MY BLOG

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Your third trimester lasts from month 7 through month 9 of pregnancy.

The third trimester begins in week 28 of pregnancy and lasts until you give birth, which may be around week 40 of pregnancy. During this trimester, your baby grows, develops, and starts to change position to get ready for birth. About 30 percent of all babies linger past the 40-week mark. If that’s the case, you can try a few tricks to naturally induce labor on your own, but once you reach week 42 of pregnancy, you’ll be officially considered overdue, at which point your doctor will induce labor if it doesn’t begin on its own.

Baby’s growth during the third trimester:

• Digestive system: In the final weeks of pregnancy, meconium — or baby’s first poop, consisting mostly of blood cells, vernix and lanugo — starts to build up in baby’s intestines.

• Brain: In the third trimester your baby’s brain will grow faster than ever, test-driving some nifty skills including blinking, dreaming and regulating his own body temperature.

• Five senses: Your baby’s touch receptors will be fully developed around week 29 or week 30. By week 31 of pregnancy, your baby will get signals from all five senses.

• Bones: As your baby transforms cartilage to bone in months 7 and 8, baby will be getting all of her calcium from you.

• Skin: By week 32 of pregnancy, baby’s formerly see-through skin will become opaque.

Around week 34 of pregnancy, baby’s body turns southward, settling into a heads-down, bottom-up position unless your baby remains stubbornly in the breech position. In which case your doctor will likely attempt to manually turn baby around week 37.

If you haven’t already had them, the following may be offered:

• flu (influenza) vaccination

• gestational diabetes checkstrep

• cough (pertussis) vaccination

• (streptococcal) B checkwhooping

Real signs of labor:

• Labor contractions

• Your water breaking

• Bloody show

• Lightening