37 Weeks - Pregnancy

Baby

Congratulations! Your baby is now considered full term, although most babies won’t be coming for 3-5 more weeks for first time moms. However, if your baby decides to come now, he will most likely be ready to breathe on his own outside of the womb. Your baby probably tips the scales at over 6 pounds now and measures between 19 and 20 inches, head to heel. He is definitely looking like a newborn now.

Your baby has probably moved into the head-down, back-facing position that is ideal for labor. If your baby is breech, “sunny-side up” (head down, facing front), or lying crosswise in the uterus, your doctor may either try to turn him manually or you may be looking at a possible scheduled cesarean.

Mom

Even though you are considered full term, your baby may not come for another 5 weeks OR he could be here next week. If you’re a bit of a control freak, you may be coming increasingly annoyed each week your baby is not born. With every Braxton Hicks contraction, you will be wondering, “is this it? Is this labor?”. It’s hard to concentrate on anything else in your world, but your baby. Every little twinge will be analyzed, and it doesn’t help that your doctor’s appointments will increase to weekly now. You just want to get this over with, so you can hold your baby in your arms. We’re not going to tell you to have patience, because that just seems impossible now. The key is to kill some time. Sitting or laying around waiting to go into labor is like watching a pot of water until it boils. These last few weeks seem to drag on and on. So, commit to this.

Write a list of activities you can do as a 9-month pregnant woman. This can include doing some nesting – cleaning your house and organizing for your baby. Go shopping, go to the flea market (anything involving walking is great), prenatal yoga classes, go get some ice cream, go to the movies, go to the bookstore and do some reading, go on a nature hike (not too deep in the woods though, just in case), etc… Whatever you like to do and do it. If you sit on the couch all day, it will only make you more miserable. Sure you’ll get a lot of looks, as pregnant as you are going out in public. You can entertain yourself by telling everyone that you were due last week. The expressions you get back are always great for a laugh.

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PLEASE NOTE

This should be used as a general guideline and is for general information and educational purposes only. Please remember that all pregnancies develop at different rates. If you have questions about your baby's development, please contact your doctor or midwife.