39 weeks pregnant
Your baby is the size of a

39 Weeks Pregnant: Your Baby’s Development

Hormone helpers. Your baby’s endocrine system will secrete more stress hormones during birth than at any other time in life. Once he or she is out of the uterus, those hormones will help to manage his or her bodily systems without the help of your placenta. These tremendous changes demand lots of effort and energy, but your little one will be ready.

First baby breaths. Your baby's lungs continue to develop right up until birth. The lungs carry on manufacturing surfactant to keep the air sacs from sticking together when baby takes that first breath.

39 Weeks Pregnant: Your Symptoms

True or false. If you have contractions that are irregular and go away when you change position or walk around, you are probably experiencing false labour. However, false labour can turn into real labour in a matter of minutes. Time your contractions carefully. Once they're at regular intervals and occurring five minutes apart for at least an hour, call your doctor, midwife or nurse. If your water breaks, it’s go time!

The pain domain. You have many options when it comes to pain relief. Some take the edge off, while others aim to block as much discomfort as possible.

Did you know? Did you know that your blood circulating through the placenta shares your antibodies with the baby to help fight infections after birth? These antibodies are another benefit of baby staying in your uterus for as long as possible. And if you breastfeeding, your milk will provide additional antibodies.

39 Weeks Pregnant: Your Checklist

• Time any contractions carefully to make sure you're not in false labor

• Come up with your final baby name choices

• Talk to other moms about their happy birth experiences

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