How the baby moves at 26 weeks
The third trimester of pregnancy has arrived. Your baby is already the size of a small melon and already weighs about 800 g. The expectant mother feels even more noticeably how the baby moves in her belly, especially at night. At this time, doctors recommend carefully monitoring the activity of the fetus and counting movements. There is a special table - a fetal movement test, in which the expectant mother marks every tenth movement of the child from 9:00 to 21:00. Under normal conditions, the tenth movement is observed before 17:00. If the number of movements within 12 hours is less than 10, tell your doctor. Lack of fetal activity for 12 hours is a very serious signal, consult a doctor immediately! Fetal hypoxia is very dangerous at all stages of pregnancy; it is important not only to diagnose its development in time, but also to provide timely assistance to the baby in order to avoid disastrous consequences.
How should an expectant mother eat?
As before, both the baby and the mother need vitamins and healthy foods. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare food so that as many useful components as possible remain in it - steam or bake in the oven.
Eat more fruits, vegetables, drink compotes and juices.
Avoid stressful situations, do not overwork. During this period, physical activity is undesirable. Get plenty of rest, spend time outdoors and enjoy your situation. After all, morale is no less important than physical readiness.
What can a baby do at 26 weeks of pregnancy?
A child at 26 weeks of pregnancy is already quite well developed: he sees and hears, and he distinguishes low sounds better than high ones. The baby reacts sensitively to sharp pops or knocks; they make him anxious, and screaming and noise frighten him. The most pleasant sound for a baby, even after birth, is the beating of the mother’s heart. He has already developed taste buds, and grasping and sucking reflexes are actively developing. He looks less and less like a wrinkled old man, his skin gradually smoothes out and changes color.
Nutrition
Nutrition for a pregnant woman at 26 weeks of gestation
The nutrition of a pregnant woman at the 26th week is an important component of a favorable pregnancy. Following the principles of a healthy diet and monitoring the intake of a full range of nutrients into the body allows you to keep weight gain within limits, provide the fetus with all the necessary elements, and maintain the health of the expectant mother. This week you should pay attention to products containing:
- vitamins A, B, C, D and E;
- iron, potassium, calcium, magnesium.
Ideally, your diet will include:
- red meat;
- lean fish;
- offal;
- chicken eggs;
- cottage cheese and cheese;
- broccoli and cauliflower;
- asparagus;
- potatoes, carrots and other vegetables;
- buckwheat and unpolished rice;
- apples, bananas and other fruits;
- rose hips, black currants and other seasonal berries;
- prunes, dried apricots and other dried fruits;
- pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts.
It is advisable to prepare foods by boiling or stewing, avoiding frying, smoking and salting.
It is ideal if you can reduce the amount of salt you consume to the minimum possible.
Vitamins
You should take multivitamin complexes at the 26th week of pregnancy only after they have been prescribed by a gynecologist. In the later stages, uncontrolled intake of vitamins and nutritional supplements can cause excessive weight gain by the woman and child. This can lead to complications during childbirth, so you should avoid self-prescribing vitamins and strictly follow the dosage prescribed by your doctor.
Alarming symptoms at 26 weeks
The beginning of the third trimester is a time to be vigilant. If you notice watery vaginal discharge, do not delay visiting the doctor: it may be amniotic fluid leaking and there is a risk of giving birth prematurely. Alarming signals at this stage are also prolonged cramping pain, nagging pain in the lower abdomen and lower back, and general weakness. Bloody discharge at 26 weeks of pregnancy may indicate placental abruption, but only a doctor can determine this more accurately.
Possible complications
Modern medicine makes it possible to maintain pregnancy in case of most complications. It is only important to seek help in time and regularly see your doctor. Be attentive to your condition and do not wait for your health to worsen.
Isthmic-cervical insufficiency
Normally, the cervix dilates only during childbirth. But in some women, due to tissue weakness, the cervix opens long before childbirth. The condition is usually asymptomatic and discovered during a routine examination. Occasionally, a pregnant woman may complain of minor spotting.
Premature dilatation is treated surgically - sutures are placed on the neck or a pessary is installed. This is a special ring-shaped device that prevents the internal opening from opening. The woman is recommended to wear a bandage, and maintenance hormonal therapy is prescribed according to indications.
Baby development at 26 weeks
At 26 weeks, the baby is about the size of an eggplant.
At week 26, the Baby’s height is 31-32 cm, and his weight is 700-800 g. Your Baby:
- makes constant breathing movements, although the lung tissue does not expand and air does not enter it. Where does the inhaled amniotic fluid go? It is absorbed into the blood and does no harm;
- in the brain, the cells on which thinking depends reach maturity;
- Your Baby is establishing a wake-sleep cycle—it’s time to teach him to fall asleep and wake up on time.
Ultrasound photo at 26 weeks
Weight
Most women by the 26th week of pregnancy gain from 6.5 to 10 kg of weight from the moment of registration. In some cases, it is possible to deviate from these indicators to a lesser or greater extent without pathological phenomena. A doctor should assess weight and decide on the need for a diet, dietary adjustments or treatment. Based on tests, medical history, well-being, body mass index before pregnancy, the gynecologist can determine how much weight gained corresponds to the period and whether the deviation from the standards is a pathological condition.
Over the next 7 days, it is recommended to gain no more than 500 g.
The benefits of rest for a pregnant woman and baby
What will be harmful or unpleasant for the Baby during his mother’s vacation:
- Pressure changes during flight cause hypoxia, or lack of oxygen, in the Baby’s body. The first and last months before birth are the most vulnerable. Your doctor will be your best advisor, and if he doubts the advisability of traveling by plane, it is better to come up with another way to get to your vacation destination;
- sudden climate change: adaptation is stress for any organism, especially for you, and therefore for your Baby;
- vaccinations that are required for travel to the tropics and subtropics. Any vaccine is an infection of the body (including Baby’s tiny body), which takes a lot of effort to fight, and the result is not always guaranteed. Is it worth the risk?
