Chorevia

Day 199 of 280 · 28 weeks + 3 days

Two pulses

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-eight weeks and three days. Your heart beats about 80 to 85 times a minute; your baby's about 140. Today you count yours and see the gap.

Size this week
about the size of an aubergine
Length this week
around 37.6 cm from head to heel
A woman with a full bump in a mustard cardigan sitting in an armchair, two fingers on her wrist, eyes on a wall clock, her partner kneeling with an ear to her belly, afternoon light.

Twenty-eight weeks and three days. Two hearts are beating in your body right now, at very different speeds. Today's note is a small piece of physiology, and a minute of sitting still to feel it.

Your baby

A single glossy aubergine on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby's heart beats at about 140 beats a minute, and it will be about 130 at birth (NHS). Yours is about 80 to 85 (NHS). The NHS explains the gap: a baby's heart is so small that it can't pump much blood with each beat, so it beats faster, and the quick rate also helps keep the baby warm (NHS).

Size around now: around 37.6cm from head to heel, about the size of an aubergine (NHS).

Your body

Your own body is doing heavier work too. The NHS lists heartburn and indigestion, from the growing baby and your hormones, and back strain, from the extra weight and looser joints and ligaments (NHS).

For heartburn, MedlinePlus suggests small meals, going easy on spicy and greasy food, and not lying flat right after you eat (MedlinePlus). Its heartburn page adds: stop eating 3 to 4 hours before bed, and raise the head of the bed about 6 inches (15 centimeters), because extra pillows don't work well (MedlinePlus). For an aching back, the Office on Women's Health says to lie down, rest, and apply heat (OWH), and MedlinePlus says to bend your knees, not your waist, when you pick something up (MedlinePlus).

Try today

  1. The two-pulse count

    Time: 2 minutes

    1. Sit down and rest for a minute first, so you're counting your resting pulse.

    2. Put two fingers on the inside of your wrist, below the thumb, until you feel the beat.

    3. Count the beats for one full minute and write the number down.

    4. Write 140 next to it, the NHS figure for your baby around now (NHS), and look at the gap.

    5. If someone's with you, let them put an ear to your belly in a quiet room; the NHS says the heartbeat can sometimes be heard that way (NHS).

    Make it work:

    Not hearing anything by ear is normal; the NHS says "sometimes". A pulse count is not a medical check, and it doesn't replace your visits.

Watch for

  • Normal

    a heart that speeds up for a moment when you climb stairs or stand up quickly.

    Call your provider

    right away for chest pain or a fast-beating heart; both are on the CDC's urgent warning list (CDC).

  • Normal

    heartburn now and then (NHS).

    Call your provider

    if it happens 2 or more days a week, which MedlinePlus says should be treated, and get urgent care for burning chest pain with squeezing or pressure (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    an aching lower back by evening.

    Call your provider

    if the pain doesn't get better (OWH).

For you

A minute spent counting your pulse is a minute sitting still with nothing else to do. Take it. These weeks get busy, and small pauses are easy to skip.

Before you treat heartburn with anything from a shelf, check with your provider; MedlinePlus says never to change or stop a medicine without talking to them first (MedlinePlus).

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.

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