Your body changes a lot during the last few weeks of your pregnancy. A lot of important things are happening to your baby at this time. If you have a healthy pregnancy, you should try and wait at least 39 weeks before you think about inducing labor. If you do choose to induce, ask your doctor if there is any medical reason for it.
In the last few weeks of pregnancy, these are some of the things that are happening:
TO YOUR BABY
- Your baby’s brain is still growing and developing. At 35 weeks, your baby’s brain weighs just two-thirds of what it does at 39 weeks.
- All the important organs such as lungs and liver develop fully and start functioning during this time. If your baby is born too early, they may have breathing problems and jaundice after birth, and may need to be kept in the NICU for a few days.
- Your baby is gaining weight in the last weeks of your pregnancies. Babies born at a healthy weight stay warm more easily than those who are born too small.
- In the last few weeks of your pregnancy, your baby is still learning how to suck and swallow. These skills will help your baby feed better and avoid some feeding problems after he’s born.
- Your baby’s eyes and ears are also going through some extremely important changes in these last few weeks of pregnancy.
TO YOUR BODY
- You may find yourself physically exhausted in the last month of pregnancy. Even routine things such as getting up off the sofa can leave you out of breath. This is due to your body changing rapidly in the last few weeks.
- You may even lose some of your weight during the last few weeks. Your baby is still gaining, what you lose are actually some amount of amniotic fluid due to hormones shifting fluid around in your body.
- You will also start feeling a little bit better in the few weeks before your deliver. Two common discomforts i.e. breathlessness and heartburn, tend to ease off during the ninth month.
- You will begin to feel the need to urinate more frequently as baby’s head begins to press more on your bladder.
- You may feel different kinds of baby kicks. Babies move less in the ninth month than they did in the eighth, but they may kick more powerfully now.
These are some of the more normal changes that occur to your body in the last couple of weeks. If you feel anything different, don’t hesitate to see your doctor, even if your due date isn’t around. Our team of experts at KIMS Cuddles will help put all your queries to rest.
*Information shared here is for general purpose Please take doctors’ advice before taking any decision.