All About the Third Trimester

Our guide to the exciting last third of pregnancy

BY Laurie Tarkan

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Diary Of A Third Trimester

Writer Lu Hanessian talks about the final weeks of her pregnancy.
Week 29 Wash and fold baby clothes. Coo uncontrollably.
Week 32 Exercise to big-band music. Baby does drum solo.
Week 34 Study book of 10,000 baby names. Discover that Cameron means “crooked nose.”
Week 36 Baby’s head is “zero station” (right at the cervix). OB predicts early delivery. Pack hospital bag, stash in car trunk. Install infant car seat.
Week 37 One centimeter dilated! Prepare lasagna.
Week 38 Two centimeters dilated, 70 percent effaced! Could go tonight … then again, maybe tomorrow. Clean spice rack.
Week 40 Four centimeters dilated, 100 percent effaced. Clean windows.
One day past due date Now entering fourth trimester. Feel 11 months pregnant.
Three days later Answer 14 phone calls that begin, “You’re still there?!” Scrub top of fridge.
Six days later OB wants to induce. Walk around like penguin in heat. Girlfriend Della says shepherd’s pie brought on her labor. Eat shepherd’s pie.
Eight days later Water breaks. Five hours later, Benjamin Stephen is born. Three-year-old Nicholas meets his new brother. “Shhhh!” he whispers. “Baby brother is sleeping! Let’s go to Ben & Jerry’s!”


Growth-And-Development Timeline

Weeks 29–31

•  Fetus is 14 inches long and weighs 2–21/2 pounds.
  
•  Protective lanugo (body hair) disappears; head hair thickens.
  
•  Skin smoothes out.
•  Eyelids separate.
  
•  Legs curl up in fetal position.
  
•  Fetus begins hiccuping.
  

Weeks 32–34

•  Fetus is 15 inches long and weighs 3 pounds.
  
•  Fetus assumes head-down position.
  
•  Eyes are open when awake and closed when sleeping.
  
•  Fetus can scratch itself with fingernails.
  
•  Movement decreases as space shrinks.
  
•  Lungs are still developing (other organs are almost fully mature). 

Weeks 35–40

•  At 36 weeks, fetus is 18 inches long and weighs 4 pounds. At 40 weeks, it is 20 inches and 6–9 pounds.
  
•  Dimples at elbows and knees appear; creases form around wrists and neck.
  
•  Fetus turns toward light.
  
•  Vernix, a waxy coating, disappears (some may remain until birth).
  
•  Skin thickens and becomes whitish or bluish-pink.
  
•  Head drops down into mother’s pelvis.

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