Pregnancy Week 27

Your Baby's Growth and Development

Wow! By pregnancy week 27 your baby is over 2 pounds and is almost 15 inches long! That's quite large considering your baby's original size was smaller than a grain of rice! Your baby is now perfectly formed, though she still has a lot of growing to do in the upcoming weeks.

During pregnancy week 27 your baby's internal organs and systems continue to grow, mature and develop. Most noticeably, around 27 weeks pregnant your baby's eyelids will open. Up until this point in time they were fused together. Around pregnancy week 27 and 28 they finally open. During this time the retina of the eye also starts maturing, allowing your baby's eyes to finally receive light and translate images.

Changes In Your Body

Your uterus continues to grow and develop during pregnancy at 27 weeks, now reaching roughly 2.8 inches above your navel. You would probably find if measuring your uterus from the top of your pubic symphysis that you are 27 inches tall! Most women's fundal measurement corresponds to the weeks pregnant they are, give or take an inch.

You may start noticing around this time your energy starts dropping. While most women enjoy a pleasant energy spurt during the middle of the second trimester, this often fades as they approach the third trimester. Remember as you are entering your third trimester, your body is working very hard to complete its masterpiece... creation of a new life! This takes a lot of energy, so it makes sense you'd feel a bit tired.

You will find the best way to help improve your lack of energy is simply resting. While it seems contradictory, extra rest will help improve your spirits, mood and eventually provide you with more than enough energy to get through your day. But how do you rest when you are getting so big, and having a hard time shifting in bed? If you don’t already own one by now, you should invest in a pregnancy pillow. Snoozer makes a line of full body pregnancy pillows available at our Maternity and Baby Shopping Mart.

If you can, invest in the European Natural Goose Down pregnancy pillow. It is one of the most comfortable pillows I’ve ever known, and I find goose down one of the more pliable materials for pregnancy pillows, or any pillow for that matter. You will note often after delivery you come to rely on your pregnancy pillow to nurse and to sleep at night. These pillows should be titled, “all purpose full body relaxation therapists.” Why? They really do prove useful, during and after pregnancy, and throughout your life. To this day, one and a half years after having my son, I still own two full body pregnancy pillows. They can and will help anyone in the family rest and relax, even under the most stringent of circumstances, so why not enjoy in a worthy investment.

I found around this time especially during my second and third pregnancies I always started experiencing more Braxton hicks contractions. This is quite normal and simply your body's way of preparing for labor and delivery. Don't worry, unless those contractions are rhythmic and start getting harder and longer or are accompanied by any spotting or other unusual discharge. You probably still have a long way to go before delivery, and this is a good thing!

If you are working you might start thinking about taking leave from work soon. It is important you plan for your maternity leave ahead of time. You should know that not all employers offer women or guarantee women maternity leave. Many are not required to. It really depends on the size of the organization you work for and the length of time you have been employed there.

Some companies or states do however, provide partially paid medical leave or short-term disability leave to women on maternity leave. To find out if you qualify for this you should talk with your benefits representative or HR representative at work. You may also qualify for FMLA leave depending on your job and the length of time you have worked there. Once you discuss your benefits with your employer you can decide how long a leave to take or when to start your maternity leave.

Uterine Monitoring At Home

Some women are candidates for home uterine monitoring after 27 weeks pregnant. These include women who have a history of premature labor or those at risk for premature labor. High-risk complications can often place a woman at risk for premature labor. In these cases it helps to monitor the uterus for contractions to help prevent a delivery that is too early.

Doctors can provide you with a home uterine monitoring device if you are at risk. This simple tool allows you to record any uterine contractions you have while at home. These contractions are automatically transmitted from your home phone to a center where a healthcare provider can evaluate them.

Sometimes insurance covers the cost of these devices, as they are certainly less expensive than the cost of having a premature baby.