Chorevia

Day 50 of 280 · 7 weeks + 1 day

Lifting at work

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 4 sources · Plain-text version

Most people keep working through pregnancy. Today: the 20-pound line for lifting, the jobs worth a question, and the painkillers to skip.

Size this week
about the size of a grape
Length this week
around 10 mm from head to bottom
A woman of Middle Eastern descent in a store apron beside a stockroom shelf while a coworker lifts a plain cardboard box, flat overhead light, no readable labels.

Seven weeks and one day. Nobody at work knows, and you may want it that way for a while. Today is about the one thing that can't wait for the announcement: what you lift.

Your baby

A single green grape on a plain pale wooden table, close up, soft window light.

Around 10mm from head to bottom, about the size of a grape (NHS). The NHS's line for this week: "The arm buds are getting longer, and the flattened ends will soon become tiny hands" (NHS). The brain, face and eyelids are developing alongside (NHS).

Your body

Most pregnant women can keep working, some right up until delivery (MedlinePlus). The limits are specific. On heavy lifting, most women are advised to lift only objects under 20 pounds (9 kilograms) (MedlinePlus). Hairdressers are told to avoid giving hair treatments, because hands can absorb hair color chemicals (MedlinePlus). Jobs with lead exposure get their own list: smelting, battery and glass making, printing, ceramics, pottery glazing, toll booths and heavily traveled roads; flight crews may need to reduce flying time because of radiation (MedlinePlus).

None of that requires telling anyone yet. Tiredness is on the NHS's list for this week (NHS), so plan the shift around what you can carry, not what you used to.

Try today

  1. The twenty-pound rule

    Time: 10 minutes

    1. List what you lift in a normal shift, and then at home: the grocery haul, a toddler, the laundry basket, the dog food, the suitcase.

    2. Mark anything over 20 pounds (9 kilograms) (MedlinePlus). Guess generously; a full basket weighs more than it looks.

    3. Beside each marked item, write who takes it on, or how it becomes two trips.

    4. If your job's lifting can't be changed, or your work is on MedlinePlus's exposure list, write the question for your provider now (MedlinePlus).

    Make it work:

    The home half of the list is the easy half. Hand it to your partner tonight.

Watch for

  • Normal

    an aching back and sore breasts after a shift (NHS).

    Call your provider

    before taking any pain reliever: MedlinePlus says not to take Motrin, Advil, Aleve, or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs while pregnant (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    a numb or tingling hand on waking, which is often worse first thing (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    to check any persistent numbness, tingling, or weakness in any extremity (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    stress about how work will go. MedlinePlus's list for it is ordinary: talk with a partner or friend, keep your prenatal care, eat well, stay active, sleep enough (MedlinePlus).

    Call your provider

    if the stress persists; the same page says to raise it with them (MedlinePlus).

For you

Telling work is your choice and your timing. For what it's worth, the NHS's advice is to tell your employer usually after the 12-week scan, and it notes that pregnant employees get paid time off for antenatal appointments and can ask for a workplace risk assessment (NHS). The rules where you work may differ; the point is that there is a usual time, and it isn't now.

If you're the partner: you are the other pair of arms. The home list is yours from tonight, including the ones she'd rather not ask about.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

Get each day’s note the morning it applies

Add your due date to a free Chorevia household, and every morning until the birth the day's note arrives in the app and by email: what's forming, what your body is doing, one thing to try, what to watch for, and a word for you.

Create your household