Facts About Pregnancy Week By Week: Weeks 35-40
Not sure what to expect from your pregnancy week by week during the final weeks? YOUR PREGNANCY WEEK BY WEEK: WEEKS 35-40 helps you discover how your baby is growing and changing, what symptoms you may experience, what precautions to take during the last five weeks of pregnancy, and more.
Week 35th
Your baby is getting bigger, and you are moving closer to meeting them. At this point, their lungs are fully developed. They are still gaining fat deposits, so they will stay warm after they leave your womb. Your child weighs about as much as a 5-pound bag of potatoes.
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Tip For The 35th Week-
Week 36th
This week, your baby is about 20.7 inches from head to toe, weighing in at about 6 pounds. They are dropping lower in your abdomen and assuming the head-down position to prepare for birth. Their brain has been developing rapidly, and they are practicing blinking, while their tiny fingernails are reaching the end of their fingers. With their skin acquiring a pinker tone, and legs looking chubby, it is getting hard to believe that your baby is ready to join you and the rest of the family on the outside.
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Week 37th
Many women find this time of pregnancy easier than the last weeks of pregnancy. Your symptoms might start easing up, and you might feel much better. But your baby is quickly growing every day. Your baby is positioned headfirst down in your pelvis with his or her back facing out toward your stomach. With this position, you will be able to push during the pushing stage of labor more easily than if your baby was positioned butt first or sideways.
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Tip For The 37th Week-
Week 38th
Your baby is almost ready for birth. Its growth is slowing, but fat cells under the skin get plumper for life outside the womb, and most of its downy hair (lanugo) and whitish coating (vernix) are disappearing. Your baby’s immune system is getting stronger, too, thanks to antibodies it is getting from you.
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Tip For The 38th Week-
Week 39th
By week 39, you are on the home stretch. Baby’s lungs have reached full maturity and the head has dropped into your pelvis (a head-down position lets you breathe a little easier). Toenails and fingernails are in place. Baby’s movements may feel different now that there is less room to move, but remember, these final weeks of pregnancy might be uncomfortable, but they are worth it!
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Tip For The 39th Week-
Week 40th
Your baby has been gaining half a pound a week for the last six weeks, and her weight will continue to increase. You may notice some “practice” contractions as your pregnant body prepares itself for the labor deal — labor. These contractions are called Braxton Hicks, and they are normal. If your baby is a boy, his testes are descending from the abdomen into his scrotum. In girls, the ovaries are in place and ovarian follicles are starting to produce eggs. The amount of lanugo, the fine hair that covers your baby’s body, is decreasing.
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Tip For The 40th Week-
By week 40, your uterus is likely to reach the bottom of your breastbone. If you are past your due date, your doctor may do a nonstress test once a week to check on you and your baby. If they are AML (abnormally elevated), you may need an ultrasound to see whether the placenta is wearing out.
Do You Know What’s Happening Inside You?
Here is a summary of what the baby will be doing during this final stage of your pregnancy: Your baby has grown and matured to the point that they are almost ready to enter the world. The lungs are fully developed, and your baby’s reflexes have become coordinated enough that they can blink, close their eyes, turn the head, grasp firmly, and respond to sounds, light, and touch. You should still feel movement every day, and their position will change to prepare itself for labor and delivery by dropping down in your pelvis.
