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.