Heinz - Tinytums

Third Trimester

You have now arrived at the final stage of your pregnancy.  Below we take you through these last all important months.

Month seven
Weeks 27-28
Your baby finally has their eyes open and they are blue as the irises don't acquire their final colour until after birth. The nostrils are now open and your baby is increasingly practising chest movements in readiness for breathing air as soon as they are born.

By week 28, your baby is approximately 25cm long and weighs about 1.1kg.

Weeks 29-30
There have been major developments in your baby’s brain and they can now feel pain.  Sense of taste is fully developed but lungs are not yet mature and could not function outside of the womb.
By week 30, your baby is approximately 27cm long and weighs about 1.4kg.

Month eight
Weeks 31-32
Your baby may move most often in weeks 31-33 because they are now strong but still have room in your womb to move around. Your baby is fully formed with the head now in proportion to the body, and they are acquiring a temporary immune system from you.

By week 32, your baby is approximately 29cm long and weighs about 1.8kg.

Weeks 33-34
Your baby’s eyes now open when awake and close when asleep.  99% of babies born now could survive outside the womb.

By week 34, your baby is approximately 32cm long and weighs about 2.25kg.

Weeks 35-36
Your baby’s liver and kidneys are now fully developed and processing waste.  With limited space to move your baby may wriggle less and kick more.  Space will soon become even tighter as your baby will gain about 28g (1oz) every day from now on.

By week 36, your baby is approximately 33cm long and weighs about 2.7kg.

Month nine
Weeks 37-38
This week, later if this is not your first baby, the baby's head should engage - move down into your pelvis into the birth-ready position ('lightening').

It is normal for babies to arrive any time from now onwards as they are fully mature, plump, and their nails have reached their fingertips and are often quite sharp (some even scratch themselves in the womb).

By week 38, your baby is approximately 35cm long and weighs about 3.1kg.

Weeks 39-40
By now your baby will have shed most of the downy hair which has covered their body during their time in the womb.  They will also have lost most of the greasy protective coating on their skin (called vernix).  Any remaining vernix will help lubricate your baby’s passage through the birth canal during labour.  If this is not your first baby, then the head may engage now.
 
By week 40, your baby is approximately 50cm long and weighs about 3.5kg but there is wide variation.

Weeks 40-42
Overdue babies may arrive looking thinner than the typical chubby newborn baby, with baggier skin, reddish skin colour, longer hair and nails, and peeling skin.

This is quite normal and is due to the ageing placenta becoming unable to give your baby all the nutrients they need after 40 weeks so your baby begins to lose fat and the skin goes baggy.  The skin also begins to dry out as its greasy protective coating is lost.