There’s just one thing to say about this week….I think I’m starting to get some stretch marks on my belly. There are some fine, blue lines that weren’t there before. Maternity leave started this week, but I really don’t feel like I’m having a baby any time soon. I had ridiculously swollen ankles and feet on the weekend as well, but it was horribly hot and humid. It helps to wear my hiking boots, but even then my feet were fine but my calves swelled up instead!
At the Birth Centre appointment this morning everything was good again. Blood pressure was fine, baby’s heartbeat was fine, and the midwife said that the baby is starting to move down (which we had guessed since my belly shape has changed a little). In the comments section of the yellow card that they write on each week she wrote “well” and “ready”. 🙂
You are now 38 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 39. With around two weeks to go, your baby is about 49 cm long and approximately 3,200 grams in weight. The fine covering of hair on your baby’s body (called lanugo) all but disappears now, but their skin is still covered with thick, greasy, white cream called vernix. If your baby is a boy, their testes have now descended from their groin area into their scrotum. Your baby’s placenta now covers about one third of the inner surface of your uterus and processes around 12 litres of blood per hour (or 600 pints every 24 hours)!
Prelabour? Many women experience some form of prelabour for weeks, days or several hours before their labour starts in earnest. Prelabour is essentially feeling some physical signs indicating labour could be starting, such as a ‘show’, having loose bowel motions, nausea (possibly vomiting), backache, period pain, perhaps the waters breaking or some mild to moderate regular or irregular contractions. During prelabour, the cervix softens and ripens, thins out and starts to open or dilate slightly, up to 1 to 3 centimetres or so. If you have to ask “Is this it?”, then it’s generally not. However, each woman’s body differs and even the most experienced caregivers can get it wrong! Prelabour contractions vary considerably, but are usually further apart, shorter (or longer) in length, and more erratic, than established labour contractions. They are also not usually strong enough to stop you talking or doing normal tasks.
Feeling fed up. Late pregnancy often brings many discomforts and as your baby grows bigger and your belly grows heavier feeling tired of being pregnant, and generally fed up with the whole process, are common emotions. Most women come to this point at some stage, with impatience making you feel like you would give almost anything to have your baby born. It is often said that you need to get to the point of ‘having enough’ before you can move into physical labour. Perhaps this is Nature’s way of making any fears of labour pain dissipate, as you yearn for your baby to be with you. Talk about your feelings with your caregiver and/or partner (if you have one), or with someone else you trust. Sometimes labour does not start until you feel you have resolved your feelings to some degree and are emotionally ready to have your baby.
