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.