33 weeks pregnant
The last few weeks can be decisive about the type of delivery. The baby begins to take the position it will have until the time of birth. You can turn and fit your head on your pubis, which favors normal delivery or sit, tending to a cesarean section.
Your body has been showing signs of tiredness and you are very anxious for the time of delivery, which can happen at any time, but it is better that the baby stay in the womb until at least the 37th week, to gain more weight and stay stronger.
It grows and you get that belly that almost everyone wants to caress. It is up to you to decide who can do this. As for you, do as many strokes as you want, since your baby feels it.
In this 33rd week, is the final stage of development continuing and how are you doing? Have you packed your maternity bag? Keep reading and learn more.
Baby development
Measuring 44 cm from head to toe and weighing about 2 kg, your baby starts to fight for space inside you with the uterus, lungs, stomach, diaphragm, bladder.
The immune system works, as does the kidney. In a kind of renewal system, he swallows amniotic fluid and expels like urine, about 500 ml a day.
This swallowing produces meconium, which must be expelled in the first evacuation after birth. If it occurs inside the uterus, a doctor’s intervention is required, probably in advance of delivery, to avoid problems such as Meconium Aspiration Syndrome.
It is believed that he goes into REM sleep, the deepest, and the movement of his eyes leads one to think that he dreams, but it is only a guess of researchers based on ultrasound images.
Did you know that so far, your baby’s brain has produced 100 million neurons, with 100 trillion connections? And it continues to develop until the age of 5.
What happens to mom
The baby is fighting for space with its organs, such as the lungs, which absorb 28% more oxygen than normal, the stomach, the diaphragm and the bladder. Shortness of breath, heartburn, abdominal bloating and more urge to urinate are the symptoms that all this fighting causes.
You also gain weight, about ½ kg to 1 kg per week. If you are taking care of your diet, this gain is responsible for the baby’s weight, among others.
It is complicated to sleep, any position is uncomfortable and anxiety about the time of delivery causes you to lose sleep. Your hours of sleep are beginning to suffer now.
The back aches with weight and the loosening of the joints by the hormone relaxin causes pain in the pelvis and coccyx, that bone that is at the end of the cervical spine.
Care that should be taken at this stage
Avoid excessive efforts. Don’t take heavy things and never self-medicate, always talk to your obstetrician about which medications and treatments are best for you.
A balanced diet continues to play an important role for a good pregnancy. As well as regular practice of lighter physical exercises, such as walking and water aerobics.
Stretch marks can appear, but are more attenuated if the body moisturizer is used frequently on legs, belly, butt, hips and breasts, avoiding the nipples.
The position of the fetus influences delivery
When the baby is not in a cephalic position, that is, with the head turned down, embedded in the pubis, it can be difficult at the time of delivery. The so-called pelvic position, or better known as sitting, the baby needs to be pulled by the legs and in the transverse position, in which it is crossed in the belly, the cesarean becomes necessary.
Choosing the way you want to have your baby is a private matter, which only your doctor and you should resolve, but if the procedure presents a risk, it is best to decide for the safest for both of you.
There are some exercises that influence the baby to turn in the head position, which were created by a New Zealand midwife, the so-called OFP, optimization of fetal positioning.
An example of this exercise is to stand on all fours and support your hands and knees and stay in this position for up to 10 minutes. The maternity ward where the midwife works says that the exercises reduced the use of forceps.