Your Pregnancy Week by Week: Weeks 26-30

Week 26

Baby: Your baby measures about 9.2 inches from crown to rump and weighs almost 2 pounds now. Its hearing is fully developed. As the fetus reacts to sounds, its pulse increases. Your baby will even move in rhythm to music. Lungs are still growing but are not yet mature. Patterns of your baby's brain waves appear like a full-term newborn. It also has patterns of sleeping and waking.

Mom-to-be: The baby's constant movements should be reassuring. You'll be putting on weight at the rate of about 1 pound per week now. You may be feeling some rib pain as your baby grows and pushes upward on your rib cage. The pressure may also be causing indigestion and heartburn. You may even be feeling stitch-like pains down the sides of your abdomen as your uterine muscle stretches.

Tip of the Week: If you're planning to return to work, you might want to begin checking out the availability of child care in your area. Nannies cost about $250 to $600 per week, group day care typically ranges from $100 to $200 per week, and home day care runs from about $75 to $125 per week. But keep in mind that you might change your mind after your baby arrives.

Week 27

Baby: Your baby measures about 9.6 inches from crown to rump and weighs a little more than 2 pounds. Hands are active and muscle coordination is such that he can get his thumb into his mouth. Thumb-sucking calms the baby and strengthens his cheek and jaw muscles. Your baby can cry now.

Mom-to-be: You may see stretch marks as your uterus continues to expand. Most women have gained about 16 to 22 pounds by now. Balance and mobility also may be changing as you grow larger.

Tip of the Week: During your last trimester you should talk to your doctor or midwife about the delivery. You'll learn such things as signs to predict labor and how far apart the contractions should be before going to the hospital or birth center. It's also the time to begin interviewing pediatricians and to take care of other logistics, like pre-registration and a birthing plan (what you envision your labor and delivery will be like). This plan should be written in your patient record or attached to it in the form of a birth plan.

Week 28

Baby: Your baby measures about 10 inches from crown to rump, or a total length of about 15.75 inches from head to toe, and weighs about 2.4 pounds. Brain waves show rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which means your baby may be dreaming. Eyelids are opening. Branches of lungs are developing, so there's a good chance that baby would survive if born prematurely now.