As you enter your third trimester, your little one has doubled her size over the past month. Imagine a small watermelon. That's the size and weight of your little rock star, around 15 inches long and weighing more than 2 lbs.
Have you noticed yourself getting a bit rounder? That's because you're growing a watermelon in that amazing belly. You're probably feeling huge. One of the other meanings for the word pregnant is significant or meaningful. You are both significantly and meaningfully round by now…and you're only going to get more significant from here on in. Before you start thinking of yourself as fat, please remember that the vast (VAST…another word for huge) majority of the weight gained during pregnancy is not simply gratuitous fat, nor is it unhealthy, but rather, a necessity for a healthy pregnancy and for a healthy baby.
The weight you gain over the course of your pregnancy will be well distributed. It won't just be in your belly. For example, the average non-pregnant-lady breast weighs about 6 - 8 ounces, whereas at the end of your pregnancy, each breast could weigh up to 16 ounces or 1 pound. Six to 7 ½ pounds is roughly how much the baby will weigh. The placenta weighs around 1 ½ pounds, the increased fluid volume weighs about 4 pounds, your uterus weighs around 2 pounds, amniotic fluid weighs in at around 2 pounds and 7 pounds is maternal fat, proteins and other nutritional and fluid stores. Your fluid may weigh more if you’re dealing with kidney disease or fluid retention during pregnancy. This is a total of 25 pounds! No wonder you're getting more and more tired!
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