Mom’s Tip of the Week 34
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Your baby’s outgrowing her living space. By the time you’re 34 weeks pregnant, she’s running out of room and will take anything she can get, which sometimes means she’ll be snuggled under your rib cage with her feet extended out. If her positioning is making you uncomfortable, try switching your body position, doing some pelvic tilts, or lightly massaging the achy area to encourage your baby into a less bothersome pose.
Your Baby at 34 Weeks Pregnant
What’s Happening in There
- Your baby at 34 weeks weighs about 5 pounds and measures 20 inches from head to toe.
- Your baby’s reproductive system is maturing. If you’re carrying a boy, his testicles are now traveling down from his abdomen to their final position in the scrotum. Only about 4 percent of boys have undescended testicles at birth. In half of those babies, the testicles descend within the first six months after birth.
- Her fingernails are almost ready for a trim. At 34 weeks pregnant, your little one’s fingernails continue to grow and are almost at the end of her fingers. She may even be born with a scratch on her face or leg from those long nails.
- She’s ramping up skin protection. The fuzzy lanugo that was covering your baby during previous weeks is almost completely gone by the time you’ve reached 34 weeks pregnant. However, the vernix coating (a waxy barrier that’s covering her skin for protection) is getting thicker, which is good since it’s preventing scraping and chafing.
- She’s making your belly move! With less amniotic fluid—and less room—in your uterus, you’ll likely begin to see some of your baby’s body parts pushing out past the curve of your belly. Can you guess what that bump might be?
Baby Brain Waves
Your Baby’s Brain Is Developing
Your nervous system needs sleep in order to function—and so does your baby’s. It’s a good thing that she’s settling into a better sleep schedule these days, as her brain continues to make new and complex connections. What’s helping matters even more: She is able to get some shut-eye literally, by closing her eyelids when snoozing and opening them when awake.
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