Thursday, November 6, 2014

One week until our due date - week 39

Your baby is the size of a Mini Watermelon

Your baby now measures approximately 20 inches long (50.8 cm) long from head to heel and weighs about 7.25 pounds (3.3 kg).

Most of the vernix and the lanugo that has covered your baby has disappeared. Your baby will swallow its lanugo along with shed dead skin cells and shed intestinal cells and store them in its bowels. These will be part of your baby’s first bowel movement.

Your baby also has a steady supply of antibodies from the placenta that you provided that will help it fight off infections for the first few months after birth. Your colostrum is also rich in antibodies and breastfeeding will continue to boost your baby’s immunity as well as provide it with essential nutrients.

Your baby will also continue to gain weight, although at a slower pace. Movements will begin to slow as it doesn’t have much room to move around.

Pregnancy hormones produced by your body may cause your baby’s genitalia to appear enlarged after birth. This will return to normal shortly after birth when your baby is not longer attached to your blood supply. These same hormones may even cause your baby — whether it is a girl or boy — to excrete milk through its nipples. This is also completely normal and will go away within a few days of birth.

No comments:

Post a Comment