Pregnancy Calendar

Week 39

• Your baby is rapidly approaching it's birth weight, which can range from 5 pounds to over 10 pounds, with the average baby weighing around 7.5 pounds.
• Genetics, your build, and your nutritional status all contribute to determining your baby's height and weight. There are always surprises though!
• Are you off work now, or are you working right up to your due date? If you are still working try to find time to rest with your feet up a couple of times a day.
• Pretty soon you'll see your baby face to face. Try to think beyond labor and delivery to the first days with your baby. Do you have a comfortable nursing area set up? Do you have a Boppy or similar pillow for feeding time? Will your baby be sleeping in your room or in the nursery? If he will be sleeping in the nursery, is the baby monitor set up? Are you well stocked with groceries and some frozen meals? Healthy snacks are a must! Keeping busy will help pass the time until your baby is ready to come, but don't try to do too much, make sure you rest when you need to.
• Most everyone plans for a vaginal delivery, which is the norm, but it's a good idea to consider the possibility of a c-section. Educate yourself! What are some situations in which c-sections are used, what other options are available to try before deciding on surgery? If you have to have a c-section, will your doctor perform the surgery? Will you be able to breastfeed your child in the recovery room if you are both doing OK? Will your husband be in the operating room with you? Can he cut the cord? Do you want to see them deliver your baby? Check out the MommyLinks Birth Methods page for online birth plans which include the possibility of a c-section.
• If you do have a c-section to deliver your baby, it is not a failure on your part. While it may be disappointing, it may also have saved you or your baby from serious injury or worse.

Week 40

• Labor could start anytime! Keep in mind that your due date is just an estimate, your baby will come when it's ready. Don't worry about it though, no one is pregnant forever :)
  95% of women give birth with a week of their estimated due date.
• Your baby is ready to go, with toenails that reach the tips of little toes and fingernails that may need a trim. Much of the fine hair or lanugo that at one point completely covered your baby is gone, although there may be a little left here and there. The amount of vernix caseosa, the white cheesy substance that helped protect your little one's skin, may vary, some babies are born with quite a bit, while other may just have a little left in the creases.
• If you find you have too much time on your hands, do a dress rehearsal for your labor. As you do a walk through, check that you have everything you'll need, which may include: food and/or drink for both parents, any candles, music, or focal point items, swim trunks for daddy-to-be, your favorite pillow(s), phone numbers for anxious relatives, birth plan, night gown or pajamas for after delivery, baby clothes, camera with extra film and batteries...
• If it's not too uncomfortable, take a walk, it may help get labor started.
• If your water breaks, it usually feels like a gush and then a trickle that may increase as you change positions or lay down. Check with your doctor if you think your water has broken.
• While labor is quite often portrayed on TV and in movies as starting with a big, big, gush when the woman's water breaks, this is not often the case in real life. 85% of the time, labor starts, then your water breaks, sometime during the labor or delivery. Only 15% of the time does your water break before labor begins.
• Once your water has broken labor may begin almost immediately, or it may take hours, even days. Talk to your doctor about how long you will be allowed to wait after your water breaks for labor to begin before your labor will be artificially induced. This limit can vary from 12 hours to 48 hours. The concern here is that infection will enter your uterus through the ruptured membranes.
• When you feel the first true contractions of your labor, don't rush to the hospital, it's exciting, but you most likely have hours to go. Try to go about your normal business until the contractions get down to business, that is, get so intense you need to get off your feet during them, and they happen regularly.
• Pregnancy, labor, and delivery really drive home the point that every woman and every child is unique. While it is possible to say that the labor and delivery for a first baby will be around 14 hours with up to 2 hours of pushing, it could vary from 2 hours with 15 minutes of pushing to 24 hours with 3 hours of pushing.
• You know your body best, if your contractions start and they are lasting a minute and you only get a minute between them to rest, you should probably get to the hospital or birth center. On the other hand, if you have a contraction, then about 10 minutes later you have another one, and they're not so intense that you have to get off your feet or lean against something, you should probably wait a while before packing up and heading out.
• It is important to know when your doctor wants to be contacted, is it when you think labor is starting, or when the contractions are a certain length and frequency?
• Just remember, labor is hard work, but the payoff is great!