Pregnancy Week 39
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Pregnancy Week 39
Pregnancy Week 39: More on Delivery
By pregnancy week 39 your baby should be fully formed. You are probably anxiously awaiting the arrival of your baby. You probably have a packed bag, have the names and numbers of people you want to call when your baby is born, and have a phone with you at all times in case of an emergency, right? During 39 weeks pregnant you may decide to stop working if you are working to take some time to enjoy the final week or two of your pregnancy. Be sure you get some rest as you can, because once you deliver your baby you will spend many sleepless nights caring for and feeding your infant. Apgar Evaluations for Babies After delivery, most healthcare providers perform an Apgar test. This test allows your doctor or your baby's pediatrician to assess how well your baby tolerated labor and delivery. Typically a doctor or nurse performs this test a few minutes following birth. Some things your healthcare provider will look for include:
Most babies do just fine. If your baby has a low score your healthcare team will keep a close eye on him or her for a few hours to make sure nothing is wrong with your newborn baby. A high score usually ranges from 8 to 10, suggesting your baby is in good health and may remain with you in most cases if you like. Your Body during Late PregnancyFrom pregnancy week 38 to pregnancy week 40, most women's bellies do not get much larger. Most women think their bellies actually look smaller because their baby drops into their pelvis. You may start to retain some water during the final weeks of pregnancy, although your weight will usually remain relatively constant. To keep your mind off of waiting during pregnancy week 38, you can have your partner install the base of your newborn baby's car seat for you. You will not be able to leave the hospital unless you have a certified infant car seat to place your baby in after labor and delivery. Newborn babies must ride in an infant carrier or a car seat that faces the back of the car until they are about one year or 20 to 25 pounds. This protects your baby from injury in the event of an accident. The safest place to put your car seat is in the middle of the backseat of your car. If you are not sure how to place your car seat, you can go to a local fire station. Most offer frequent car seat checks free, to ensure you install your car seat safely and correctly. If you do deliver your baby while 38 weeks pregnant, you will need someone to carry your baby and infant carrier for you for a few days while you recover from pregnancy. This is especially true if you have had a cesarean section, in which case you may be restricted from carrying anything over 10 pounds for a designated time. Emotional Moms As you get closer to your due date during pregnancy week 39, you may start feeling mixed emotions. Part of you feels elated at the prospect of meeting your new baby. Part of you may feel fear caused by a fear of labor and delivery, or a fear that you will not know how to care for your newborn baby. Rest assured, for centuries women have delivered babies and raised them with or without instruction with much success. Despite your thoughts, most mothers have a natural instinct when it comes to raising babies. Your instinct will start to kick in when you meet your baby if it hasn't already. During pregnancy week 39, you may also feel impatient and ready to have labor come and go. Surprisingly, you will probably find the people around you just as anxious for you to deliver. Many new moms find during pregnancy weeks 39 and pregnancy week 40 people bombard them with nonstop phone calls. Everyone wants to know if you've had your baby. To protect yourself from the onslaught of phone calls, you can simply tell people you will call THEM when you have your baby and are comfortably situated. You can then turn off your phone if you continue to receive phone calls. Remember, you are in charge of your life, and your job during pregnancy week 39 is to rest and relax, not pick up the phone and answer a million inquiries. The same is true of visitations. Once you deliver your baby, you and your baby will need some quality one-on-one time together. You can ask the nurse to limit the hours you will take visitors if you have trouble telling people "no" when you need to rest. When it comes to household visits from friends and family, you can always contact family members and let them know when good times are to visit. During other times, you can hang a sign on your door that tells people you and your baby are sleeping. This will usually help discourage people from visiting during times that are not ideal for you or your baby.
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