36 Weeks!!!

Your baby is still gaining weight
-- about an ounce/ 28 grams a day. She weighs nearly 6 pounds/ 2.7 kilograms and
is 19 inches/ 45 centimetres long from head to toe.

You may begin to feel an increased
pressure in your lower abdomen and notice that your baby is gradually dropping.
This is called lightening or engagement, and your lungs and stomach will finally
get a chance to stretch out a little -- breathing and eating should become
easier. However, walking may become increasingly uncomfortable -- some women say
it feels as if the baby is going to fall out. Also, you may still feel as if you
need to go to the loo all the time. Stock up on those last minute nutrients with
our eating well guide.

The good news is that by the end of
this week, your pregnancy will be full-term and you could give birth any day
now. (Babies between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term -- a baby born
before 37 weeks is premature and after 42 is post-term.) At your weekly visit,
your doctor or midwife may check to see if you've started dilating (when the
cervix opens) and effacing (when the cervix thins). The doctor or midwife will
also check what position the baby is in, in order to estimate how far the baby
has dropped into the pelvis. This information will be entered into your
maternity notes so that your midwife in hospital will know the position of the
baby when you go into labour.