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34 Weeks Pregnant
 The Baby This week your baby weighs about 5 pounds (2250 grams) and he is 17 inches (42.5 cm) long. With his arms crossed over his chest and his knees pulled up high, in most cases he is positioned neatly folded with his little head down in his mother's pelvis.In the coming weeks his head will go down further behind the pubic bone. The pressure of the growing baby and your loosening pelvis will allow the baby to descend lower and lower in your pelvic region. Even if his head is engaged he can still easily turn on his axis. At one moment, he is lying with his back to the right, the next minute he turns to the left, which will feel like a huge movement - anyone could see this on the outside! You'll hear his heart on the right one minute and left the next.The head-first position is the ideal one for your child. There are also babies who are stubborn and will remain diagonal, lying across your pelvis. If he is still in this "transverse" position at 40 weeks then he cannot be born vaginally and he will come into the world via Caesarean section. A small percentage of the babies lie in the breech position around the 35th week. There are 3 types of breech positions: complete, frank and footling breech position. The complete breech position looks like the baby is squatting. Ideally, first the feet are born, followed by the legs, his buttocks and finally his head, the largest and most difficult part. However, it can happen that his feet descend along with his butt, which would make for a very challenging birth! The birth attendant may reach inside of you to reorganize the baby, moving his feet so they are born first. Or, you may opt for a cesarean birth. When the baby is in the frank breech position, his buttocks are down, while his legs are straight up near his ears. A baby that is born in the frank breech position is thus born bottom first and cannot put his legs down the first couple of days. If they get the chance, the legs will kick up, just like when he was in the uterus. To make it even more complicated, there is the footling breech position: then the baby has one leg up and one leg under itself. Again, his feet will be born first - but this baby needs help to make sure both feet are down at the same time. Vaginal breech birth can be a bit riskier than a head-first birth, so it can be a good idea to try to convince the baby to turn head down. If you determine at around 35 weeks that the baby is breech, there are a number of tricks to try to turn the baby. Always first discuss with your health care provider (HCP) what tricks she would recommend befor trying any. One that is always safe to use is to talk to the baby inside your head, asking it to turn and reminding it that it is loved, or playing music and shining light down near your pubic bone to see if the baby will turn towards it. Some midwives report that when a mother lies on a "tilt board" with her feet higher than her head, the baby may turn on its own. Some say that if you drink extra fluids, encouraging your placenta to make extra amniotic fluid, it may give the baby more room to maneuver. A chiropractor may use different techniques to manipulate the pelvis to change its shape, allowing the baby to turn. Research shows that the ancient Chinese art of "moxibustion," a form of acupuncture in which an heated herb is held close to different acupuncture points, has a high rate of success in turning breech babies, especially if the mother is undergoing hypnosis or deep meditation at the time! If none of these tricks work, a trained midwife, neonatologist, or gynecologist may perform an "external version." This is another ancient technique, used by midwives throughout history, in which the provider applies pressure on your abdomen, firmly pressing the baby into a new position. If the provider is gentle and the mother is deeply relaxed, this may be a pleasant experience. If the provider is in a big hurry and the mother is worried about it, it may hurt a lot! The rule of thumb is, for a breech baby, turn him early and turn him often - babies sometimes flip back into their cozy breech position! If none of these techniques is successful, the birth will be assessed on a case by case basis. One midwife may be perfectly comfortable attending a breech birth at home, where another may prefer to attend you at a hospital instead in case of complications. One doctor may be well trained for attending a vaginal breech birth, where another may never have seen one before and will expect to perform a cesarean birth. However the baby is born, it is still your birth, and you get to work with your HCP to make the decisions. However, different hospitals can have different protocols about breech birth.
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Don't be shocked when you see your breech baby for the first time. Because his bottom came first and bore the brunt of the squeezing, he may have bruising on his buttocks or legs, or swollen genitals and/or the back of the head can be slightly flattened. These phenomena are absolutely not dangerous and will go away within a few days. Talk to your HCP if you have any questions or concerns. |
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 MotherIt's time now to slow down and enjoy yourself to the fullest! In some countries you have the opportunity to start maternity leave around now and you have the chance to spoil yourself. A midday nap is deliciously relaxing for all of your ligaments, your pelvis and your back. The best and most comfortable position to lie in is: on your side with a cushion against your back, one under your tummy and one between your legs. This is the nicest sleeping position at night also because lying on your tummy or back is not easy. Lying on your back is not so good because then the weight of your uterus presses on the major abdominal artery and the lower vein as a result of which your baby can get less blood supply. Your baby will let you know if you are reducing his blood supply by squirming, kicking, and generally letting you know you should move!
Braxton Hicks contractions and sometimes lower back pain are well known by most women. But when and how is this a sign that labor will begin? What is the difference between this and contractions? Most often, these are "pre-labor" contractions, working on softening and thinning your cervix, not bringing the baby down and out. But, if you notice a pattern to the contractions, if they are longer than 45 seconds to a minute, if they command your attention and you can't talk or move through them, and if they are getting closer and closer together, these are signs of early labor contractions. Although your baby is mostly ready to be born, his lungs are still underdeveloped and it would be better to let him "cook" inside for a while longer. Contact your health care provider (HCP) and go check and see if these are real labor contractions or if you are just overdoing it and need to rest. If the contractions are progressing, you may be offered medication to stop the contractions. In many cases, then, your HCP will suggest you go on "bed rest," where you need to lie around on the sofa and relax all day. Sure, that sounds great right now, but it gets boring really fast! But don't worry, on average a pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, who knows - maybe yours will even be 42 weeks!
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 In the shower or with orgasm, you may notice your nipples produce tiny droplets of clear or golden fluid. This new experience shows that your breasts are already producing the precious fluid known as colostrum.Colostrum is like liquid gold - it is full of all of the good things your baby needs to thrive, including extraordinarily high quantities of immunoglobulins which will protect him from disease.If your baby were born today, your breasts would produce exactly the right balance and quantity of colostrum he would need to thrive!It feels good to know that all the food you need for your baby is right there in your body. |
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 Brother / SisterDid you know that the baby in Mama's tummy has hair all over his body? Just like your teddy bear? That's crazy. There's not a bear in Mommy's belly, is there? Or maybe a doggie or something like that will come out? Everyone says it's a baby person, but baby people aren't all covered in fur... It's getting really exciting, though, because the baby can be born any day now, Mommy said. Mama is also really big. You can feel Mommy's tummy often and sometimes you see that there is a lump sticking out. Mommy says that's his little foot! If you want to grab it, it disappears inside again. That's a fun game. Mommy says that the baby can suck on his thumb and that he can hear what we're saying. Then you yell something at him but Mommy doesn't want you to yell too loud.The baby's room is ready, in fact the whole house is ready. Grandma and Grandpa also came over to help, because Mama has to rest a lot. That's when the baby grows best, the doctor said. You have to clean your room yourself, said Daddy, and pick up all the toys and other stuff off the floor. Mommy can't bend down and we sure don't want her to trip, and he said that we are big enough now to clean our own mess. Yesterday you were allowed to make your own pancakes with apple and Papa wasn't even angry when one fell on the floor. When the pancake stack was ready, you had to wake up Mommy and she looked really happy. "What big kids you are! Great, when the baby is born you can also help me around the house." "Or cuddle with him and tickle his fat belly," that is much more fun! |
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