Baby’s Development
There is a 99% chance of survival should your baby be born this week. Although still accumulating fat stores, her organs and various systems are in working order and ready to function in the outside world. This week, her kidneys have completed their development and all her lungs need is a few gasps of air in order to be considered functional.
Although many babies have rotated by week thirty-five, the process down into the pelvis may take some time. When you go for your obstetrician appointment this week, she will probably check the baby’s station. These stations, ranging from +3 to -3, are used by doctors to describe where the baby is in relation to the birth canal and cervix. A +3 station indicates that his head is toward your cervix and a -3 station means his head is in the lower part of the birth canal. Determining your baby’s station helps doctors estimate how long you have until delivery.
Your uterus has expanded 1,000 times its original size and because of this, the skin is stretched quite thin. You may actually be able to make out the shape of your baby’s elbow, foot or backside as he moves about inside! Your thin skin also allows much more light into the uterus than previously. This will help to solidify your baby’s wake and sleep cycles for the next little while.
Your Body and Emotions
It’s time for you to develop a birth plan. Although nature often has her own ideas about when your baby will come and how, it’s a good idea to solidify your goals for your childbirth experience. Your birth plan has a great deal to do with your own personality. Some women want as many drugs as they can get and want to be monitored continually in hospital while others like the idea of a completely natural birth immersed in a pool in the middle of their living room. The choice is yours. Your birth is your experience and whatever makes you comfortable will make it that much easier to get through.
Who do you want in the delivery room with you? This is an important decision to make and those who are asked should consider it an honor. The people you invite should make you feel comfortable and accepted. You don’t know how you’re going to act when active labor starts and you don’t want to spend any time concerned that your delivery room support will be snickering at you, or even worse, deeply offended by your behavior. Choose people you trust such as your partner, a close friend or family members. Once they have been with you for this ground-breaking moment, they will never forget and the bond you have with them will last forever.
Remember that your birth plan should always be flexible. If you decide after extensive research that drugs are not for you, don’t be shocked or disappointed with yourself if you’re begging for an epidural. You may also find that you ask for drugs but decide at the last minute you don’t want them. Perhaps you are counting on a vaginal birth but need an emergency C-section? How will your hopes for your birth be affected in that case? Your experience should be a positive one and although making a birth plan is a good way to feel in control, don’t let it dictate whether you consider your delivery to be a success or not.
Dad’s Tips
Restless legs, aching hips, restless baby and Braxton Hicks…chances are your partner is getting little if any sleep. Ironically, this is when she needs it most, as she is most likely both physically and mentally exhausted from the strains of the third trimester. Try to help her out as much as you can by being flexible with sleep arrangements. If she is more comfortable with the bed to herself, let her have it. If she wants to stay up all night and surf the net or watch TV, don’t complain. She is in survival mode at this point and needs to grab every minute of sleep she can. You may want to consider easing her insomnia by offering a relaxing massage before sleep. If she’s not the massaging type, sometimes having a heart to heart can help to relieve a lot of the stress from pent up emotions she may be experiencing. Sometimes when nothing else works, there’s nothing like romance to cure sleeplessness. If she’s willing, enjoy pleasing each other until any thoughts or worries have disappeared. When it comes to this cure, it’s really a win-win situation.
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