38 Weeks Pregnant

Baby at 38 Weeks Pregnant 🚼

Ready or not, here comes Baby Natural! Ok, well, not just yet... but soon. Baby Natural is almost ready for life on the outside now (and we bet you’re ready for it too). Her organs are mature, with the lungs having produced “surfactant,” which keeps the air sacks open during exhalation, making breathing as effortless for baby as it is for you. Appearance-wise, baby continues to shed her “lanugo,” or body hair, along with some of the vernix on her skin. This shed material goes into the amniotic fluid, which in turn goes into baby, which in turn will go into a diaper as meconium, the tarry black poop baby has for the first week or so. Some cloth diapering mamas choose to go disposable for the first week because the meconium can stain. But I know plenty of mamas who do cloth from start to finish. Baby is still making gains in brain power, so no need to rush her. She's about 7 pounds now, and is 20 inches long. Can you believe she’s gotten so big?

You at 38 Weeks Pregnant 🚺

You're really in the home stretch, mama!

• Did you know that you might be dilated already?!
• And your cervix could be thinning?
• Or that your boobs are producing liquid gold for baby to drink (aka colostrum)?

Keep your eye out for interesting things in the toilet, like bloody show or the loss of your mucus plug. Notice if your Braxton Hicks start getting closer, stronger, and longer. In other words, be on the lookout for the classic signs of labor! While you sit in the "waiting game," you can do some proactive things to help ease any anxiety.

• Eat your 6 dates a day to help with cervical ripening
• Do your pelvic exercises daily
• Consider going to a Webster chiropractor or acupuncturist weekly until the big day
• Make sure your hospital or birth center bag is packed (if applicable)
• Fill your freezer with home-cooked meals
• And get extra R-E-S-T

Yes, good nutrition, adequate fluids, and ample rest are ultimately the best things you can do for yourself (and baby!). Pregnancy-week-by-week-mama-at-38-weeks-pregnant-Mama-Natural