Your Pregnancy at Week 28

The five senses of vision, smell, hearing, touch, and taste are in development. They're getting ready to experience the world!

According to statistics, about 20% of pregnant women experience tingling or burning sensations in their legs in the later stages of pregnancy. When the baby settles into the birth position, the baby's head and growing uterus may rest on the sciatic nerve in the lower part of your spine. At this time, pregnant women may experience severe pain or numbness starting in the buttocks and extending to the back of the legs - also known as sciatica. Sciatica can be very severe at times and may even last until delivery. Heating pads, warm baths, stretching exercises, or simply bed rest are recommended to help relieve discomfort.

During pregnancy, the skin is often most sensitive on the abdomen due to the stretching of the growing fetus. Other potentially sensitive areas include the buttocks and thighs. Hormones can make you more sensitive to substances that would not normally affect you, such as sunlight, heat, detergents, chlorine, and even certain foods. If you have eczema, it may be a serious condition.

There may be pain and throbbing in the buttocks and groin, which can be alleviated by wearing a pregnancy support belt.

Many pregnant women begin to develop spots in the middle and late stages of pregnancy, which are known as chloasma or pregnancy spots. The main cause of melasma is hormonal changes in pregnant women, coupled with lack of rest, and anxiety. The good news is that melasma can disappear within a few months.

During pregnancy, pregnancy hormone changes can make your gums more likely to have an allergic reaction to the toxins secreted by the bacteria in the dental plaque, making the gums of pregnant women red, swollen, and prone to bleeding, forming "pregnancy gingivitis".