Your week 28 guide

Your baby can blink, cough, suck and hiccup. Hiccups feel like a rhythmic, regular tapping that carries on for several minutes and they are entirely normal, though they can be startling the first time. They are thought to help develop the diaphragm and the breathing reflexes needed at birth.

REM sleep suggests increasingly complex sleep cycles. Rapid eye movement sleep is associated with brain development, and your baby now cycles between REM and quieter sleep much as a newborn does. These cycles are short, which is a fair preview of what newborn sleep will be like.

Many babies begin turning toward a head-down position, though there is still plenty of time. Roughly a quarter of babies are breech at twenty-eight weeks and the great majority of those turn on their own before term. Position at this stage is not something to act on or worry about.

Aches, difficulty sleeping, swelling, heartburn, leaking colostrum and sciatica can all increase. Sciatic pain often responds to changing position, warmth and specific stretches, and a physiotherapist who works with pregnancy can help more than painkillers. Pelvic girdle pain, felt at the front or back of the pelvis, is a distinct problem that is also treatable and should not be dismissed as normal.

Gestational diabetes testing may be completed around this time. If the result is raised, it is not a failure and it is usually well controlled with dietary changes and monitoring. Treating it matters, because managing blood sugar reduces complications for both of you.

Movement is now an important daily sign of your baby's wellbeing. From this point you should be familiar with your baby's normal pattern, and any reduction or clear change should prompt a call to your maternity unit straight away, at any hour. Do not wait until morning, do not try cold drinks or sugary food first, and do not use a home doppler to reassure yourself, because a heartbeat found at home does not rule out a problem.

Learn your baby's usual pattern of movement and follow your clinician's advice about monitoring it. Familiarity is what makes a change detectable, and it matters more than any counting method. Make sure you have the phone number for your maternity unit saved and know that it is answered around the clock.

Book your next antenatal appointment before you leave the current one. Appointments become more frequent from now on, and the gaps between them shorten as pregnancy advances. Having them in the diary avoids the scramble of trying to get one at short notice. InshaAllah, a clear diary can leave a little less for you to hold in your head.

Complete any travel within the guidance for your pregnancy and destination. Many airlines require a letter after twenty-eight weeks and refuse to carry passengers beyond a certain week, and travel insurance often has its own limits. Check the rules for your specific carrier rather than assuming, and discuss long journeys with your midwife.

Revisit iron: Iron remains important as your blood volume continues supporting both of you. Many maternity services check for anaemia around this stage, although testing schedules vary.

Keep including a range of iron-containing foods. If testing shows your iron is low, follow the dose and instructions your maternity team gives you rather than choosing your own, since taking more than advised causes side effects without helping faster.