Week 34

Your Body

Make sure you are familiar with hospital parking and how to check in. Check if you can fill out some preadmission forms a few weeks beforehand. Call your health insurance provider to find out what costs will be covered like private rooms. Also will you be charged extra to use the hospital room phone or TV? Let your health insurance plan know that you will be adding a new family member soon. Make sure you call soon after birth. Bring the name and contact information of your paediatrician. They may want to visit you before you leave the hospital.

Fatigue is a common complaint of late pregnancy. Difficulty sleeping, aches and pains, weight gain, and anxiety about labour, delivery, and taking care of a new-born may contribute to your exhaustion. Rest as much as you can and take naps if possible.

You’ve probably felt some Braxton Hicks contractions for the past several weeks but they may intensify now. They are usually painless and non-rhythmical. These are preparing your body for the real thing.
If you haven’t already, it’s time to start the selection process for a paediatrician.

Your Baby’s Development

Baby is now awake with eyes open and asleep with eyes closed. Blinking is normal and the fingernails reach the end of the finger tips. Baby is most likely in a head-down birthing position now. You are transferring antibodies to baby this week. Baby’s muscles continue to strengthen and the head can be held up and moved from side to side now.

Maternal calcium intake is extremely important during pregnancy because the baby will draw calcium from the mother to make and harden bone. If a pregnant woman doesn’t get enough calcium during pregnancy, it can affect her own bones because the developing foetus will take minerals from the mother’s skeletal structure as needed.

The vernix coating on the baby’s skin is becoming thicker, whereas lanugo hair is almost completely gone.

By now most babies will be in position for delivery. Your health care provider can tell you if your baby is positioned head- or bottom-first. Babies born at 34 weeks usually have fairly well-developed lungs, and their average size of 5 pounds (2,250 grams) and 12.6 inches (32 cm) from crown to rump allows them to survive outside the womb without extensive medical intervention.

S/he is developing immunities to fight mild infection. Those sharp little fingernails are at the ends of the fingertips already, and you might need to clip them during the first few days after birth. Baby is 17.7 inches (45 cm) long and weighs 4.7 pounds (2146 grams).