Week 34

The top of your womb is about 14.5 centimetres from your belly button this week. You can probably balance a cup on top of it when you are sitting down, which makes it handy if you are at a party. You are likely to compare your shape and how you are carrying with other pregnant women. Remember that every pregnancy is different and no two women are exactly the same. Your baby is a unique blend of your own and your partner’s DNA and how your body supports your baby is also unique.

You could be feeling short of breath in week 34. Your lungs and diaphragm are being compressed and the baby is sitting high in your belly. It still hasn’t “dropped” into your pelvis which means it’s getting very cramped in your upper mid-section. You may find it more comfortable to sleep propped up on a couple of pillows. Remember to sit upright with your shoulders back, this does make a difference.

More heartburn, acid reflux and indigestion this week. Aim to have 6-7 small meals each day rather than big, infrequent ones. You’re probably not feeling as hungry as you were and are satisfied with smaller portions anyway. Try not to limit the tastes and flavours of the food you are eating. Your baby will pick up the different tastes through the amniotic fluid and this will help them be more willing to try different foods once they are old enough for solids.

This week when you have your antenatal checks, your baby is probably lying with its head down. This is known officially as a cephalic presentation (cephalic means head). Don’t worry if your baby is lying sideways or even head up now, especially if you have had a baby before. There is still time for baby to move into the correct position before you are due to deliver.

Your legs could be showing evidence of varicose veins in week 34. If your mother had them or there is a family history, you are more likely to experience them as well. Aim to sit when you can and elevate your feet and legs. Help your legs in whatever way you can to return the blood supply back up to your trunk. Some women swear by supportive stockings and find that if they put them on first thing in the morning, they are most beneficial. Watch your weight gain. It won’t help if your major blood vessels are being compressed by too much surrounding fat.

You are hot and even when everyone else is cold your internal temperature is at least a couple of degrees higher. If you place your hand just above the skin on your tummy now, you’ll feel a radiant heat coming off your body.

Even though your partner may find you and your body almost irresistible, the last thing on your mind is a little bedroom bonding. Just the thought of getting up close and exerting more energy in having sex may completely turn you off. Let him down gently by telling him you’re not interested. He’s bound to understand. After all, it is his baby too that you are working so hard on maturing.

If indigestion isn’t eating away at your stomach, excitement probably is. In around 6 weeks, you will be seeing your baby and holding it in your arms. There will be times when you feel as if you can hardly wait, the time of your baby’s birth still seems a lifetime away. Other times, it will feel as if your pregnancy has gone too fast and you’ll have a sense that you need to treasure it as a special time.

At 34 weeks pregnant, you could worry that there may be something wrong with your baby that hasn’t been detected yet. You may wonder how you and your partner will cope if there is a problem and how this will impact on your life. Many women become very superstitious at this stage of their pregnancy and see “signs”, which they interpret as being proof that there is something wrong. Dreams, seeing someone with a physical or intellectual impairment, or hearing of other new parents who’ve had a baby with problems, can all cause great concern. Speak with your midwife or doctor if you are worried.

Looking at the calendar and counting down the weeks could come as a shock to you. Try not to leave everything until the last minute. Babies have a tendency to come when they are ready, leaving their parents rushing about in a mad panic to get jobs done.

If your baby is a boy, his testicles will be migrating their way down from his abdomen and into his scrotum. Some boys will have undescended testicles at birth, though they usually descend within the first year. If you have a boy, your pregnancy hormones will cause his scrotum to be swollen at birth. Similarly, if you have a baby girl, her vulva will appear puffy and swollen as well. Both of these changes settle down in the first few weeks after birth.

Your baby is opening and closing their eyes easily by now, blinking and screwing them up to practice on how to focus. When strong light filters through your abdominal wall your baby may pull away, closing its eyes. Baby’s pupils may contract to limit the amount of light entering the eye.

The vernix caseosa that has been covering your baby’s skin is still protecting it at week 34. However, the lanugo – the soft, downy hair covering baby’s skin – is starting to disappear this week. If your baby is born now this will be one of the things you really notice, especially across your baby’s back, shoulders and even on their little ears.

More cortisol is being produced this week, by the specialist glands sitting on the top of your baby’s kidneys. Somehow those adrenal glands just know that they need to communicate with the lungs to produce the all important surfactant. In most respects, other than their lungs, your baby could manage almost independently if they were born now.

Have a weekend away. A “Babymoon” is a great chance to spend some quality time with your partner and focus on what is important. Take your camera and make sure you get some photos of your pregnant belly. You may not be feeling too attractive now but there will come a time when you look back on them and take pleasure in how you looked.

Don’t be in too much of a hurry. Your centre of balance is changing and it is common for pregnant women to fall over. You won’t be able to see the ground as clearly because your tummy is getting in the way, so take your time and tread carefully.

Make plans for finishing work if you haven’t already. Be realistic about what you can finalise and what you need to delegate to others. You want to be able to walk away from your work with a firm and clear attitude that your work is done and it is time for another, vastly important phase in your life.