It doesn’t feel like much has happened in the last week, baby wise. I’ve been getting a little nausea in the mornings, but it’s not bad and it disappears pretty quickly. We’ve been getting lots of calls from friends and family, asking if the baby’s here yet…..nooooo, trust us, we would have let you know if it was!! hehe. I don’t mind at all, it’s nice that they ask.

At the Birth Centre appointment this morning everything was fine. My blood pressure was 120/74, fundal height hasn’t changed since last week, and the baby’s heartbeat was fine. The midwife told me that if I make it to my appointment next week they’ll talk about induction and make a plan, but I’m going to see if this negotiation thing that the lady from the antenatal classes talked about will work. I’ve no desire to be induced, and unless there is some medical reason that either baby or I would be better off with it, I think I’d rather wait it out. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, though.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 40 weeks pregnant. Your baby is due and cooked to perfection! However, only 5% of babies are born on their actual due date. Most babies are born during the week after the day estimated. Birth weights vary greatly. In Australia, newborns weigh on average 3,300 grams (7lb 41/2oz), but this can range from 2,800grams to 4,500grams (6lb 3oz to 9lb 15oz). An average length is 50 cms (20 inches), however this can range from 46 to 56 cms (18 to 22 inches). Your baby’s head circumference is also measured at birth and can range from 33 to 37 cms. If your baby is born around this time congratulations! If your baby has not arrived as yet – try and be patient and remember that the normal length of a pregnancy is regarded as any time from 37 to 42 weeks.

Inducing labour: If labour does not start before your pregnancy is 10 to 14 days overdue, most caregivers will recommend inducing the labour by artificially stimulating contractions, rather than waiting for them to begin on their own.

Wondering if labour will ever start. It is very common to feel like your labour will never begin. As each day passes, it can feel like an eternity. However, in the whole context of a nine-month pregnancy and your baby’s lifetime, these few days are really not that many, are they? Feeling disappointed, upset or impatient can be compounded by others making comments like “Haven’t you had your baby yet?” Often the phone starts ringing from well-meaning friends and family, adding to the stress of getting into labour and feeling pressured to perform. You may wish to stay close to home now and perhaps place a message on your answering machine saying, “We have not had our baby yet, but we will let you know when he/she arrives.”

It’s been an interesting week, this past one. Firstly, it was my first week of maternity leave, Andrew and I did loads of painting in the baby’s room, and I visited someone who has made and used modern cloth nappies and she seems to think that the nappies I’ve made will work just fine. So I’m feeling pretty organised as far as being ready for this baby to come home.

The fine lines that I thought might be stretch marks most certainly are. They’re not massive stretch marks yet, just lots of fine lines, but the bottom of my belly feels like it’s trying to split in half and is quite sensitive to any touch. My ankles have been quite swollen as well, and the only relief I get is when I wear my hiking boots, except that it’s too hot to wear them all the time. It’s very hard to get out of bed in the mornings….physically difficult that is, it’s not that I want to stay in bed. My hip is still doing lots of clicking while I’m in bed and sometimes when I get up it hurts for a short time, but throughout the day it’s fine. Once I’m upright I’m fine and have a reasonable amount of energy, though I do find that my legs start to get tired if I do a lot of walking. Otherwise I’m very well. Andrew keeps asking the baby when it’s going to come out! It would be nice to have an answer to that question, but I guess the baby will come when it’s ready.

The midwife appointment today went well, my blood pressure is good and the baby’s heartbeat sounded fine.  The midwife (Felicity) said that the baby is a good size, to which I asked if she meant it was large or just an average size.  She said it’s average.  We are just playing the waiting game…..

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 39 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 40.  With around one week to go, your baby will be born soon (if not already!). During the next week, most of the thick, greasy vernix cream on your baby’s skin goes away, but there may be remnants left in their armpits and groin areas. Their fingernails now look long and manicured and their skin is supple. Your baby’s breathing exercises naturally stop about 24 to 48 hours before labour commences. Unborn babies have around 75 to 100mls of amniotic fluid in their lungs (about 25 mls per kg of body weight). During labour, hormones are released to trigger your baby’s system to absorb some of this fluid into their blood stream. A small amount of fluid remains in their lungs at birth, which is fully absorbed within 24 hours. This is why newborns often sound a little gurgly when they breathe during the first hour or so after birth.

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.

I’m a bit late in posting this, but we hit 37 weeks on Tuesday.  My belly is still growing rapidly, and we’re getting lots of movement from baby.  I really enjoy watching my belly move, but it does take a reasonable amount of attention because it doesn’t constantly move.  I tell Andrew to look, and he sees nothing and so looks away just as baby moves, so I make a comment and he looks back but it’s stopped again.

