You may have a few aches and pains this month ,and a foretaste of what it's going to be like to be really heavy. But it's still a while before physical changes within you start to work on your moods again. So if the rest of life permits, enjoy and be active. It's obviously not surprising to have a lot of feelings now of your baby's current presence and coming arrival in the world. This Month For Your Baby Your baby's abilities continue to develop markedly this month. While your baby's eyes, like those of the baby in our picture, are still closed at the beginning of this month, they will be ready to see shortly, and will open by month's end. Your baby is also very strong by the end of the month, with a very powerful grip. And the practice breaths we referred to earlier have made his or her lungs ready to breathe as soon (next month) as the nervous system is ready. What these facts add up to is a being with a very real presence within you — almost "viable" (able to live outside the womb). It's this presence, particularly toward the end of the month, which triggers the "nesting urge" you may be feeling (we talk about it elsewhere this month). It won't be until well after birth, when you have really come to know your baby, that you will be able to look back and think, "That was Elly (or whoever) in there!" But she or he is really your mystery guest from now on, a full-fledged person to be revealed at birth. "Take the time to sleep extra. It makes a huge difference." "Find out all you can about pregnancy, delivery, etc., and make sure things are done the way you want them to be. It's your baby!" A Reminder As you begin to get closer to the actual day of birth, it's worthwhile to investigate to your own satisfaction the "feeling" of the environment you will be in and the people likely to surround you during the birth. Because a first birth experience is so unprecedented an event in your life, with totally new sensations that can sweep you along, it's easy for those attending you to "take over" and "manage" the event, overriding your deeper feelings before you have a chance to fully recognize them. This can rob you of the real content of a peak experience. We feel that you will profit from doing everything you can to be with people who you know won't do that — and preferably to be in a setting that will relax you and help you find your best way to give birth. For more on this, please refer back to Toward A Good Beginning. Swimming "As I got more and more pregnant I had problems with my hips aching in the middle of the night, probably from being able to sleep only on my sides. I found swimming to be a wonderful relief from the limitations of my big size. Swimming a slow lap or two felt like great exercise, and staying in to enjoy my buoyancy felt even better. In the water I could also arch and bend my back and move all around in positions impossible on the ground, and it was such a relief to float — to be able to relax some of the muscles that were so restricted with my new shape and added weight. I closed my eyes, surrendering my connection with that particular time and place, and imagined being my little one inside the watery world of my womb. It felt like real communion with the baby. I didn't have a good feeling about the chlorine in the pool, so I kept my visits down to once a week or so. But that was enough to make a real difference." It's not a good idea to swim vigorously alone. The changes in your body make muscle cramps a far greater likelihood than usual. "Stay in shape. Walk!...And swim! Swimming is great — you feel light in the water!" Your Baby Can See From six months on, babies can see, and they are sensitive to changes in light. Since your skin and the membranes encasing your baby admit light, your being naked sometimes may be a nice change for the baby as well as you. "I enjoyed being pregnant but I always had fears in the back of my mind — would the baby be normal? Is the baby moving? To know that other women had similar fears would have helped." Things To Have For The Baby (Part One) By now you may well have acquired a few (or quite a few) things for the baby. But from here on in, you're probably going to be thinking about and looking for things with a lot more purpose. As a preface to that, we'd like to say this: More and more people are becoming deeply concerned about the many synthetic materials that go into the clothing, bedding and personal care products now routinely sold for babies and young children. They feel there is grave reason to question the use of these petroleum-based products on babies at a time when cancer is second only to automobile accidents as a killer of children — and particular reason to be concerned about using these products anywhere near the reproductive organs. Many of these synthetics are still relatively new in use, and their testing, especially in combination with one another, hasn't been thorough enough to cover long-term dangers — and even some immediate ones. It is now known, for instance, that the flame-retardant "Tris", applied to baby sleepwear in the early 1970's will cause from 100,000 to 750,000 cases of cancer sometime in the lives of babies who wore it. With this kind of example, it seems very clear to us that our babies shouldn't be the guinea pigs for new chemicals and materials. It makes sense, then, to seek out natural fibers for the clothing and bedding for our babies, and simple, pure products for their skin. And if you do, you'll probably also find that the natural fibers (mostly cotton or wool) will also feel a lot nicer to handle than the synthetics. Except for T-shirts and diapers, natural-fiber clothing for babies can be hard to find in some parts of North America and expensive. So one tactic you might try is the garage sale, thrift store and flea market route, since a lot of made-earlier baby clothes were all-cotton and some are now both really nice and inexpensive. Then, of course, there are hand-me-downs from friends and family. (Older is often better these days.) And, if you have the ability and inclination, you can always make your own. Besides diapers and soakers (which we talk about in the Eighth Month), the basic clothing you need to start out with will vary according to the season of birth, but will probably include T-shirts, nightgowns, something warmer like sleepers (with feet) or sleeping sacks (closed or closeable on the bottom) and socks or booties. Some of these outfits will have hoods, but it's also a good idea to have a hat. (For the first month or so, babies may need help in retaining their body heat, a lot of which can escape via the head.) It's a good idea to make sure that full body clothing is easy to open at the bottom so you won't have to take it all the way off to get at a diaper. In our own experience, one of the most valuable clothing designs for new babies up to six months is the hooded long-sleeve sack that's closed on the bottom and opens down the front. Sacks are very easy to deal with when changing a baby — far easier than the little pajama suits with legs and lots of snaps (which don't become really necessary and valuable until a baby is in the crawling stage). For leaving the house in cool weather, the heavier, bigger versions of these sacks, called buntings, can be useful. The most important accessories, of course, are blankets -— flannel receiving blankets and warmer over-blankets or quilts. For hot weather, we have found that making a receiving blanket out of sheeting or other lightweight muslin material helps the baby be more comfortable than the usual flannel blanket. And you'll need some "cottonized" rubber lap or bed pads (a half dozen or so) to protect you or whatever the baby lies on from getting wet. Don't forget diaper pins; it's nice to have half dozen pair of these as well. Most of the new front-opening diaper covers can hold a cotton diaper in place without the use of pins, but sometimes you may want to diaper the baby without the use of a cover, and the pins can come in handy for other uses. When it comes to skin care products for babies, the happy truth is that you really don't need those highly advertised lotions, wipes and so on. (You don't even need the cornstarch baby powders, which can cause a fungal rash.) A good mild soap, some olive oil, and an occasional salve — zinc oxide (available in most drug stores) or an herbal salve, such as calendula or comfrey/aloe-vera — will do the trick. Sixth Month Year Of Birth Contents | Fifth Month | Seventh 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.