Your body
If your baby isn’t yet engaged, she and the placenta will be pushing your uterus up under your ribs. This isn’t the most comfortable part of pregnancy, as you may feel squashed and out of breath.
You’re probably feeling a mixture of emotions: you’re looking forward to meeting your baby, but dreading the birth. Not much longer to go now!
On the scales
You should have put on between 9-14kg. How much weight you gain depends on your size before you were pregnant, the size of your baby and, of course, how much you eat during pregnancy! You may have gained all the weight you’re going to, and you may find at your antenatal check-ups that it stays more or less the same. As the birth approaches, some women even lose a little.
Where the weight goes
The average weight gain during pregnancy is about 13kg. Here’s where it goes:
Your baby: 3.2kg
Uterus: 0.9kg
Placenta: 0.6kg
Amniotic fluid: 0.6-0.9kg
Breasts: 1.46kg
Extra blood: 1.4-1.8kg
Extra body fluid: 1.4-1.6kg
Fat: 4.6-5.5kg
Your baby
Your baby weighs about 2.5kg and is now gaining about 14g of fat a day. She’s about 33cm crown to rump long and 45cm including her legs. Her brain is developing rapidly, so if you’ve been under stress at work or home, try to relax.
The jury’s still out on exactly how much your state of mind can affect your baby’s progress in the uterus, but recent studies suggest there may be a link between extremely stressed mothers and low-birth weight babies. Plus, after an earthquake in Italy in 1980, 28 pregnant women who had been frightened but unharmed were scanned to check their babies were okay. All the babies were very overactive, and remained that way for several hours. Take it easy…
Move it, baby
If you become aware of a reduction in your baby’s movements, head straight in for a check-up with your midwife or doctor. They may recommend you keep a kick chart where you record each movement over a specified period every day.
Early arrival
If you’ve been concerned about giving birth early, stop worrying now. Around 99 percent of babies born at 35 weeks survive, and most are completely healthy.
