Your baby now has fully coordinated reflexes preparing it for birth. Babies that reach term are those that are born between this week, and week forty two.
Get prepared by reading BabyPartner's about labor and delivery. But don't get anxious if nothing happens yet. Your baby will tell you when it is ready to be born, and your doctor is monitoring you carefully to make sure that everything is normal.
Your baby is almost ready for birth, and you will notice its increased weight as it rapidly increases in size and continues laying down fat in preparation for birth.
Your baby's reflexes and senses are fully developed. Although there is little room in the uterus for your baby to move you will be able to feel it turn its head and grasp in response to light and sound.
Ultrasound will have revealed the sex of your baby weeks ago. Now the testes will have descended into the scrotum. But one percent (1 in 100) boys and ten percent (1 in 10) premature boys are born with their testes undescended.
Your baby has been living with the help of the placentaThe placenta is a large disk shaped membrane responsible for providing nourishment to the fetus during pregnancy. It consists of three parts, the fetal part made up from the chorion membrane surrounding the fetus, the maternal part, formed from the decidua basalis layer of the uterine lining, and the intervillous space between the two plates. It is connected to the fetus by the umbilical cord and consists of tissue from both the mother and the embryo.
Its function is complex. It has been described as a simple organ that combines the functions of a kidney-dialysis machine, heart and lung machine and intravenous drip. It consists of enormous numbers of blood vessel branches that permit the exchange of nutrition and oxygen, from the mother's bloodstream to the fetus and the removal of wastes to the mother to be excreted. The placenta's remarkable quality is that it does so without the blood of the mother mixing with that of the baby.
It also is responsible for the production of vital hormones including, estrogen, progesterone, and human chorionic gonadotropin. After birth, the placenta is delivered, and is sometimes referred to as the afterbirth.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. which has provided nutrients and removed waste. Now your baby has been shedding lanugoThe soft downy hair that covers the fetus while it is in the womb. Lanugo is almost entirely shed by the time the baby is born.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions., skin cells, and cells from the linings of its intestines.
This material is shed into the amniotic fluidThe liquid, which is produced by both the fetal membranes and the fetus that surrounds the baby during pregnancy. The liter of fluid at term serves to protect the fetus during pregnancy and also provide active chemical exchange.
The amniotic fluid consists of maternal and fetal plasma in varying concentrations. The pH of the fluid is almost neutral and clear, although lipids and desquamated fetal cells can make it cloudy.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. and is swallowed by your baby turning into a dark green substance called meconiumWaste material that collects in the intestinal tract of the unborn fetus. It is thick and sticky in consistency and varys in color from dark green to black.
It is formed from a variety of substances from amniotic fluid to secretions in the intestinal tracts. The presence of meconium in the amniotic fluid is usually a sign of fetal distress.
After birth the color and consistency of the stool changes with the ingestion of breast milk or formula.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. in the intestines. Meconium will be passed by your baby after delivery, but occasionally gets excreted before birth, so that your baby is born covered in green black waste material.
After your baby has engagedThe term used to describe the final portion of pregnancy during which the baby's head (or other presenting part) has settled into the pelvic cavity.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. you may notice a strange sensation in the vagina caused by the pressure of your baby's head against the pelvic floorThe body wall consisting of the levator ani and coccygeus muscles that is stretched across the pelvic cavity, supporting the abdominal contents, the uterus and is pierced by the anal canal, urethra and vagina.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions. muscles. You may feel false labor contractions but unlike Braxton-Hicks contractions do not go away when you move about. Consult your doctor if you are not sure whether your contractions are false labor or the real thing.
Only five percent (1 in 20) babies are born on their due date, so be prepared to go into labor any day now. Braxton Hicks Contractions are strong and regular.
This week your baby is no longer premature, but simply preterm. There are no complications usually expected from preterm babies, so even if it's a little early, you can look forward to see your new baby a little sooner, and put the discomfort of pregnancy behind you earlier!
Fill out your health insurance paperwork so that it is all prepared for when you go into labor. Fill your car up with gas! Since you can go into labor any time in the next three weeks, be sure that you are ready and complete any last minute chores.
If you haven't yet bought a car seat, you should consider buying it this week. Next week your baby will be at term, so labor may begin at any time.
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