Twenty-eighth week of pregnancy

The 28th week of pregnancy marks an important milestone: the beginning of the third trimester. From now on, the baby bump should grow about 1 cm a week and the baby’s movements may start to be visible even from the outside.

Weight and length at 28 weeks

 

How many months is 28 weeks pregnant?

At ^week 28 you are at the beginning of the seventh month of gestation. To know the exact correspondence between months and weeks of pregnancy you can use our conversion table .

28th ^week : frequent symptoms

• Stomach ache
• Constipation
• Backache
• Insomnia
• Weird dreams

How your body changes

Third trimester: how many calories?

From now on, the caloric requirement increases by approximately  460 kilocalories per day , to support the growth of the baby and the placenta. Continue to follow a healthy and balanced diet , in order not to accumulate excessive weight and to provide your little one with all the nutrients he needs.

Consider that 45-60% of your calories should come from carbohydrates (preferably complex), 20-30% from fat and the remainder from protein.

Digestive disorders

During this time, your belly may be growing about  1 cm per week . The uterus continues to put pressure on the stomach and intestines, which could lead to symptoms such as nausea , acid reflux and constipation . Try to drink plenty of water , preferably between meals, and choose foods that are high in fiber , such as fresh fruit and vegetables.

Sleep? Better on its side!

The movements of the future baby become more and more vigorous and could even wake you up at night . If we add back pain and stomach acid caused by the growth of the uterus to this , resting well could have become really difficult!

In order not to make these symptoms worse, avoid lying on your back and instead try to sleep on your left side: this position, in fact, facilitates digestion , helps counteract water retention (relieving swelling in the legs and hemorrhoids ) and increases blood flow to the placenta.

How the child grows

It is about 37 centimeters long , the size of a pepper , and weighs just over a kilogram . 

Upside down

Your little one’s size is increasing and his movements should now be visible even from the outside . At this moment, placing a hand on the belly, you should even be able to distinguish if it pushes with the bottom, with one foot or with one knee.

If he hasn’t done so yet, he’ll probably be head down soon  . However, don’t worry—she may decide to turn over even a few weeks before giving birth .

A little night owl

The  brain  is in constant ferment and by the end of this quarter it will have practically tripled in weight . Internally, billions of neurons are developing , and classic grooves are appearing on its surface , increasing the area available to brain cells.

His senses are increasingly developed: he opens and closes his eyes and is able to distinguish light from dark. Your sleep-wake rhythm should also have become more regular and you may already be able to recognize it. Unfortunately, it could be very different from yours: most future babies tend to be very active, especially between 7 pm and 4 am . 

The importance of the surfactant

Your little one is almost ready to breathe, even if he isn’t able to do it on his own yet. At this moment, in fact, he has not yet produced a sufficient amount of surfactant , i.e. the substance that will allow the lungs to expand properly after birth. Even the subcutaneous fat deposit is still too low to allow body temperature to be maintained.

For these reasons, babies born at the 28th week must be housed in special thermal cradles (called incubators) in the neonatal intensive care unit (TIN) , to receive respiratory assistance and drugs capable of accelerating lung maturation.

Do you know that…

Your little one’s movements could already reveal something about his character: babies who are particularly active in the belly , in fact, sometimes prove to be very lively even after birth .

For the dad

In the third trimester, the bump in the belly could curb sexual desire and your partner could seek more cuddles and tenderness . Both of you try to talk openly about your sensations and your needs, and to keep your need for intimacy active: physical contact is a fundamental component for the psycho-physical well-being of the couple , in whatever form it occurs.

Checks and exams to do

• Recognize the symptoms of preterm birth

In a small number of cases, the baby can be born before the 37th week , when it has not yet completed its maturation: we then speak of preterm or premature birth . This event can be announced by some symptoms that it is very important to know how to recognize:

• severe abdominal pain
• dull pain in the lower back
• leaking blood or amniotic fluid
• sensation of pelvic pressure (as if the baby is pushing down)
• contractions at regular intervals, painful or painless

If you have one or more of these symptoms, it’s important to contact your gynecologist right away or go to the emergency room right away . Depending on the situation, doctors will evaluate whether to try to block the labor or slow it down , to have time to give the mother drugs that can accelerate the production of surfactant .

Click here to see the tests you can take for free between the 25th and 28th week of gestation

Advice from the 28th ^week of pregnancy

• Continue to interact with the future baby and invite the rest of the family to do the same: the sound of your voice and your caresses on the tummy will stimulate its mental, sensory and emotional development . Furthermore, these gestures will help the future father and siblings to create that “emotional space” that will be necessary to welcome the new arrival after birth.

• In the third trimester it is important to start monitoring fetal movements: in fact , an absence , a decrease or a significant increase in the normal activity of the baby in the belly could signal the presence of a problem and must be reported immediately to the gynecologist .