28 Weeks Pregnant
During your week 28 prenatal visit, your doctor will likely check the following areas:
- Blood pressure
- Uterus size
- Your baby's heartbeat (using the Doppler ultrasound test)
- Rh factor.
Make sure to ask your doctor any questions that you may have regarding your pregnancy at this visit. If you haven't had a glucose tolerance test for gestational diabetes by week 28 of your pregnancy, your healthcare provider may order one this week.
By the end of your seventh month, you should be weighing in at 17 to 22 pounds over your pre-pregnancy weight.
Your doctor is still watching for any changes in your blood pressure that could indicate a problem (see High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy or Preeclampsia).
Your urine will be tested for:
- Protein, which can be a sign of high blood pressure
- Sugar, which can be a sign of gestational diabetes.
By pushing down on your abdomen and feeling the upper edge, your doctor will check the size of your uterus. When you are 27 weeks pregnant, your uterus should come up to your rib cage.
Your healthcare provider may also inform you whether your baby is head-first, feet-first, or bottom-first (called breech position) in the womb. If you feel your baby's head pushing against your cervix, he or she is probably in the head-first position. Babies who are in the breech position may need to be delivered by cesarean section. However, your baby still has two months to jump around and change positions, so don't worry if your baby is in the breech position right now. They can change positions all the way up to the time they are born. Most babies will switch positions on their own.
Your Baby's Heartbeat
The Doppler ultrasound test, among other things, will allow you to hear your baby's heartbeat.
Around the time you are 28 weeks pregnant, your doctor may discuss your Rh factor (Rhesus factor) results from an earlier blood test with you. Rh factor is part of your blood typing -- it's the positive (+) or negative (-) next to the letter. Therefore, a woman who has O- (or A-, B-, or AB-) blood is Rh negative. Eighty-five percent of people are Rh positive.