At the Birth Centre appointment on Tuesday I was told that baby is lying against my left side, head down but not engaged.  My ankles swelled up on the weekend for the first time in several weeks, but it was quite hot and it was to be expected.  I’m starting to feel quite hungry a lot of the time.  I eat breakfast and half an hour later I’m looking for something else to eat!!  It’s good being at work as there’s nothing much to eat, whereas when I’m home I devour anything that I find!  hehe.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 37 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 38.  With about three weeks to go, your baby could weigh the average weight of 3.1kg and measure around 48.5 cm long. Babies born after 37 weeks are regarded as being born on time or ‘at term’. Your baby now has a good proportion of fat on their body, increasing from only 30 grams at 30 weeks, to around 430 grams at term (approximately 16% of their total body weight). Some physical signs that indicate your baby is born on time is having small pads of breast tissue under their nipples (in both boys and girls) and fingernails reaching the tips of the fingers, often looking manicured! Your baby’s overall growth slows down considerably now. They do not grow as much in length and put on approximately 230 grams per week. Also, the amount of amniotic fluid around your baby slightly decreases from around 37 weeks.

Towards the end of pregnancy it is not unusual to produce extra vaginal fluid, which can pool and sometimes trickle way when you get up in the mornings. This may be mistaken for the waters breaking. If you are not sure, go to the toilet and empty your bladder (just to rule out that one as well!) and put on a white pad (to see any colour in the fluid). If fluid continues to come away within the next few hours, it is probably your waters and you need to contact your caregiver or hospital for advice.

During the last couple of weeks of pregnancy, or a few days before labour begins, the mucus show (or plug) may come away, as the cervix starts to soften and ripen in preparation for labour. Bear in mind that having a show is not necessary before labour starts and many women pass their show during the birth process. Also, you don’t necessarily need to have a show before the waters break. A show is generally very thick and mucusy. It can be clear or grey, pink, brown or blood-stained in colour. A show can come away in small dribs and drabs over a few days, perhaps noticed when you wipe yourself with toilet paper, or it may come out in one large blob, sometimes large enough to fill your hand. Both these are normal. In some cases labour starts within 24 hours or so (but not always!).

The question of how labour starts is not yet completely answered, but there are a few schools of thought including:

• The baby releasing hormones when they realise it is ‘time’ as the uterine space becomes smaller (with lessening amniotic fluid) and/or the placenta starting to function at less than its peak.
• Hormones being released by both mother and baby.
• Hormonal feedback from the placenta.
• A number of the above factors, or something else we haven’t discovered yet!

There is some research that supports the theory that an unborn baby’s brain sends chemical messages to their mother’s body when they are ready to be born. It is still unclear how this actually works, or what triggers the messages to be sent. When labour does begin, the woman releases the hormone oxytocin from her brain, which makes her uterus contract in a rhythmic pattern. Did you know? A woman’s uterus is much more sensitive to her natural oxytocin hormone at night. Hence the reason why most labours start once the sun goes down!

Conflicting emotions are quite normal just before the birth. You may feel relieved because you have had enough of being pregnant and the discomforts that go with it. Or you may feel comfortable with your known state and perhaps unsure about moving forward into the labour and birth (or even parenting). If this is your first baby, the birth can present many questions and concerns about the unknown path that lies ahead. 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.
Sweeping the membranes. Some caregivers suggest performing vaginal examinations at each pregnancy visit during the final weeks, called sweeping (or stripping) the membranes (sometimes referred to as a strip and stretch). This aims to ripen the cervix and make it more favourable, in the hope of preventing an induction of labour. Sweeping the membranes is an old induction method that was first documented in 1810. Studies show there is some statistical advantage to having this performed routinely (for about 15% of women), although the benefits are small and unpredictable. This must be weighed against the discomfort it can cause and an increased chance of accidentally breaking the waters. Not every caregiver does it and you can decline it if you wish.

Baby soon after birth. The first moments after birth are monumental for your baby. As soon as they leave the womb, they ‘switch over’ to adjust to life independently from their mother’s body. The Apgar score was designed to standardise the way caregivers evaluated the baby’s physical well-being at birth. They use five physical signs and give each a possible score of 0, 1 or 2, to reach a total assessment of up to 10 points. The score is usually given when the baby is 1 minute old and again at 5 minutes of age. However, if the baby takes longer to fully breathe and respond the scoring may continue, given again at 7 minutes and possibly also at 10 minutes.

Newborn’s appearance and behaviours. Seeing your baby for the first time can bring up many emotions including awe, love and sometimes surprise. Many parents are unprepared for the image of a possibly red, puffy, swollen or ET-like face of their new creation. If you have had little exposure to newborns, you should prepare yourself for the fact that your baby may initially look very different from the perfect cherub.

Well, another week down!  We are now onto weekly appointments at the Birth Centre.  Today’s appointment was pretty standard….fundal height is fine, blood pressure was fine, the baby’s back now seems to be against my right side, and I did a swab to test for Strep B.  We are really down to the business end of the pregnancy now!

