This month is the final month of your pregnancy! The baby will “drop”, or move down towards the birth canal. This allows you to breathe a little more easily, although walking may be a challenge. Controlling that bladder may be challenging, too, with all the extra weight on it! Your breathlessness may also be replaces with sciatica as the weight shifts, once again, stretching your pelvic region.
The baby’s head will probably engage in the pelvis this month, if it is your first baby. If you’ve already had one, the engagement will occur closer to delivery. You’ll also get some odd feeling in your vagina, similar to electric shocks. Your breasts will also leak colostrum.
This is also the stage where your cervix will begin to soften and get thinner. The cervix is the opening to the uterus.
The ninth month of pregnancy will usually see the mother start her nesting activities. You may want to clean house, make curtains, wash walls – just be sure to take it easy. With your loose ligaments and relaxed muscles, you can easily overdo it.
The baby is nearly here. It has a good grip, and responds to light. The circumference of the baby’s head and abdomen are about equal. At 37 and 38 weeks, the baby will not grow as fast. At birth, the baby will be a bluish-pink color, regardless of race. The baby’s chest will be prominent, and regardless of gender, the baby will have barely protruding breasts. The baby’s intestines are full of meconium, which will be passed a couple of days after it is born. By now, the baby’s lungs should be well coated with surficant. This will keep the lungs from sticking together, enabling the baby to breathe when it is born. If the baby is full term, the boys will have testes in the scrotum.
With the baby settled down into your pelvis, any movement the baby makes may cause you a sharp pain. The cervix will also “ripen”, meaning it gets thinner and softer. This may happen over quite a few days, or rather quickly.
You probably will have conflicting emotions during this last month of pregnancy. You are excited to have the baby here, but you are tired of being pregnant. You may dread the upcoming birth. Some women become depressed at this time. Some feel this way because they have enjoyed the process and it is nearly over, others are dreading the birth itself, or are not ready for a baby.
Make sure you are seeing your doctor regularly. Pamper yourself, and find positive, supportive companions who will encourage you and build you up during this time. You and your partner should have a birth plan, by now. Also, though, plan for notification to family and friends. Constant daily phone calls by well-meaning friends and family can become discouraging and stressful. You also may want to plan a rotation system for visitors after the baby is born, so you can get some rest.
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