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Congratulations are in order! At 28 weeks pregnant , you are only one week away from your third trimester. In less than ten weeks, your baby will be full term (37 weeks) and ready to be delivered.
Weight Gain During Pregnancy
You are probably huge right now. Your pregnancy weight gain at 28 weeks pregnant is around 19 or 20 pounds. Can you believe it? Twenty pounds! That's like carrying a very heavy watermelon in your stomach. No wonder you are plagued with back pain in the second and third trimesters!
By the time that your baby is ready to be born, you may have gained anywhere between 25 and 35 pounds for an average sized woman. Overweight women should only gain between 15 and 25 pounds, and underweight women should aim to gain between 28 and 40 pounds.
Short of Breath During Pregnancy
As you get larger in your pregnancy week by week, you may notice that you are having a hard time breathing, or feeling a little short of breath. This is a common pregnancy symptom at pregnancy week 28, caused by your growing uterus compressing your diaphragm. You're more likely to feel short of breath during pregnancy if you are carrying your baby high or if you are pregnant with twins or multiples.
Though shortness of breath is a bothersome sensation, you will get relief in the final weeks of your pregnancy, when your baby drops into your pelvis (this is called "lightening").
More Frequent Prenatal Appointments
As you approach your third trimester of your pregnancy week by week, you will have more frequent prenatal appointments. Instead of seeing your doctor every four weeks, like you have been doing up until 28 weeks pregnant, you will have prenatal visits every two weeks in the third trimester.
At your prenatal visits in your third trimester and at pregnancy week 28, your doctor will ask you how you're doing, what symptoms you've experienced, and any concerns you may have. You will have a physical exam, where your weight and blood pressure will be taken. You will also have to give a urine sample to check for preeclampsia, urinary tract infections, and other problems.
Your healthcare provider will also check your baby's heartbeat and feel your abdomen to see how your baby is growing and what position your baby's in. You will have your fundal height measured (the distance from the top of your uterus to your pubic bone), so that the doctor can compare this to your baby's gestational age.
In most cases, your baby will be developing normally. However, if your doctor finds that your baby is "small for dates," you will have an ultrasound to evaluate your baby's growth.
Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)
At 28 weeks pregnant, "small for dates," more commonly known as intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), basically means that your baby is smaller than expected for your stage of pregnancy. In general, IUGR occurs when your baby's estimated weight is under the 10th percentile for his or her gestational age, or smaller than 90 percent of other babies of the same age.
If you're diagnosed with IUGR at pregnancy week 28, your doctor will try to determine what's causing your baby to grow slower. Common causes for IUGR include:
- Genetic factors and chromosomal abnormalities
- Multiple pregnancy
- Infections that developed earlier in your pregnancy (such as rubella, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus, herpes, malaria, etc.)
- Placenta abnormalities
- Nutritional deficiencies in the mother, or poor weight gain during pregnancy
- Hypoxemia (low blood oxygen)
- Blood disorders (such as sick cell diseases) and autoimmune disorders
- Substance abuse and cigarette smoking
- Pregnancy through assisted reproductive technologies (such as IVF fertilization)
Sometimes the cause of intrauterine growth restriction can't be found until after your baby is born. Whatever the cause of IUGR, your pregnancy will be treated as "high-risk" and it will be monitored closely until your baby is born. As a result, you may have more frequent doctor's visits and ultrasounds. In some cases, you may be placed on bed rest, or asked to change your diet (if the IUGR is due to nutritional issues).
Time to Decorate Your Nursery
At 28 weeks pregnant, this is a wonderful time to start picking out baby bedding sets for your baby's nursery. Decorating your little one's nursery is a wonderful bonding experience for both you and your partner. Whether you are having a boy or girl, you can find crib bedding sets in all colors and styles. From princess themes to sports motifs, a crib set makes the perfect accent to any nursery.
Remember that when you're buying baby bedding, your baby does not need a pillow or even a blanket. To reduce your baby's risk of dying from SIDS in the first few months of life, you should place your little one on a fitted sheet on a firm crib mattress. You should keep blankets, pillows, and soft stuffed animals out of the crib, as there is a risk that it can end up covering baby's head, leading to suffocation. To keep baby warm, you may want to consider a swaddle blanket.
At 28 weeks pregnant, your baby now weighs over 2 pounds and measures around 14.8 inches from head to toe! (Remember there is variability between different babies at this stage of fetal development. Some babies will be larger; others smaller.)
Between pregnancy week 28 and 29, the growth of twins and multiples will slow down, when compared to single babies, due to the limited space in their womb. However, twins and multiples will still move around and kick as much as they can.
Between 28 weeks pregnant and 32 weeks, the level of amniotic fluid in your womb will reach its maximum amount. After 32 weeks, the amount will remain constant until your baby is full term, when the level starts to decrease.
Your baby's hair is growing longer at 28 weeks pregnant, and his or her beautiful eyelashes and eyebrows are also growing longer and thicker.
Around pregnancy week 28, many babies will move into the head-down position (the best position for an easier labor and delivery). However, it's possible that these babies will continue doing somersaults for the next few weeks until they settle into their actual labor and delivery position.
Your baby practices breathing movements at 28 weeks pregnant. At this stage of your pregnancy week by week, your baby's lungs are filled with fluid. Up until this week, your baby's breathing movements have been random. But now they are starting to reflect your baby's sleep-wake patterns.
At pregnancy week 28, your baby's yawning patterns are more developed. Instead of an occasional yawn, yawns occur in succession, one after another in a repetitive pattern.
Early in your pregnancy week by week, you will have your blood tested to see if your blood has the Rh factor (a protein found in red blood cells). If you do have the Rh factor, you are Rh positive. If your blood lacks this protein, you are Rh negative. (Most people are Rh positive). In some cases, this blood test (called an antibody screen) occurs in your second trimester, when you have the glucose-screening test for gestational diabetes.
If you are Rh-negative and your partner is also Rh-negative, this doesn't pose a problem during pregnancy. However, in most cases, you won't know what your partner's Rh factor is. If your partner is Rh-positive and you are Rh-negative, this means that your baby has a possibility of being Rh-positive.
RH Sensitization in Pregnancy
Rh-negative pregnant women face the risk of Rh sensitization - a pregnancy complication that occurs when your Rh-negative blood comes into contact with your baby's Rh-positive blood and your blood produces antibodies that attack your baby's blood. This can cause anemia in your unborn baby, leading to brain damage, fetal death, and serious illness in your little one.
For first pregnancies, your baby will be born before your body develops enough antibodies to cause your little one any harm. However, once you have these antibodies in your system, they have the potential to harm future pregnancies.
How to Prevent Rh Sensitization
To prevent Rh sensitization, you will get an injection of Rh immune globulin (brand name: RhoGam) at 28 weeks pregnant. This will prevent your body from producing these harmful antibodies in your last trimester.
If your body is already producing these antibodies at this point in your pregnancy week by week, you will not receive this injection. Instead, your baby will be monitored closely.
After your baby's birth, if your baby is Rh positive, you will receive another injection of RhoGam to prevent these antibodies from forming. If your baby is born Rh negative, you will not receive another shot, since you have no risk of those antiobodies.
Read About Your Pregnancy Week by Week - 29 Weeks Pregnant
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