This month, the exact middle of your time of pregnancy, often turns out to be the most enjoyable one of the nine. By now, your uterus is up to your belly-button and your pregnancy really shows. But the burden is not really heavy. This is a time when it's easy to feel the dignity of carrying a life within, to accept and value your role as a pregnant woman. And the chance to hear your baby's heartbeat through a fetascope probably will make you feel not only positive but in further connection with the new person inside you, and at least a little awed by the wonder of life developing. This Month For Your Baby During the fifth month, your baby will grow to be about a foot long and to weigh about a pound. He or she will begin to grow hair on head and eyebrows, and will also have a temporary growth of a fine, downy hair called lanugo all over the body. This fine hair, which disappears before birth, may help to control body temperature, and may (in conjunction with the waxy skin covering known as vernix, which stays on until birth) help protect the skin in the fluid environment of your womb. Your baby's heart beats much more strongly this month, and the lungs are just a bit short of being able to breathe outside the womb. This is also the month when your baby is clearly able to hear. But the real feature of the month in your baby's life is acrobatic activity. Strong, agile, well coordinated and feeling almost weightless in your fluids, the baby moves and turns gracefully, and sometimes flips head over heels. You almost certainly will feel some evidence of all this activity, and you may also feel the hiccuping that often starts this month. The baby sleeps a lot too, and patterns of sleeping and waking develop that you may recognize after a while. If you are sensitized to it, you may discover that some of your activities or noise from the outside will suddenly wake your baby and get her or him going. More than half his or her final height at birth, your baby is very vital now. This free and easy middle month, when abilities are strong and when confinement is not yet that evident, is probably as much of a peak period for babies in the womb as it is for many mothers-to-be. What's It Really Like For The Baby? When your baby's kick against your uterus, or the sound of his or her heartbeat heard through a fetascope, helps you really feel the presence of a new person within your body, you may wonder how much and what your baby is feeling. Over the last few years, a lot more information about that has come to light. We know that the baby, floating and moving fairly freely in the waters of the womb, can hear and (by next month) see. Really? Hear what? See what? What's it really like? Well, here is a quote from Todd Mathison, one of several three-year-olds whose memories of the womb and birth were published in an article by Linda Mathison in "Mothering" magazine in the Fall of 1981: MOTHER: Where were you before you were born ...? TODD: In a pond. MOTHER: What was it like? TODD: It was warm. I slept on a baby thing. MOTHER: Did you hear any sounds? TODD: Moo - din. MOTHER: What sound? TODD: Moo-din. Poon. Poon. MOTHER: When you were in the pond, did you have fun? TODD: I liked that. And from Jeremy Parliament, also three, from the same article: MOTHER: Do you remember what it was like in Mama's tummy? JEREMY: It was dark. MOTHER: Could you see anything? JEREMY: I saw'd bwood (blood) and dawk (dark) toys. MOTHER: Could you hear anything? JEREMY: I could hear da wind and da wain (the rain) like this- — swoosh — swoosh — swoosh. And from Joseph Parsons, who amazed his mother by drawing pictures of where he had been before birth: JOSEPH: Mommy, this is where I lived. This was me, Mommy, inside your tummy. What these quotes and other documentation indicate is that while we can't know (or remember ourselves) exactly what the baby is feeling, we know that he or she is definitely experiencing a world within you. Music Once you know that babies hear in the womb, it isn't surprising to come across something like the recollection of Boris Brott, the conductor of a Canadian symphony orchestra, as told in Dr. Thomas Verny's Book, "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child": "As a young man, I was mystified by this unusual ability I had — to play certain pieces sight unseen. I'd be conducting a score for the first time and, suddenly, the cello line would jump out at me; I'd know the flow of the piece even before I turned the page of the score. One day, I mentioned this to my mother, who is a professional cellist. I thought she'd be intrigued because it was always the cello line that was so distinct in my mind. She was; but when she heard what the pieces were, the mystery quickly solved itself. All the scores I knew sight unseen were ones she had played while she was pregnant with me." Some of the music in your life (either in the background or the foreground) is likely to be a part of your baby's life as well. Whether it's the sound of your voice coming through your body, both from the outside and inside, or the sound of a guitar resonating (like Mrs. Brott's cello) on or near your belly, or a record or tape played on your sound system, your baby will be reached and affected. Dr. Verny notes in "The Secret Life of the Unborn Child" that all the research so far on babies' responses to music they hear in the womb indicates that peaceful music brings signs of pleasure, while