36 Weeks Pregnant

Your little bundle of joy is feeling less and less little as you carry him or her through the last few weeks of your pregnancy. One of the advantages after the birth of your baby is that you will have a break from being the sole baby carrier, as everyone else will want a turn holding your baby.

MOM

As you stare at your belly that is pushing out in every direction, you may think you have maxed out in size; it can be hard to believe you have four more weeks to go and to grow at 36 weeks pregnant. Keep taking pictures because you and the baby aren’t done yet! Women are designed to carry babies and deliver babies. Amazingly, your body will be able to hang in there and keep accommodating the changes needed for the birth for a few more weeks.

Avoid hot tubs, but if the weather permits or you have access to an indoor pool, give your body a break and spend some time in the water. It will increase your physical comfort during the last weeks of your pregnancy.

The more your baby drops, the more pressure that will be on your bladder. By the time you deliver you will know where every restroom in town is and how long it takes you to get to it.

BABY

At 36 weeks pregnant your baby will be almost 6 lbs and be about 20.5 inches long. You will probably be able to feel every ounce and every inch of that! All the more complicated development has occurred earlier in the pregnancy, so your baby will be kicking back adding some weight to make it less stressful once he or she enters the outside world. Your baby’s gums are forming ridges. Your baby will be responding to sounds and light outside of the womb, even if you don’t notice it.

Around 4 in every 100 babies remain in the breech position at the end of the pregnancy. A breech position means the baby has their bottom down instead of their head. If your baby stays in this position some doctors may attempt to turn the baby to a head down position for the birth. If the baby cannot be turned, the birth may need to be by Caesarean.

There are different theories how the baby lets you know it is ready to born. There is some agreement there is a hormone released from the baby that will trigger a hormone release in you. When those hormones are triggered in you, it is believed labor will begin.

LIFE

As you prepare for the life changing experience ahead of you, remember only a very small percentage of women deliver naturally on their due date. That means before or after you expect it, labor will begin. First time moms tend to be later, though there are no guarantees.

Have your home prepared for baby so you can relax during these last few weeks of your pregnancy and focus on spending time with your partner, kids, family, and friends when you do have a little energy.

Keep taking pictures. You might not like how you look now, but looking back you will see that pregnancy is a small part of your lifetime and you will appreciate that you made the most of the opportunity to document it in photos. It is a good time to practice backing up your digital photos, because you won’t want to loose any precious photos of your baby.

37 Weeks Pregnant

35 Weeks Pregnant