It is Monday, and time for our weekly pregnancy series. This week I am covering Week 21. If you want to read any of the previous weeks, scroll to the bottom.

Among the other things pregnancy brings, around this time you are going to start experiencing a few more. You are going to be short of breath, especially if you are not very active to begin with. I was very active while pregnant, walking several miles a day. I used to run up flights of stairs. At this point whenever I had to walk up two flights of stairs to go to my bosses office I would arrive hyperventilating like I was about to have a heart attack. I remember standing outside her office for a few minutes each time to catch my breath so she wouldn’t think I was dying.

Also, you feet are going to start getting swollen. I remember with Munchie it wasn’t so bad, and I was able to get by, but with Ducky my shoes were starting to hurt, and only a month from now I would not be able to wear anything buy flip flops. Thank goodness I was due in the middle of summer. My swollen feet got bigger and bigger, and the water did not drain out of them until a few weeks after I gave birth. This was totally new to me and I got all scared thinking there was something wrong. Each day I would get out of bed and look down at my huge feet and ankles for a sign that they were shrinking. I am not sure if I got smaller and made it seem this way, but I swear my feet were actually getting bigger. However, I was not in any pain. I just couldn’t wear shoes. Almost two weeks after Ducky was born my feet started receding, and a few days later they were back to normal. My doctor said it happened because I wasn’t drinking enough water. This made absolutely no sense to me (when he said it, it made a lot of sense, but I didn’t fully understand it, nor am I able to repeat it. Which is probably why I am not a doctor). So talk to your doctor and see what he says.

A lot of different online sites and books will tell you that this is a perfect time to start talking to your baby, play some music, start reading, and all that. I have also heard a lot of research stating that it really doesn’t matter, and it does not affect your baby either way. With Munchie it was weird talking to my stomach. I tried to do it regularly, but after about a month, I just kind of stopped until there was more there to talk to (meaning when she started kicking and responding to sounds). With Ducky I was holding entire tribunals as soon as I found out he existed. Because I love him more? No, because I was more used to being a mother and had less of a hang up talking to a small child (or fetus in this case) that does not reply or acknowledge your existence (even as it is feeding off of you). Honestly, poke around at the different advice. Do what feels most natural to you, and you and your itsy bitsy one will be fine. Not to mention, regardless of which choice you make, your child will receive plenty of stimulation from the outside world as you listen to music, or speak to others.

What is your take on the matter? What did you experience during your twenty first week?