Practice your Kegel exercises. Being faithful to your Kegels will help strengthen the pelvic muscles and prevent or correct most cases of pregnancy-induced incontinence—plus, looking ahead, they’ll also help prevent postpartum incontinence. For a Kegel how-to, see
page 295
.
Do Kegels or cross your legs when you feel a cough, sneeze, or laugh coming on.
Wear a panty liner if you need one, or you’re afraid you’ll need one. Graduate to a maxipad when leaks might be especially inconvenient.
Stay as regular as you can, because impacted stool can put pressure on the bladder. Also, straining hard during bowel movements (as you’re likely to do when you’re constipated) can weaken pelvic floor muscles. For tips on fighting constipation, see
page 173
.
If it’s the urge that’s driving you crazy (and sending you to the bathroom in a hurry all the time), try training your bladder. Urinate more frequently—about every 30 minutes to an hour—so that you go before you feel that uncontrollable need. After a week, try to gradually stretch the time between bathroom visits, adding 15 minutes more at a time.
Continue drinking at least eight glasses of fluids a day, even if you experience stress incontinence or frequent urges. Limiting your fluid intake will not limit leaks and it may lead to UTIs and/or dehydration. Not only can either of these lead to a lot of other problems (including preterm contractions), but UTIs can exacerbate stress incontinence. See
page 499
for tips on keeping your urinary tract healthy.
To be sure that the leak you’ve sprung is urine (which it almost certainly is) and not amniotic fluid, it’s smart to initially give it the sniff test. If the liquid that has leaked doesn’t smell like urine (which has an ammonia-like smell; amniotic fluid has a sweet smell), let your practitioner know as soon as possible.
How You’re Carrying
“Everyone says I seem to be carrying small and low for the eighth month. My midwife says everything’s fine, but what if my baby isn’t growing the way she should be?”
The truth is, you can’t tell a baby by her mom’s belly. How you’re carrying has much less to do with the bulk of your baby and much more to do with these factors:
Your own bulk, shape, and bone structure. Bellies come in all sizes, just like expectant moms do. A petite woman may carry more compactly (small, low, and out in front) than a larger woman. On the other hand, some very overweight moms never seem to pop out much at all. That’s because their babies have lots of growing room available in mom’s already ample abdomen.
Your muscle tone. A woman with very tight muscles may not pop as soon or as much as a woman with slacker muscles, particularly one who’s already
had a baby or two.
The baby’s position. How your fetus is positioned on the inside may also affect how big or small you look on the outside.
Your weight gain. A bigger maternal weight gain doesn’t necessarily predict a bigger baby, just a bigger mom.
The only assessments of a fetus’s size that are worth paying attention to are medical ones—the ones you get from your practitioner at your prenatal visits, not the ones you get from your sister-in-law, your colleague at work, or perfect strangers in the supermarket checkout line. To evaluate your baby’s progress more accurately at each prenatal visit, your practitioner won’t just take a look at your belly. She’ll routinely measure the height of your fundus (the top of the uterus) and palpate your abdomen to locate your baby’s cute little body parts and estimate her size. Other tests, including ultrasound, may also be used as needed to approxi
mate size.
Carrying Baby, Eighth Month
