Just six weeks to go before you reach your due date, so you should be aware that studies have shown that daily perineal massage is most effective in helping pre-stretch and prepare your perineal tissues for birth if started six weeks before birth. Just five to ten minutes each day can help to lower the chance of you needing an episiotomy or tearing during the pushing stage of labour, so at 34 weeks it's truly time to trim your thumbnails and stop procrastinating! If you've never heard of your perineum before then you can find out more about it here.
As the increasing weight of your bump (your baby alone weighs around 2.5 kilos by now) puts more pressure on your nether regions, you may find that haemorrhoids, a common third trimester complaint, become a problem for the first time or that they worsen. Piles certainly aren't pretty, and they are often uncomfortable, but they aren't usually a serious problem (though in a few or the worst cases an operation to remove the piles may be necessary after birth). There are a few things you can do to ease your suffering, such as taking the pressure off the area as much as possible, avoiding constipation (through your diet), keeping the area scrupulously clean and applying witch hazel-soaked cotton pads. Applying a zinc oxide cream (contained in many nappy rash creams) may also help. If you take specific anti-haemorrhoid medication then do check with your doctor to make sure it's safe to use during pregnancy.
As your baby puts on fat and weight he'll have ever less space to move around in, so it's quite normal for you to feel less movement than earlier on in pregnancy, or at least different movement. Your baby will still be moving around and toning up his muscles for birth though, so you should still be feeling prods and kicks. If you're worried that your baby isn't moving around much then try resting for a while and counting the movements, having something to eat first usually triggers a response. Paying attention, you should be able to count ten movements of some size in an hour. If you're at all concerned about your baby's movement then do speak to your midwife or doctor. While many babies appear to become less active at this time, all babies are different, and some mums-to-be will find that baby is so active there's no need to consciously monitor his movements.
As we mentioned last week, sometime around now is when many babies turn to a head-down position in preparation for labour. If your baby has already turned then not only will you experience greater pressure on your bladder and nether regions, but you may also find that you've adopted the old 'pregnancy waddle' that you may have noticed on other third trimester mums-to-be. At your antenatal checks your midwife or doctor will check to see whether baby is in this head-down position or is in a breech position, with his feet down. If your baby is still in breech position then this isn't anything to worry about yet at all, many babies don't turn until after week 37, and second or later babies often turn quite late in the day. If your baby is still in breech position as you go into week 38 then you will be given advice on encouraging your baby to turn.
At your ante-natal classes and elsewhere, you may notice that other women at a similar pregnancy stage to you can have markedly different sizes and shapes of bumps. Don't worry about whether your bump is too big or too small in comparison with other people's bumps, just enjoy the fact that your pregnancy and baby are unique. If your doctor or midwife have cause to believe that your baby is too big or small for your dates then they will tell you about it and give you appropriate advice.
While it's most likely that you will still have to wait several more weeks to meet your baby, it does make sense to be aware of the signs of labour contractions and, equally, to be prepared for the signs of false labour, as you may well be feeling at least some Braxton Hicks contractions at this stage. If you do think you are experiencing regular contractions then make a point of actually timing them to be sure. Note what they feel like and how painful they are. One of the first things your midwife will ask you if you call will be whether the contractions are regular, and if so, how far apart they are, and how intense the contractions are.
If you're pregnant for the second time around then you may be wondering how this experience will differ from your first labour. No-one can tell you that, but there are some differences that are quite common between first and second births.
Things to do this week
- Start daily perineal massage - It's a small and simple thing that could make quite a difference, so why not start today?
- Pack your hospital bag - You may not need it for several weeks yet, but it's not a bad idea to be well prepared with your hospital essentials easily to hand just in case. Time to make a list and check you've got everything in that you need.
- Sort out a TENS machine - If you're interested in using a TENS machine during your birth and you can't be guaranteed one at your chosen place of birth then you may want to hire or buy one. Either way, it's good to get onto that asap.
- Revisit your birth plan - If you were very organised and wrote a birth plan quite a while ago then now is a good time to dust it off and check that it still reflects how you feel about your approach to the birth. If you haven't yet got around to it at all then why not tackle it this week? Just don't forget that it's a way of organising your thoughts about labour and giving the medical team and your birth partner an idea of your preferences and not a plan setting out how your labour will actually happen!
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See here for more on how your baby will develop in week 35.