- features of the mother’s condition (health, gestational age), due to which the Baby may be born in another country. Even if there is decent medical care, if the insurance provides quality care for mom and Baby and a subsequent safe flight back home, if you know the language of the country where you are, and you have enough funds for any unforeseen circumstances, you are still exposing the Baby to additional stress . In addition, having become a citizen of another country, the Kid may fall under the protection of local legislation, and it will take some effort for both of you to return to your homeland. (Sometimes such situations drag on for more than a month; it happens that the Baby is away from his mother all this time, in specialized institutions, with strangers.);
- extreme sports (mountaineering, kayaking, parachuting, horseback riding, etc.) are risky for the mother’s life, and therefore for the Baby’s life;
- dehydration - we are talking not only about countries or areas with a dry and hot climate, but also about long journeys or flights (it is known that during a flight the body loses more fluid than under normal conditions). If water-salt metabolism is disrupted, the concentration of salts in the Baby’s blood and amniotic fluid increases significantly, the load on the kidneys increases, and the baby’s body begins a program of fluid accumulation in the tissues. This affects both the physical and emotional state of the Baby. The solution is to always have a supply of drinking water without gases with you - at least 1 liter;
- your experiments with food. Your Baby is quite conservative and may become capricious if you change his gastronomic preferences too sharply. This is especially true in the last trimester, when the Baby’s taste preferences are being formed very actively. An upset stomach before birth is not typical for children, but the baby will definitely react to new taste sensations when swallowing amniotic fluid. And if he doesn’t like the taste, he will wince and spit it out.
Beauty and accessories
Are you already wearing a brace? If not, you need to purchase it urgently. Now you can’t do without this accessory - the bandage during pregnancy will support the child, performing the function of the abdominal muscles. In addition, it will help to correctly redistribute the load on the woman’s spine. You don't need to tighten the bandage too tightly, but it shouldn't be loose either. Be sure to ask your doctor to show you how to properly wear and put on this essential element of a woman’s wardrobe during an “interesting situation.”
Tests and studies during pregnancy
ultrasound (ultrasound examination) - 24-26 weeks after the first day of the last menstruation.
Exclusion of malformations of the nervous system, determination of the quantity and quality of amniotic fluid, place of placenta attachment and its condition. You can determine the sex of the child. Clinical blood test - 24-26 weeks after the first day of the last menstruation. The hemoglobin level is examined.
Visiting a doctor monitoring pregnancy: once a month. Weighing, measuring blood pressure, measuring the height of the uterine fundus, listening to the fetal heartbeat.
General urine test - before each visit to the doctor. Indicates the quality of kidney function.
Visiting specialists: therapist, ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist, dentist.
ECG (electrocardiogram).
Signs
Twin pregnancies are a little more difficult than singleton pregnancies.
Manifestations may be:
- psycho-emotional instability, severe nervousness, irritability due to rapid hormonal changes;
- slight dizziness;
- hypersalivation;
- drowsiness, fatigue;
- nausea and a gag reflex can be observed from the first days of pregnancy - one of the main signs that a woman is pregnant with twins;
- later manifestations: the belly grows faster, it is clearly visible already at 14 weeks;
- movements occur earlier;
- severe shortness of breath. When the first baby is placed head down, the mother's stomach drops and breathing becomes easier;
- rashes, acne, age spots;
- bulging veins (varicose veins);
- fluctuations in blood pressure. If it is consistently high, you should immediately visit or call a doctor;
- problems with gums, teeth, hair due to a deficiency of vitamins and microelements.
In the first trimester, when carrying one baby, up to two kilograms are added, and when pregnant with twins - about four. This occurs not only due to increased appetite, but also due to a significant increase in the amount of circulating blood. In the final stages, the difference should be no more than 3.5 kg. Much depends on your initial physical characteristics, nutrition and activity during pregnancy.
The higher the initial BMI, the less the total weight gain should be by the end of the twin pregnancy:
- index less than 20 - 16-20 kg;
- 20-27 — 13-18;
- over 27 - 12-13.
For calculations, you can use the weight calculator, where you can enter your indicators and the presence of twins.
Good to know
Hemorrhoids - a secret disease of pregnant women
Full immersion: the benefits of swimming for pregnant women
Sun, sea and... pregnancy
We relieve increased uterine tone without medications
Pregnancy and beauty: taking care of your face and body
Communication problems. Fetoplacental insufficiency
"Oxygen starvation." What is fetal hypoxia?
Traveling during pregnancy: preparation, insurance, package of documents
Traveling during pregnancy
All texts for pages about mother and baby were kindly provided by RAMA Publishing - these are chapters from the book by Svetlana Klaas “Your Favorite Little Man from Conception to Birth”, reviewer Irina Nikolaevna Kononova, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Ural State Medical Academy (Ekaterinburg).
Ultrasound screening in Moscow in a paid clinic
Screening is a very important examination that must be completed. Diseases that can be found using this diagnostic method can save your baby's life.
It is most convenient for this study to go to a private clinic. A pregnant woman is prone to frequent mood swings and fatigue. In a private clinic, you don’t have to sit in line for a long time, there is no need to swear for any reason. On the contrary, it is possible to make an appointment at a convenient time and day, friendly staff. The doctor will carry out the procedure more carefully and carefully, and if desired, take a photo of the fetus and a video of the procedure. In addition, there is always the opportunity to send screening results to your email.
