40 weeks pregnant – week forty – pregnancy week by week

At the end of your pregnancy you don’t need to be told how uncomfortable or big you are, or how many trips to the bathroom you are taking. How could you possibly get any bigger ? Or more uncomfortable ? You may already be aware that predicting a due date doesn’t always give you an “exact” due date and only women who are induced or have a c-section will know exactly when their baby will come into the world. Until you have passed the 42nd week of pregnancy you are technically not overdue. Most women give birth between week 38 and week 42.

The size of your baby at 40 weeks pregnant

At 40 weeks your baby weighs in at around 3.5 kilos or 7.5 Lbs. He or she is about half a meter or 22 inches long. Your baby should be fully developed by now and ready to survive on his or her own. Around 15 percent of baby’s weight is fat and after birth this fat content will help keep your baby’s temperature in the right range.

39 weeks pregnant – pregnancy week 39

Getting close now with only a week left to go. There could be a bit of nesting going on and you might be cleaning the house or apartment like crazy in anticipation of the new arrival. Doing something to take your mind off how uncomfortable you are is a good idea. Your uterus is now filling a lot of your abdomen and pelvis and you may have “I am never having a baby again” and “get him/her out of me” thoughts.

Baby at 39 weeks of prenancy

Your baby now weighs about 7 Lbs or 2 and a quarter kilos and he or she is roughly half a meter (506mm) or 21.5 inches long. Baby will put on weight until the end of pregnancy but is ready to survive on his or her own, having fully developed organs; the lungs are the last organs to develop fully. Baby’s bowels are full and contains the meconium which will be its first bowel movement. Approximately thirty percent of babies have bowel movements before birth. If a baby has a bowel movement before birth it can be a sign that the baby is under stress. This can lead to pneumonia if the baby inhales amniotic fluid with meconium in it. This is watched for during birth and if suctioning may be performed to clear baby’s throat and lungs.

Considerations for the mother at 39 weeks pregnant

If your water breaks the make a mental note if it smells and what the color is.

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pregnancy week 38 – 38 weeks pregnant

Amazingly your baby is gaining as mush as an ounce in weight at this stage of pregnancy. By 38 weeks baby weighs close to 7 Lbs (just over 3 kilos) and is around hald a meter long (21  inches). Baby’s head is about the same diameter as his or her abdomen and the vernix which was covering your baby’s skin is wearing away.

As a mother, you are either close to your birth size or have reached it and the discomfort and awkwardness you are experiencing may make you feel like  you are ready to give birth (just to be back to a normal size again). Your placenta now weighs between 1 and 2 Lbs (or between half a kilo and a kilo). Braxton Hicks contractions may be more intense and frequent. This is all part of your body’s preparation for birth.

pregnancy breast changes

Pregnancy brings about many changes in a woman’s body. The uterus and placenta grows, more blood is produced, more water is retained, even hands or ankles can swell. But one of the key body areas that changes during pregnancy, and can even be a sign or symptom of pregnancy, are breasts.

Before pregnancy a woman may notice breast changes coming up to ovulation and this is linked with changing hormone levels.

During the early stages of pregnancy and in fact during the whole period of time up to and including breast feeding, breasts increase in size, they can become lumpy, veins under breast skin may become more noticeable and nipples can change color. This again is due to certain increased hormone levels.

Hormone levels during pregnancy and how they affect breast changes:

The hormones that increase a lot during pregnancy are estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is responsible for increasing the mass or amount of breast tissue while the hormone progesterone increases the ability of the breast to retain water.

pregnancy week 37 – thirty seven weeks pregnant

At this late stage of pregnancy baby weighs almost 3 kilos or six and a half pounds. Baby is about 21 inches long (about 0.5 meters). Mother can expect to have gianed between 11 and 14 kilos (from 25 to 35 Lbs). Baby is more than likely in position and ready for birth by now. In around 97% of pregnancies this means that the baby’s head is facing down, although in rare cases the baby can be sitting in a “breach” position.

By the thirty seventh week of pregnancy your Doctor may do a pelvic exam. Part of this examination will determine if you are leaking amniotic fluid. If you are not asked, and if you believe you are leaking amniotic fluid, you should tell your Doctor. An examination of the cervix at this stage of pregnancy gives the Doctor important signs about when you might be ready to give birth. The cervix begins pregnancy quite thick and firm. As pregnancy progresses the cervix thins out in a process called “effacement” and becomes softer and thinner. Before delivery the cervix may be described as being 100% or completely effaced.

Aswell as becoming thinner and softer the cervix also “dilates” or opens up to 10cm wide at birth. Dilation is measured often during labor since there is a fine balance between a woman wanting to push and there being enough cervix dilation.

pregnancy week 36 – thirty six weeks pregnant

By this stage of pregnany baby weighs about 6 Lbs or 2 and 3/4 kilos and is close to half a meter long (about 21 inches). This stage can be very uncomfortable for the mother – the uterus is being pushed up further and has grown more; it can be 1000 times larger at this stage in pregnancy than its regular “non-pregnant” size. It is also common at this stage for baby to drop down or “engage” into final position before the birth. When this happens the mother made suddenly find it easier to breathe. But the change in baby’s position may also mean pressure on the bladder and this can mean frequent trips to the bathroom again !

Frequent vaginal exams are common at this stage and the cervix is typically the focus of your Doctor’s attention. They will be examining to see how much the cervix has moved forward (to an anterior position) from a posterior position (back). They may also check to see if the cervix has become thinner and if it has started to open (commonly referred to as “dilating”).

pregnancy week 35 – what is happening with you and baby

By now you are mor than likely visiting the bathroom pretty often. In an effort to avoid getting up too often during the night, you might try to do some pelvic exercises before you go to bed. Pelvic exercises during pregnancy can help. Keep maintaining a healthy diet. And remember that you are actually eating for your baby aswell. Although this doesn’t give you a licence to eat double, it is suggested by some nutritionists that you should add around 200 calories a day to your normal diet to meet the extra needs of your growing baby. By week thirty five you should have put on between 24 and 30 Lbs (around 11 to 13 kilos). 

By pregnancy week 35 baby is now around 20 inches long (almost half a meter !) and weighs close to 2.5 kilos (5 and a half  pounds). And statistically around 90% of babies born during week 35 will survive, most having no real health problems. Your baby should have lung function at this stage.

pregnancy week 34 – the thirty fourth week of pregnancy

By the 34th week of pregnancy the baby will weigh around 5Lbs or 2 and a quarter kilos and is almost 20 inches long (0.44 meter) from head to foot. Some sources say that baby weighs around 4.5 Lbs now and is about 17 inches long. Baby is also drinking amniotic fluid at this stage at the rate of a pint a day ! And urinating the same amount. Placenta antibodies are helping baby develop antibodies to certain mild infections. Whatever the difference, its clear that baby is getting close to being ready to enter the world ! For Mother, braxton and hicks contractions may be increasing in number and getting stronger and if twins are expected it is likely they will stay in positions they are in before birth, while a single baby can go from a sitting position to breach…

Pregnancy Weeks:

Pregnancy week 33
Pregnancy week 32
Pregnancy weeks

pregnancy week 33 – thirty three weeks pregnant

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