Baby Development
The Week 32 edition:
If your baby were to be born right now, it’d do fine in the real world considering all the organs have been formed! The lungs however, are still developing. The toenails and fingernails have been formed. You can see a tuft of hair on your baby. It has started storing phosphorus, iron and calcium. Your baby is about the size of a pineapple. and weighs 1.7 kg and is 42.5 cm from crown to rump.
Here is a well-rounded list of everything your baby is up to this week-
- The baby’s skin is changing. It is not wrinkly and red as it was before. The transparency also wears off and the skin is starting to look opaque.
- Toenails and fingernails have started to form along with real hair. The downy hair is gone.
- Your baby is kicking a lot! It is sucking, swallowing amongst the other things!
- It inhales amniotic fluid to strengthen the lungs.
- Your baby is putting on weight! It is getting plumper by the weeks to come!
Mother
Track your growth, at Week 32.
Fatigue comes easily during the final weeks of pregnancy. You may feel pain around your lower abdomen region and your lower back. The Braxton Hicks contractions continue to pry into your day-to-day functioning. You may or may not feel them. Have you been reading up on baby care, if not, do so. The baby is on its way! Please drink plenty of water. Moisturise yourself well. Do write down your pregnancy dreams. Snack away this phase!
Here is the list of changes in your body this week.
- Round ligament pain in your lower abdomen could be back. Sitting on a gym ball can help.
- You may feel the same in your lower back.
- The Braxton Hicks contractions may have persisted for a while now. It is predominantly the tightening of the uterus and it may hurt.
- Your breasts may feel leaky. They may secrete a yellow substance called colostrum. If they do, you can collect it. If they don’t, that’s normal too, your baby will get colostrum after birth.
- If you wake up at night, pop a snack in your mouth on your way back from the bathroom. Nighttime snacks can help you stay sated.
- Use ice packs or cold grated potato packs to cure haemorrhoids, the swollen veins in your rectum region.
- If your leg is cramping, you will be needing more iron in your diet. Salivate on organ meats and bone broth perhaps!
