbe even more important for you to take your prenatalvitamins. Should your weight gain in the early stages of your pregnancy not be sufficient, then you will stand a higherchance of developing pre-eclampsia or your babybeing born a little too small. Your health care provider will keep tabs on yourweight gain and he/she will inform you if your weight gain is too low or too high. Your target weight gain, if you are carrying more than one baby, will be about 45pounds, so don’t be alarmed when your health care provider tells you what he wantsyour total weight gain to be. Getting Prepared If you have not already done so, now would be a good time to start packing your hospital bag- if you are having a hospital birth – or at least thinking about what you are going to need.Now is a good time to gather what you require, because anything could start happeningin the next few weeks, and there is nothing worse than arriving at the hospitaland realizing that you have forgotten most of what you need. Visit our Media Center for pictures of your growing baby Tell Us About Your Baby

Remember that you can tell us about your baby and you can receive a week by weekupdate as to how your baby is growing and developing post pregnancy. This includesinformation and articles on:

• Baby development & milestones
• Nutritional requirements & feeding
• Sleeping patterns
• Caring for and teaching your baby
• And so much more

To give us your information about baby, click here.