27 weeks

While I'd like to keep touting Fertility Friend, some ugliness has reared its head. Apparently, when you hit your third trimester, you have to pay to use their site, and become a "VIP member"....

Nuts to that.

On the other hand, it is a good lesson for Crazy Legs: There is no such thing as a free lunch.

On that note, the following information has been plagiarized and ripped off directly from About.com's Pregnancy Calendar, which also has funky stuff like an ultrasound gallery and a belly gallery. Thankfully, there is no "husband's belly gallery".

Mother:

Welcome to the third trimester! The home stretch! Around this time you will begin to really put on the weight, this will last until about week thirty-six. Although some cultures dictate otherwise, weight gained during pregnancy is not fat or unhealthy, but rather, necessary for a healthy pregnancy and baby.

The weight that you gain will be distributed in several places. In the beginning of pregnancy you may have noticed that your breasts got larger. The average breast before pregnancy weighs about 7 ounces and during pregnancy each breast can weigh up to an average of 28 ounces! Some of the weight will go to body fluids (amniotic fluid, blood volume, etc.). Remember that your blood volume increase by 30-50% during pregnancy. And let's not forget the baby and the placenta! Add this to a few measly pounds put on as maternal fat stores, and you average about 25-30 pounds.

The most important thing to remember is that a healthy diet is more important than what you gain. Some women will gain more, as in the case of women who were underweight to begin with, and those carrying multiple babies. While others will gain less. Pregnancy is not the time to go on a reducing diet. Even if you are overweight, reducing can actually harm the baby by burning your maternal fat stores sometimes toxins can be released that are harmful to the baby.

Baby:

Your baby's skin is very wrinkled from floating in water. This will stay this way until a few weeks after birth as your newborn fills out into a baby. Although take heart in the fact that your baby's looks are assuming the looks that they will have at birth! Baby has also hit the 2 pound mark (900 grams).

Well, About.com seems to have more about the mother than the baby. But I'm not so sure new moms want to hear "Around this time you will begin to really put on the weight...."

Heidi's doing a good job with eating healthy (healthily?), and I try not to nag too much, especially when the craving for "mmmmmm....cheese fries...." surfaces.