Your Pregnancy: A Week-by-Week Guide

You are 33 Weeks Pregnant!

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU

At long last, you finally fall asleep, only to wake with leg cramps. Ouch! But there's no need to suffer night after night. Try these tips to help eliminate cramps:

• Exercise helps! Get out and walk during your lunch hour.
• Do not stand in the same position for a long period.
• Increase your calcium intake through diet or supplements.
• When lying down, keep your legs a bit elevated.
• When a cramp comes on, flex your toes upward to relieve the spasm and use your hands to apply pressure to the affected muscle.

Foot Cramps: 6 Comfort Measures

Well, I seem to have experienced every uncomfortable side effect of pregnancy except this one, lol! Please don't think I'm complaining....cuz I'm soooo not! Whatever I can get away with, I'm so grateful!

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOUR BABY

Your baby weighs approximately four pounds five ounces, and measures 40 centimeters crown to rump, or 15 3/4 inches. You may notice rhythmic movements across your belly now. This could mean your baby has a case of the hiccups.

At my last dr. appt. I was 32 wks and 6 days and they did an ultrasound that put her weight almost exactly to what this says she should be weighing. She was 5 lbs 4 oz. Nice to know she's right on target!

EATING FOR TWO

A diet rich in potassium and calcium is great for both you and your baby and can also help to alleviate muscle cramps, which sometimes become bothersome during the last trimester. Need a natural potassium refresher? Try these foods to boost your intake:

• Bananas
• Grapefruit
• Oranges
• Sesame seeds
• Yogurt
• Salmon
• Cottage cheese
• Almonds
• Sardines
• Soybeans

I've actually been eating a lot of these foods already...maybe that's why I'm not having the leg cramps. Interesting....

FACT OF THE WEEK

Your practitioner may feel your belly and comment on your baby's "presentation." But what exactly does this mean? Presentation refers to the position that your baby has assumed. Babies generally settle into the head down, or cephalic position, around this time. In about three percent of term pregnancies the baby remains breech, meaning that their buttocks or the feet are leading, and would be delivered first.

A cesarean may be recommended if your baby is in the breech position. While vaginal breech births are possible, ask your practitioner if he is skilled and comfortable with this technique and discuss the possible risks. And remember, as a health care consumer, you always have the option of asking another practitioner for a second opinion.

Babies usually assume a head-down position sometime before the 36th week, although some do it even later. If you currently have a baby in the breech position, you can try this exercise to encourage your baby to rotate. Lie on your back and prop your buttocks 9 to 12 inches off the floor with firm, supportive pillows, or a sturdy slant board. Do this exercise for twenty minutes, two to three times a day. It is best done in loose clothing and with a (relatively) empty stomach.

Boy was this weeks update created especially for me or what?!?! At my last appt. the dr. said she was breech and told me if she didn't turn by week 36, I would have to have a c-section. I'm sooooo hoping she flips back down by then! The dr. actually told me about the same exercise mentioned above to try, she said it certainly wouldn't hurt to try it. So I'll have to try it maybe tonight.