Your
baby weighs about 4 pounds 12 ounces (2.15 kilograms) right now,
although later in pregnancy there is more room for variation than in
the beginning of pregnancy. Your baby is putting on an average of .5
pounds a week at this point. The length is reaching 18 inches from head
to toe, as opposed to the earlier measurements from crown to rump. All
organ systems have been present for a long time, now they are just
putting on the final touches before birth.

This begins when you start to have regular contractions that increase in frequency and intensity. Make sure you know how to time contractions.
Usually you will start off slowly, nearly always questioning if this is really labor.
Bear in mind that a lot of women have wandered around for a bit feeling
like they had the flu or were just really sleepy. The contractions will
then pick up and you will be in the active phase of the first stage of
labor. Contractions are more intense and come more frequently,
usually requiring more of your attention. Somewhere between this active
phase and the next phase, transition, you will change to your place of
birth. Transition is the short but hard part of labor. Transition has
contractions coming very close together, but they never actually feel
any stronger than the contractions of the active phase. At the end of
transition you will be completely dilated!

This is the fun part! You begin this stage completely dilated! You will begin pushing
your baby into this world. Most women really enjoy the pushing stage,
they say that they feel more actively involved. Your contractions will
get further apart and feel differently. If you have been unmedicated
you will feel the urge to push. If you have been medicated you may or
may not feel the urge to push and will be directed at how to proceed.
If there is an episiotomy done, it will be done at the end of this stage. There is quite a debate about the need and use of episiotomies on a routine basis. The end of the second stage will be marked by the birth of your baby!

This
is the anticlimax! You are holding your lovely baby and anywhere from 5
minutes to an hour later they will want you to give a few small pushes
to get the placenta
out. Most women are so wrapped up in their babies that they always say,
“I forgot about the placenta!” Nursing your baby right away will help
speed up a third stage or control any bleeding that you are having.

Baby:

Baby is
continuing to get bigger! Four pounds seven ounces (2 kilograms) and a
length of 42.5 cms or 16.8 inches. The hormones from the placenta are
starting to activate the milk in your breasts. Did you know that the
baby urinates almost a pint a day! Watch out diapers here you come!

Baby:

Your baby
has surfactant, which helps baby breathe after birth, coating the
alveoli in the lungs. After this week, if your baby is born, you have
less of a chance of apnea of prematurity. S/he weighs about four pounds
(1.8 kilograms).
There
are almost 2 pints of amniotic fluid in your uterus. You may have been
told that you have polyhyrdamnios, or too much amniotic fluid. The
opposite of which would be oligohydramnios,
often associated with Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR). However,
it is important to keep in mind that everyone has varying amounts of
amniotic fluid and that simply having too much or too little doesn't
not generally indicate a problem.

I
want to address the last question specifically. About 10% of women will
tell you that labor is extremely painful, while 10% of the women will
tell you that they experienced no pain. The rest, 80%, will fall
someplace in the middle of the two extremes. You really need to look at
the sources of pain
in labor and birth. We do know that women who have taken childbirth
classes tend to report less painful experiences and have fewer
complications than women who have not taken classes.

Baby:

Your baby's movements will peak this week. From now on the will change in quantity and quality. Remember to do your Fetal Kick Counts.
Most of the wrinkles are disappearing from your baby's face, and there
may be a lot of hair on their head! The weight gain has been fairly
incredible recently. Your baby has put on about 2 pounds of weight,
mostly fat and muscle tissue, since last month, bringing the total to
about three pounds eleven ounces (1.7 kilograms), and measurements to
40 cms or 15.8 inches!

Babies
who are born at a younger gestation than this will most likely having
difficulties sucking or nursing. This also applies to babies who weigh
less than 1500 grams at birth. A good sucking pattern is a sign of
neuromuscular maturity.