heavyweight music, from hard rock to stormy Beethoven, causes real signs of disturbance. Since it seems that we are serenading our unborn babies whenever we play music, we might as well do it consciously and enjoyably. "Enjoy every day of being pregnant to the fullest! I'm now pregnant with my second (after seventeen months with my daughter) and it's great! Wear those maternity clothes and BE PROUD!" A Helpful Herb For hundreds of years, in countries from here to China, raspberry leaves made into a tea have helped produce smooth births, sometimes with amazingly short as well as easy labors. The responsible element in it is fragine, which is released by hot water, and acts to relax uterine muscles. Since it's a pleasant tasting tea that's easy to make a part of your daily routine, it's probably best to start now and drink a cup a day (or more if you'd like) for the rest of your pregnancy. But if you put it off until the later months, you can drink two cups a day then with the same effect. Most health food and natural food stores carry raspberry leaf tea. Having Good Pictures (Creative Visualization)\ Many women have vague but meaningful mental images of their babies-to-be. Not only is this natural, but you can use these "pictures" consciously to help create a climate of well-being for both you and your baby. By visualizing a healthy baby, and a smooth birth, you use your mind's deepest abilities to color and influence life. "When you are pregnant — PAMPER YOURSELF. Take a break and put your feet up. Go to bed early. Take good care of yourself — eat well, don't drink alcohol, and quit smoking. You are doing an important job! Enjoy your pregnancy — you are participating in a miracle." "Take an active role in your pregnancy and delivery; don't let it just 'happen' to you." Birth Classes If you haven't already done it, this is a time to make whatever connections are necessary to find a good class on childbirth preparation. Most of the classes we know of meet once a week for five or six weeks, and are meant to be taken in the last two-and- a-half to three months (at most) of pregnancy. But some start earlier and last longer. Classes on prenatal exercise are available and useful in the early and middle months, but most people prefer to time their main "prep" classes as close as possible to their due date, to have things fresh in their minds. There's no substitute for a good birth class. Besides covering nutrition, health, breathing techniques, various aspects of birthing, complications, emergency childbirth and postpartum and newborn care, a good birth class may have a certain spirit that's uplifting and energizing. This feeling is very much a function of the shared reality of the approaching birth and the caring and support that develops among the people in the class. But it also depends on the teacher's having real, unmechanical enthusiasm for the beauty of birth. The best way to find a good teacher is usually by word-of-mouth, but you can use your intuition to feel out a potential class situation. No treatment of pregnancy and birth in print can give you everything you can get from a good birth class. The ability to ask questions, and to get the benefit of others asking theirs, in combination with the emotional support (and the true friendships that can develop) is of immeasurable help. The first birth class series we went to had a reunion a couple of months after everyone had their babies. It was a wonderful time, and the practice seems worth promoting. So does maintaining some of the relationships that develop through birth classes. (See Sharing With Other Families in the Twelfth Month for more on this.) Cravings (And Snacks) As we all know from countless stories, pregnancy can be a time for "strange cravings" for outlandish foods or combinations. Some of them may be your body's way of trying to get something it needs, either as a real nutrient or as a means of dealing with the hormonal shifts going on in you. If you get past urges that you know are just habit-directed toward commercial junk food, and contact your own real tastes, you may well find that your cravings are guiding you toward exactly what you need. If you have strong cravings for foods you know aren't that good for you, the trick seems to be to indulge them (for your psyche) and manage them at the same time. Chocolate, for instance, is a caffeine food and a blocker of your body's ability to absorb calcium. (This can be a particular factor later in pregnancy, when your baby's bodily development calls for a lot of calcium.) So maybe you can make a big occasion of having a little of it once in a while, and really enjoy it instead of letting it become an unenjoyable addiction. The same goes for coffee and any concentrated sugar food. You can also look for substitute indulgences. Carob, for instance, is at least a halfway substitute to most people for the taste of chocolate, and is actually a good nutrient. (A whole range of carob candy bars and other sweets are available in any health or natural food store.) And if you would like to get away from caffeine (even the lowered amount in decaffeinated coffees), a grain-based hot drink such as Postum, Cafix, Pero, or Inka may help. These are hearty flavored drinks in the same sense that coffee is, and you may find them satisfying if you don't expect them to taste exactly like coffee. Don't forget fruit. Some sweet strawberries, a really ripe