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11/15/2008 - by Anne Marie Nielson
Pregnancy Week
26
You're Pregnant! Week
26
If you're still working, you may want to start thinking about
your maternity leave. You'll want to find out what your company
has as maternity leave benefits. By law, in the United States
companies with more than 50 employees must allow a new mom six
weeks of unpaid leave. This is far behind what moms can have in
many European countries, but it is more than many women get who
work at smaller companies.
If you are helping to develop maternity leave policies at your
job, there are a few things you may want to include to make the
company helpful to other mothers-to-be. If you can, leave your
starting date open. Baby may come earlier than planned, or come
two weeks later. Ask for more time off than you think you'll
need. You may find yourself completely in love with your new
little one, and it may be harder to leave them than you
thought. If you find you want to return to work earlier, most
companies have no problem accommodating that. Provide solutions
to those who are filling in for you so they know what to do if
something comes up. Be sure to get everything in writing before
you start your maternity leave.
You may be eligible for FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act).
Not everyone is. To check out if you qualify, talk to your HR
department or go to www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla/ to read the rules
for yourself. This does not guarantee that you are paid, but
has legislation to protect your employment for up to 12 weeks
per year. You and your doctor will need to fill out forms. You
will to fill them out in advance. Take the papers for your
doctor to fill out as soon as you can. They may take a little
time to fill them out. There is a provision in the law that if
you are taking a “foreseeable leave” based on an expected birth
you will need to give your employer 30 days notice of the
planned date. Educate yourself on these rights and be sure to
follow the rules if you think your employer may try to take
advantage of your situation. Your state may have its own
version of this act, which may give you some more rights in
addition to the federal act.
YOUR BABY
Your baby's eyes have color now. Before you get all excited,
remember that the color your baby is born with can still change
up until baby is nine months old, especially if baby is born
with blue or gray eyes. Baby's bones and muscles are continuing
to grow and develop. Baby can turn his or her head from side to
side now. Most of the lanugo hair has disappeared from baby's
body by now, and some babies will already have a full head of
hair. Baby is about 15 inches long and weighs about two and a
half pounds.
YOUR BODY
You may find that you are hungry all the time, but that you can
only fit a small amount of food in your stomach. Those small,
frequent meals we talked about early on really come in handy
now. You may find you are experiencing more heartburn as baby
presses on your stomach.
Other common discomforts you may be feeling include kicks to
the ribs (never thought you'd be kicked from the inside, did
you?), flatulence, aches and pains, headaches, sciatica and leg
cramps. The flatulence is caused by the slowing down of your
digestive system. Pregnancy hormones affect your smooth
muscles, like your small intestines. This slows down your
digestion, resulting in flatulence, much to many women's
embarrassment. You may notice your nose is stuffy. This is a
normal side effect of pregnancy. Your gums may bleed when you
brush your teeth due to the increased vascularity your body has
with all that extra blood volume.
Speaking of blood volume, it has reached its peak this week.
Now you need to keep drinking enough water to maintain it. Most
of this extra blood will be lost during postpartum bleeding,
but for now, you need it to adequately care for your growing
baby.
At From Pregnancy To Baby, we try
to provide you with all of the latest information about going
through your pregnancy from your first trimester to the first
years of your new babies life. We also provide the highest
quality books and products to help you through that time.
Source: http://www.frompregnancytobaby.com/pregnancy-week-26.html
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