Congratulations for reaching the final week of your pregnancy journey! During this final week, you should be fully prepared to deliver your baby at a moment’s notice.
The size of the baby
The size of your baby resembles a small watermelon at this stage.
Weight/height of the baby
The height of your baby is roughly half a metre tall with his/her weight around 2.9-3.6 kg.
About your baby
Your baby is now fully developed and is ready to engage with life outside the womb. In the womb, bodily changes continue to occur with the bones of your baby calcifying at this stage with the exception of the skull. The bones remain flexible at this stage in order to pass through the birth canal during delivery. As such, parents may notice that the skull of their newborn is slightly pointed at this stage. The brain is growing rapidly at this stage and your baby is able to flex all four limbs.
About your body
There are no significant changes to your body as compared to the 39th week, but at this point, your uterus will have occupied most of the space leading to maximum distension of the belly. Stretch marks can be seen around the uterus. Some women may also experience rashes known as PUPP (pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy) that appears over the stretched womb during the last trimester.
The symptoms that you’ll experience during the last stage of pregnancy include Braxton hick’s contractions which are false contractions before labour, effacement or cervical dilation that replicates the labour contractions. You may notice your baby being more ‘active’ and excited during this stage, and may also experience pelvic pain, diarrhoea and discomfort.
Do & Don’ts / Advice / Checklist / Tips
• Have your last prenatal visit to the hospital
• Have your last screening test and ultrasound done
• Go through your complete postnatal supplies
• Wrap up all your work in order to take rest after the delivery
• Perform some light exercises in order to prepare for the big day
• Plan healthy meals for yourself after you are done with delivery
• Discuss your plan for the big day with your partner
• Keep your bag ready for visiting the hospital
• Keep a list of contacts whom you can alert at the time of delivery