At 37 weeks, your pregnancy is almost finished and you should know what to expect. You have almost completed your term and should now have your overnight bag packed and ready. There are other things you perhaps should talk to your doctor about like whether you want drugs during delivery or your chances of needing a cesarean. This is the week, if it has not happened earlier, that the baby will settle on to the pelvis, getting ready for the birth. This could lead to increased pressure on your bladder and you feeling the need to urinate frequently.
The baby is growing fully in this last trimester. It is reaching its optimum weight and height. Your baby’s fat layer is filling out the baby’s body in order to enable it to survive outside the womb.
The central nervous system and the lungs are completely maturing. Babies grow the maximum in the last few weeks of the trimester. Read more on 37 weeks pregnant what to expect.
The 37 weeks pregnant ultrasound will be the last one before the birth. The doctor will even check you to see if you are leaking amniotic fluid or any other anomaly. The baby will be growing rapidly at this stage gaining half to one ounce a day. It becomes important that you eat well as the baby directly depends on you for nourishment. The diet has to be rich in calcium, protein, and vitamins. You may not realize when your body goes into labor. Once you start feeling definite contractions, that can be timed, you will know you are in labor. But your body starts dilating and effacing much before you can actually feel it.
At 37 weeks pregnant, the doctor can tell you the baby weight which will more or less be final. The baby could weigh close to 6.3 pounds and be as much as 19.1 inches long. You may not grow more till delivery now, though your baby could put some more weight.
You could have some brown spotting this week, which is normal. But if the spotting turns red, do remember to call your doctor as it is not normal. At this time sleeping and resting is what you should do. But that is the most difficult thing to do. You are unable to rest comfortably as the baby settles on your pelvic bone. You are also unable to sleep comfortably. The plus side is that the pregnancy is drawing to a close and you should deliver a baby soon.
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