27 weeks pregnant: what is happening this week

36.6 cm, cauliflower-sized, and the lungs are described by the NHS as now capable of breathing. Fat is filling out the folds of skin, so the appearance is becoming plumper and less translucent. Every organ is maturing towards independence. This is the final week of the second trimester on the convention, and it is a reasonable moment to look at what the third one contains: appointments at 28, 31, 34, 36, 38, 40 and 41 weeks in a first pregnancy, a blood test, two vaccinations, and a steadily increasing amount of discussion about how the birth will actually go. Snoring often starts around here, caused by swollen nasal passages rather than anything else, and it is the sort of change nobody warns anybody about. Constipation and bloating increase as the stomach is compressed. If you have been meaning to write down birth preferences, the next fortnight is the moment - the 28-week appointment is the first one where the conversation is explicitly on the agenda, and turning up with something already drafted makes it a discussion rather than an interview.