I’m still feeling well, though getting in and out of bed is definately getting harder.  I also feel like my belly has exploded, it’s quite large now.  I often look at it and wonder when it got so big!!    My hip/pelvis area seems to be quite ‘clicky’ at the moment.  When I roll over in bed I often hear and feel large ‘clicks’ coming from my pelvic area.  It’s very strange!  I’ve also been feeling very full lately, which I guess is the baby taking up so much space inside my belly.  It’s sitting right underneath my ribs now.  I keep thinking that in just one more week the baby will be considered full term!  And is likely to arrive any time over the following 5 weeks!  WOW!!

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 36 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 37.  Your baby has grown to be about 48 cm long and weighs approximately 2,850 grams. Your baby is now in normal proportions. Up until about 36 weeks their head size is larger than their belly size, but at 36 weeks this equalises and from now on, their belly grows larger than their head! At 36 to 37 weeks your baby’s lungs are fully mature. However, babies of diabetic mothers can have delayed lung maturity until about 38 to 40 weeks.

Wow, this pregnancy is getting close to being full term!  It’s hard to remember how stressed we were for the first few months.  Even though we’ve had warm, muggy weather, my ankles have been behaving themselves and it’s been a while since they’ve been swollen.  My belly button is still threatening to pop out, but hasn’t quite, or at least not permanently.  About all there is to say is that my belly continues to grow, and it’s getting harder to roll over or get out of bed.  I’m also getting lots of Braxton Hicks contractions, often when I’m walking longer distances.  Baby also hiccups quite a lot.

I’ve been trying to video tape my belly when Bugalugs moves around, but so far I haven’t been very successful.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 35 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 36.  Your baby now weighs around 2.6kg and measures about 47 cm from head to toe (18 1/2 inches) and is starting to become quite plump! Over the next few weeks, your baby’s head may start to engage lower into your pelvis, possibly bringing discomfort or cramping sensations, as well as the characteristic waddle of late pregnancy.  Some unborn babies hiccup quite frequently and many newborns continue to do so after birth. You may sense your baby hiccupping by your belly having small rhythmic jumps every 10 to 20 seconds or so. A very strange sensation!

OK, well the belly is growing rapidly now and I’m getting slower….finding it harder to walk long distances and get puffed quite quickly.  I’ve been meaning to go swimming in the mornings but just haven’t had time.  I started swimming yesterday morning, though, and plan to swim every morning from now on.  It helps to have a week off work to start finding time for such things.  My belly button is threatening to turn into an outtie too.  The midwife appointment on Monday showed that everything was fine.  My blood pressure was very low because the midwife took it while I was lying down!

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 34 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 35.  Your baby has grown to be about 46 cm long and approximately 2,350 grams in weight. During the next 6 weeks or so, your baby’s main task is to gain weight and grow a little larger, as well as build up their immune system, which is obtained from you passing blood antibodies through the placenta. Babies born around 34 to 35 weeks normally do quite well, but are still regarded as ‘mildly preterm’, generally requiring some time in the intensive care nursery. This could be for observation, monitoring, possibly small amounts of oxygen for a few hours (or days), obtaining warmth in a humidicrib and perhaps nourishment from a drip in their vein and/or milk feeds down a tube into their stomach, if they tire quickly when feeding.

Another week over!!  The weeks feel like they’re flying past at the moment.  Again my belly seems to be growing quite quickly at the moment, and I’m starting to feel a bit heavy in the belly area.  Mostly it’s just when I stand up and start to walk.  I’m also getting lots of feelings of a tight belly, which I guess are Braxton Hicks contractions.  They mostly come when I’m walking, particularly if I’m walking fast or over a reasonable distance.  I also still get occasional swelling of the ankles, but I’ve realised that this seems to happen when I don’t wear boots (which I wear to work every day), so the swelling usually happens on weekends.  Otherwise everything else is fine.

Info from Birth.com.au:

You are now 33 weeks pregnant, which is the beginning of week 34.  Your baby weighs about 2.1kg and measures about 45 cm in length. Your baby is now fully formed physically and has a firm grasp reflex. They can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes. Premature babies born as early as 33 weeks have been observed to suck harder on a teat dipped in glucose. However, even unborn babies can detect subtle changes in the flavour of the amniotic fluid they float in. It is believed the fluid acts as a ‘flavour bridge’ to their mother’s breast milk. Breast milk changes flavour depending on what the mother eats (such as sugar, garlic or curry) and so does the amniotic fluid. Observations of unborn babies have demonstrated that they swallow more frequently when surrounded by sweet tastes and swallow less fluid if it tastes bitter or sour. < back to top

Most babies assume a head down position by this time (if not already there). A few babies remain in a breech position. Your caregiver feels for your baby’s head during your pregnancy visits and should now be able to detect which side of your belly their back is laying on (right or left). Your baby can move frequently from one side of your belly to the other. At this stage, it does not really matter if your baby’s back is anterior (towards your front) or posterior (towards your back).