Pregnancy Week by Week: Week 40

From WikiParenting

40 weeks pregnant

Welcome to week 40. Time to come out baby!

[edit] The Baby

Your baby is now his full height of between 18 and 22 inches and weighs about 7 ½ lbs. You’ve been counting down the days, he’s ready to come out but he might decide he prefers to stay put for now. Only 5% of babies are born on their due date, and 50% of babies take up to another two weeks to come. This is especially true if it is your first pregnancy.

A foetus at 40 weeks gestation

You might be a little surprised when your baby is born: most people’s ideas of a baby come straight from the Pampers adverts, but these are very rarely newborns. Newborn babies can be a little odd looking at times, though they will still look gorgeous to doting parents. When he is born your baby may:

• be covered in blood and cheesy looking vernix
• have a misshapen head from his passage through the birth canal
• have skin discolourations and/or rashes
• have dry or even wrinkled skin
• still have patches of lanugo hair
• have puffy, unfocussed eyes, or eyes that hardly open
• be entirely bald or have a complete head of hair
• have engorged genitals or what appear to be breasts

When your baby is born, your doctor or midwife will suction his mouth and nose to clear it of mucous and amniotic fluid, and you will hear the most beautiful sound you have ever heard: the first cry of your newborn baby. If you choose this, your baby can be placed directly on your stomach, though you should mention this if you want it to happen, otherwise he will be weighed and tested then handed to you. His umbilical cord will be cut, and he will be subjected to a series of screening tests, such as the Apgar score, which test his vital signs and responsiveness. If he needs any special care, this will be given. If you are breastfeeding you should be able to do this straight away, and you may in fact find that baby is already making his way there: newborns can sometimes crawl up towards the mother’s breast in search of nourishment.

Most newborns remain in the foetal position for a few days or weeks after they are born. After being cramped in utero, it probably feels strange and possibly a little uncomfortable to stretch out, and it is a while before they realise they can stretch out. For this reason many newborns love to be swaddled when they sleep as it reminds them of being in the uterus. You may find this is a good way of getting your newborn to sleep, especially in these early days.

[edit] The Mommy

By now you are probably very ready to have your baby. You’ve been waiting for what seems like forever, you feel enormous, everything aches, and to top it off you’re having to field calls from excited well-wishers wanting to know if baby has made his arrival yet. Phew. Try to relax and let nature take its course. If you go overdue by a week or more, your doctor may want to perform tests such as a non-stress test to monitor foetal heart rate and movement to make sure the baby is still receiving adequate oxygen from the placenta. This may result in you having to be induced, although you are not actually considered postdate until you are two weeks overdue.

Of course, if you are having a Caesarean Section, you have had the luxury of planning the date of your delivery and are now just counting down the days. This also allows many women to prepare mentally and emotionally for the delivery of their baby and to feel quite relaxed about the experience rather than worrying about when labour is about to begin. However, many women have to have an emergency Caesarean due to unforeseen circumstances and sometimes feel disappointed that they could not deliver vaginally. It is still possible for mothers who have had Caesareans to bond with their baby! The most important thing is that your newborn is here and that both of you are healthy; at the end of the day the method of delivery is quite irrelevant: if you go on holiday, does anyone care whether you drove there or got a train? Of course not.

[edit] The Daddy

Have you thought about whether you would like to cut your baby’s umbilical cord? Many new fathers enjoy this ritual, although the idea makes some nervous. Be assured there is nothing to be afraid of: you will not do it wrong and your baby will not be hurt. You may find that in the moment you are too overwhelmed to actually do it, but there’s no harm in trying!

[edit] For more information

Track your pregnancy week by week using the pregnancy calendar at our sister site, 3Dpregnancy.com. Take a look at how your baby develops from every perspective using their rotatable 3D images. Read all there is to know about every week of your amazing pregnancy, including info on your baby, you as the mother, the father and siblings! Click here: 3Dpregnancy.com to go!