Approved by the What’s Up Moms Medical Advisory Board
Baby’s almost 12 inches long and you know what that means — she’s the size of a footlong meatball sub. Muscle tone is building. Skin is pinking up thanks to newly-formed small capillaries. Lungs are now fully formed but not yet ready to function outside the womb.
The increasing weight of your uterus may be wreaking some lower-body havoc in the form of leg cramps and restless legs thanks to all the pressure on nerves and blood vessels. Both these symptoms usually occur at night and can mess with your sleep ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE ALREADY MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO SLEEP SO NO PROBLEM THERE. In the throes of a leg cramp, massage the muscle, walk around, and apply a warm compress. Prevent these suckers by stretching your calves before bed (flex your feet back toward your shins – from sitting with legs straight out or lying on your back), exercising as much as you can, guzzling water, and getting your share of magnesium, calcium and potassium from foods and your prenatal. Go #bananas!
You know what kinda makes up for all that leg nonsense? The fact that your partner can now feel baby’s movements with a well-placed (and well-timed) hand on your belly. And in coming weeks you may be able to see baby’s movements, too, poking out from within. It’s really bizarre when this happens — in the best, most funhouse way. Annnnnd that’s a foot!
Now that baby is seeming more real to the both of you you’re probably talking names. Chances are you’ve been throwing around lots of ‘em over the past few months (and probably before you were even pregnant.) If you’re lucky, the two of you are on the same page and you’ve got a short-list of great options by now. But if some of your husband’s off-the-wall suggestions leave you wondering who he even is, take a deep breath, back up for a second and spend some time together figuring out your criteria. Our parting two cents? However tempting it is, do not share your shortlist with others. Last thing you need is your mother-in-law pulling a “Hunh. If you like it.”
