Category Archives: week by week

40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 37

Happy Monday! And welcome back to another installment of my week by week pregnancy guide. If you want to catch up with previous weeks, then feel free to scroll to the bottom.

Week 37

Your baby is now breathing inside of you. It sounds creepy, but it is actually kind of cute. At this point everyone was saying I should take a tour of the hospital where I would be delivering. I didn’t get a chance to, and honestly I don’t think I would have cared. When you get there you will be wheeled straight into the delivery room. After which you will be taken to your room, and you will be there until you go home. With Munchie I was in the hospital for the whole mandatory two days. With Ducky my doctor sent me home same day. So really, whether or not the hospital chooses to display O’Keefe or Monet in their hallways doesn’t matter. Skip the tour. Go get some ice cream instead. Unless of course you are lactose intolerant, in which case don’t. But feel free to skip the tour anyway.

Some doctors will want to induce during this week. If so, find out why. If there is a legitimate health reason, such as preeclampsia, or other factors, then by all means, trust your doctor. However, I have friends who’s doctor had them induced without any valid reasoning aside from scheduling convenience. Sorry, that is not a good enough reason for me. And it shouldn’t be for you either.

Now your doctor will want to see what position your little one is in. Until now your baby was probably doing somersaults. Which was fine. But at this point his head should be down, otherwise you have a breech. If so, then your doctor may try turning the baby over from the outside. This can be very painful for you, as it is something like a violent massage. But it does not hurt the baby in any way. If this doesn’t work, then you play the waiting game. You may not go into labor as soon as you might think, giving the baby time to rotate on his own. However, once you are in labor and he still hasn’t turned, you are most likely looking at a c-section. As scary as this may sound, it is not the end of the world. You will recover, and at this point, the best thing you can do is trust your doctor. However, until you are actually in labor with a breech baby, trust your instincts.

Two weeks to go!!

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40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 36

Welcome back to my week by week pregnancy guide. If you want to peruse previous weeks, feel free to scroll to the bottom.

Week 36

If you haven’t been nesting already, you probably will start around now. All that sluggishness you have felt in previous weeks/months/forever, will be replaced with a sudden wave of energy. Slow down. Both times I was pregnant I was decorating, and cleaning, and running out getting every last minute thing imaginable. And then the baby came and I was exhausted. So try to curb your enthusiasm a little. I know, it is hard. Especially since you are super excited. Even if this is not your first, chances are you are still pretty excited. And I know this is hard advice to take. I knew what I was doing the second time around, and still didn’t heed my own advice! So all I can say is try to rest a bit and take it easy. You probably won’t, but that is okay too.

How do you know if you are in labor? They say it is difficult to tell. Well, if you are having contractions that are so powerful you can’t talk through them, chances are it is labor. Usually contractions are fake if getting up and walking around alleviates the pain. If moving around doesn’t make it better, but in fact exacerbates the pain, then you are in labor. If laying down is excruciating, you are in labor. If your lower back has a hollow pain that feels like something is drilling you from the inside, you are in labor. And I know everything I just said sounds scary, but honestly, it is not as bad as it sounds. It happens so fast, you will feel it in the moment, but it is temporary and will end before you know it. With Munchie I was in labor for 36 hours… looking back now, I couldn’t even really describe it… it just happened, and it was done. So don’t start panicking about labor, just accept it will be painful (yes, even with drugs it will still hurt), but it will pass.

Right around now (if not already) your doctor will have you do a Group B strep test. A lot of people have it, so don’t worry if you do. It is simply a common bacteria that likes to living inside people. However, if you do have it, you will want to have antibiotics administered to you in an IV during labor, before the baby is born, to reduce the risk of passing it on. Even though this is a harmless bacteria to you, your newborn baby is not yet strong enough to deal with it, so you want to minimize the chances of transfer.

The worst part about this test is the administration of it. I think I had over a dozen blood work tests done during my first pregnancy (didn’t need as many the second time around since the results from the first were still good). All that pricking, you would think a simple swab test would be a relief. No, this feels like someone is rubbing broken glass inside of you. You are sensitive at this point, so when your doctor starts poking you with sticks it will be painful. But it only lasts about ten seconds. And the pain disappears immediately (you will not be sore afterwards). The results usually take about a week to process.

If you happen to go into labor before your results come back, don’t worry. Your baby will be fine. The antibiotics would have helped, and your doctor may chose to give them to you anyway (better safe than sorry), but seriously, this is the least of your concern at this point. Even if you have it, there is no guarantee that your baby will get it. And even if your baby does contract it, this is not lethal.

Three weeks left!

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40 Weeks of Pregnancy – Week 35

It is Monday, and time for yet another week’s installment of my week by week pregnancy guide. If you want to peruse previous weeks, feel free to scroll to the bottom.

Week 35

Right around now your doctor will start asking that you see him more often (if you already haven’t started). Most likely you will be going to see your doctor every 1-2 weeks. Your baby is growing rapidly, and your doctor will tell you all about it.

At this point your doctor will also start getting more intrusive, poking around, checking your cervix. I shudder at the memory of it. But it is for your own good. If your cervix isn’t starting to thin out at this point, it may lead to complications during delivery, and it is best to foresee these things. However, there is still time, so if things aren’t working out yet, don’t panic.

Your baby getting bigger means it is taking up more room. So your organs are running out of room. Your lungs no longer have as much space to expand, so you will start feeling shortness of breath. This is normal. Even though I was exercising on a regular basis, I remember panting as if I had never exercised a day in my life. Stairs at this point were excruciating and often ended with my hyperventilating after only a few flights. Again, this is normal, don’t worry about it as everything will revert once you give birth.

Only a few more weeks left!

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