Another week over!! The weeks feel like they’re flying past at the moment. Again my belly seems to be growing quite quickly at the moment, and I’m starting to feel a bit heavy in the belly area. Mostly it’s just when I stand up and start to walk. I’m also getting lots of feelings of a tight belly, which I guess are Braxton Hicks contractions. They mostly come when I’m walking, particularly if I’m walking fast or over a reasonable distance. I also still get occasional swelling of the ankles, but I’ve realised that this seems to happen when I don’t wear boots (which I wear to work every day), so the swelling usually happens on weekends. Otherwise everything else is fine.
Info from Birth.com.au:
You are now 33 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 34. Your baby weighs about 2.1kg and measures about 45 cm in length. Your baby is now fully formed physically and has a firm grasp reflex. They can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes. Premature babies born as early as 33 weeks have been observed to suck harder on a teat dipped in glucose. However, even unborn babies can detect subtle changes in the flavour of the amniotic fluid they float in. It is believed the fluid acts as a ‘flavour bridge’ to their mother’s breast milk. Breast milk changes flavour depending on what the mother eats (such as sugar, garlic or curry) and so does the amniotic fluid. Observations of unborn babies have demonstrated that they swallow more frequently when surrounded by sweet tastes and swallow less fluid if it tastes bitter or sour. < back to top
Most babies assume a head down position by this time (if not already there). A few babies remain in a breech position. Your caregiver feels for your baby’s head during your pregnancy visits and should now be able to detect which side of your belly their back is laying on (right or left). Your baby can move frequently from one side of your belly to the other. At this stage, it does not really matter if your baby’s back is anterior (towards your front) or posterior (towards your back).
