Pregnancy week 39 is here and your baby is 20" long and weighs 7.3 pounds. Your little one is actually ready to move out and face the external world. Your baby has a thick layer of fat below the skin to keep warm and insulated from the lower temperatures outside. Lanugo or the soft fine hair has nearly all gone. Even though your little one's weight is more than 7 pounds, your baby will continue to put on weight till the time of delivery. There is hardly any space left in the uterus, so your baby's movements will be very slow. The lung has also developed and it can soon independently take in air when outside the uterus.
In pregnancy week 39, you must have already started wondering about how your little one is going to look, whether he or she is going to look like mom or dad. Sometimes they may look like neither as they have equal number of dominant genes from both mom and dad side.
In pregnancy week 39, you are on the verge of delivering. You will now have a dozen or so emotions passing through you. You may feel worried and anxious about the delivery, you may feel tired and fatigued at 39 weeks of pregnancy but at the same time, you must be excited about meeting your little one face to face.
It is always important to have information on what to expect so that you can confidently go through your delivery with ease of mind. Right after delivery, you will face postpartum blues, as the amount of hormones will drastically reduce. This is normal and will soon pass. If however you find yourself crying for no reason, feel depressed, irritable, have a lack of self-esteem, or feel anger towards your little one, consult your doctor, as this is serious, as it is not postpartum blues but postpartum depression. However, not to worry as it will too go away with treatment.
During your visit to the doctor, and if the pelvic exam shows the cervix has already started to dilate, it is a good sign as it will be easier for you to go into labor. If the baby has the posterior towards the cervix, than the mother can try helping it to turn so that the head will face downwards. If that is not possible, the doctor will recommend a caesar, and a date fixed to do it.
In week 39, you can make last minute preparations for you to go to the hospital, if you have not done so. You feel very clumsy, as the center of gravity has shifted again with your baby's head dropping into the pelvis, which is known as lightening. Be careful when you walk. The uterus is not pressing on your lungs and so you can breathe easy, but it is pressing on your bladder, and so you may have to go and urinate very often. However, make sure you take good rest, eat good nutritious food, and drink lots of water.
