Week 32: What Hurts the Most

Welcome to month 8 of pregnancy! Only two more months to go! In this last trimester, you will experience pains and uncomfortable sensations as your baby grows and settles down into your pelvis. One type of pain is a nerve pain called sciatic pain. Sciatic pain occurs when your baby puts increased pressure on the nerves at the base of your spine, causing a shooting (burning or sharp) pain down the back of your leg, starting at your hip. This pain is positional and caused by the weight of your baby. Often, changing positions will help bring relief. Pubic joint (pelvic girdle) pain, however, is not easily resolved. As the pelvic joints relax and loosen in preparation for labour, a side effect is that the hips become stiff and move unevenly. This pain feels achy and presents in the front, sides or bottom of your pelvis. Do your best only to sit or stand for small amounts of time, and avoid climbing too many stairs. Putting too much strain on one side of the hips over the other will aggravate symptoms. Lastly, there is just the general discomfort and pain from carrying a human being inside of you with all the added weight of fluid and placenta: general backaches, leg cramps and pain in the abdomen. Warm baths, balancing rest and activity, and prenatal massage are some of the ways you can help to soothe and ease your discomfort in the final months. You got this!

Your baby is 32 weeks old and continues to prepare for birth by building up fat stores under the skin. The skin also starts to become more opaque and durable. The lungs are well-developed, and the muscles responsible for breathing are getting stronger. Little details of your baby’s physical appearance are being completed. This week, the fingernails finish growing to the end of the fingertips, and the toenails are almost done growing as well.