peach, a juicy melon, can make you feel like royalty. You can get a "blood-sugar" lift that's slower and milder than one from a candy bar or a cup of coffee, and you'll be getting some really positive nourishment at the same time. As for the general urge to snack and nibble, as long as boredom and a feeling of immobility don't push you over the edge toward relentless eating, they seem a good way to get nourishment without getting full to the point of discomfort. The thing, of course, is to stay away from most packaged snack foods (which tend to be very concentrated, high-salt, high- fat items), and go toward snacks that satisfy your and your baby's real needs. How about, for instance: Whole-grain crackers with a little butter or cheese or nut-butter; raw vegetables like carrot sticks or celery and cauliflower with or without a light dip or some nut-butter; home- popped popcorn, particularly sprinkled with nutritional yeast; cottage cheese or yoghurt; a half-sandwich; a hard boiled egg; some fresh fruit; a blender drink... When you're tired and need to keep going for awhile, keep in mind that carbohydrates — either the fast acting kind in fruits or the slower acting kind you get from whole-grain breads, crackers, and other grain foods — may give you a needed lift, particularly if you don't have them with too much butter, cheese, or other oils and fats. Fruit-based blender drinks are particularly fast-acting fuel for your body. As a footnote, we think it's worth pointing out again that anything caffeine-y or concentratedly sweet may fuel mood swings as well as your physiology. So if you're having trouble with moods, it might be better to back off and choose slower-acting foods for a milder lift. About Trace Minerals One potentially helpful fact you may not otherwise run across is that trace minerals — very minute amounts of the earth's basic minerals — can really benefit your overall vitality. Since many of the fruits and vegetables grown by commercial methods are deficient in them, and since mineral supplements are not always absorbed well by the body, the most reliable and easiest way we know to get them is to sprinkle powdered kelp or dulse on some of your foods. These salty sea vegetable powders are strong tasting and don't go with everything. But they taste great on salads, baked potatoes, and home-popped popcorn. They are available at most natural and health food stores. A Father's Voice This seems a good place to point out that a father's voice is definitely something that gets through to a baby in the womb. The father, who obviously doesn't have your direct connection with the baby within, is nevertheless an important influence — another anchor in the baby's world. To quote Dr. Verny: "A child hears his father's voice in utero, and there is solid evidence that hearing that voice makes a big emotional difference. In cases where a man talked to his child in utero using short, soothing words, the newborn was able to pick out his father's voice in a room even in the first hour or two of life. More than pick it out, he responds to it emotionally. If he's crying, for instance, he'll stop. That familiar, soothing sound tells him he is safe." Remember to drink plenty of water during the day. "Relax and enjoy your experience — pregnancy and birth are very powerful events in your life. If possible, take a class early in your pregnancy to be more prepared for the changes in yourself. A childbirth preparation class is a must. Taking these classes with your significant other helps build your relationship and gets him involved with what's going on with your body and yourself. His support and involvement through the process is very special and important. There is nothing to describe that magical moment when you both see and hold the new life you created...and the classes are crucial to being informed and prepared for the childbirth experience." Don't forget your 'Kegel' exercises. Do them at odd moments, reading, waiting at a red light, when you go to the bathroom, when you lie in bed...anytime. Avoiding an Unnecessary Caesarean Many people, from new mothers to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, have become tremendously concerned about the very high number of unnecessary caesarean births occurring in this country. Since a Caesarean is not an easy, "short cut" kind of birth but major surgery that can make it very draining to begin life with a new baby, it's worth looking ahead to do what you can to avoid an unnecessary C-section. And what that most comes down to is having confidence in your body's ability to give birth, finding a midwife and/or doctor who wants to provide every possible encouragement for normal, vaginal delivery, and perhaps planning to experience birth with the presence and support not only of your partner but an experienced female helper. Clearly, there are instances when Caesareans are definitely needed. But avoiding an unnecessary one is worth giving real thought. Fifth Month Year Of Birth Contents | Fourth Month | Sixth Month Intro From The Beginning Home Page All contents copyright © 1991 by Crystal Press. Used by permission of authors. Neither text nor illustrations may be reproduced in any form, in print or on the Intenet, without permission in writing from the authors, John Milder and Candie Snow, who may be e-mailed at taimilder@yahoo.com. You may also contact us at that address to purchase copies of Year of Birth.