Right now, your baby weighs at least 4½ pounds (2,100 g) and measures almost 12 inches (300 mm) crown to rump.
By this time, your baby’s skin looks pink and smooth because underlying deposits of fat have masked some of the redness of the capillaries. Babies who will have darker skin later may have a pinkish cast now because their skin itself is still unpigmented.
Your baby’s arms and legs are looking fuller and more rounded as more fat is deposited under the surface of the skin. Fat deposits increase from about 2 percent at midpregnancy to 12–15 percent at term. In a week or so, the subcutaneous fat will make up about 8 percent of your baby’s body weight.
The lunar months of pregnancy are a little deceiving. Because each lunar month has four weeks of seven days each (28 days total), the baby actually requires 266 days, or nine-and-a-half months, to complete development.
You
Your practitioner will probably want to see you once a week until you go into labor.
The baby might 'drop' (settle down into your pelvis) before labor begins, but not all babies drop prior to the onset of labor. If the baby drops (this is also called settling or lightening), you will begin to notice a decrease in lap space when seated, a sudden ease of breathing, more stomach capacity (since the load has shifted down), more pelvic pressure, and more frequent urination, maybe even slight incontinence (difficulty holding your urine).
At each prenatal visit, your practitioner will check to see if the baby has dropped into your pelvis.
IMPORTANT
Be aware of these pelvic sensations, but don’t worry if they aren’t happening according to a set schedule. While dropping or settling is expected two to four weeks before delivery, it’s hard to predict the events of birth. Every baby has its own timetable. |
The baby almost always settles into the mother’s pelvis in a head-down position, because the head is the heaviest part of its body and is better accommodated in the bottom contour of the uterus than in the top.
Your practitioner will monitor your cervix (the neck, or mouth, of the uterus) for signs of dilation (widening) and effacement (thinning) at each checkup.
IMPORTANT
You may notice stronger and more frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions, some of which may even be painful. This is normal. |
