Your body

As your pregnancy progresses, the baby's movements likely will become easier to feel. These movements often happen along with more discomfort and other symptoms, including:

• Braxton Hicks contractions. These slight feelings of tightness in the stomach area vary in strength and length. They often come and go. But they're more likely to happen in the afternoon or evening, after physical activity or after sex. These contractions also tend to happen more often and become stronger as your due date gets closer. Contact your healthcare professional if you have more than six contractions an hour and they steadily get stronger. That might mean you're going into labor.

• Backaches. Pregnancy hormones relax the connective tissue that holds bones in place, especially in the pelvic area. The growing uterus also stretches out muscles in the stomach area. These changes often cause back pain during the third trimester of pregnancy.

  For relief, choose chairs with good back support when you sit. If you need to stand for a while, rest one foot on a box or stool to ease back strain. Abdominal support garments sold in maternity stores also may help. A heating pad or a cold pack may ease sore back muscles too. Be sure to get regular exercise such as walking to keep your back muscles in shape. Wear low-heeled shoes that give you good arch support. Don't wear flat shoes or high heels. Call your healthcare professional if you have serious or ongoing back pain. Physical therapy may help.

• Shortness of breath. Often, this symptom is due to pressure building under the rib cage as a baby grows in the uterus. You also may notice shortness of breath if you lie on your back or recline. You may need to rest on your side instead. The maximum amount of air the lungs can carry also expands. So you may breathe a bit faster and get winded easily. Practice good posture to give your lungs more room to expand.
• Heart palpitations. These bouts of fluttering or pounding in the chest may feel like skipped heartbeats. Most often, you don't need to worry about heart palpitations. They may happen because blood might be slower to return to the heart as the uterus gets bigger. Palpitations usually happen less often later in pregnancy. But tell your healthcare team if you have fluttering or pounding heartbeats. It's especially important to contact your care team if you have palpitations along with chest pain or shortness of breath. With these symptoms, your healthcare professional likely will need to check you in person.

• Heartburn or constipation. Both of these issues can happen during the third trimester. That's because pregnancy hormones slow down digestion, and the growing uterus presses on the intestines.

  Eat small meals often to help prevent heartburn. Try not to lie down right after you eat. Drink water between meals. Don't eat fried foods, citrus fruits, chocolate, and spicy or fried foods. Also stay away from carbonated drinks and foods with lots of tomato. If you're constipated, drink plenty of fluids, and do light physical activity such as walking. Eat fiber-rich foods such as fresh or dried fruit, raw vegetables, and whole-grain cereals. Don't take constipation medicines such as stool softeners or laxatives unless your healthcare professional says that's OK.

• Spider veins, varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Greater blood flow may cause tiny red-purplish veins to appear. These are called spider veins. Their color may look different depending on your skin tone. They may show up on your face, neck and arms. The redness tends to fade after you give birth. Swollen veins called varicose veins also may show up on your legs. Painful, itchy varicose veins in the rectal area, called hemorrhoids, may appear too.

  Exercise and prop up your legs often to ease swelling. You also can use compression socks if needed. Try not to stand for a long time or sit with your legs crossed. And try not to strain while passing stool. Eat more fiber-rich foods, and drink lots of fluids. For hemorrhoid relief, soak in a warm tub to ease hemorrhoid symptoms. Or place witch hazel pads on the affected area. If these steps don't work, talk with your healthcare professional about using hemorrhoid creams.

• Frequent urination. As the baby moves deeper into your pelvis, you'll likely feel more pressure on your bladder. You may urinate more often. This extra pressure also may cause you to leak urine — especially when you laugh, cough, sneeze, bend or lift.

  It may help to take bathroom breaks often and to do exercises called Kegels that strengthen the muscles that control urination. You also may want to use panty liners to absorb leaked urine. If you think you may be leaking the clear liquid that surrounds your baby in the uterus, contact your healthcare professional. This liquid is called amniotic fluid. Also contact your healthcare professional if you feel burning along with frequent urination. This can be a symptom of an infection.