33 Weeks!! 49 days to go!

Your Pregnancy: Week 33

You're large, but you most definitely don't feel in charge, since the baby seems to be completely taking over your body. Up several times a night to go to the bathroom? It's all just practice for getting up in the wee hours for feedings, changings and general fussiness. The one difference: Cuddling that babe in your arms for a feeding is way better than heaving yourself to the bathroom for the sixth time—in the dark.  

What You're Thinking: "Isn't there anywhere you could stand besides on my bladder, baby?"

Your Baby

The big news this week is lung development—baby's respiratory system is almost completely mature. That means if your baby was born this week, odds are he'd be a healthy bouncing baby with a just a little help from his friends (aka, the NICU). Some of the specifics are:

• Your baby can now detect light and tell the difference between night and day (of course that ability will miraculously disappear once he's born and up all night screaming). His pupils will constrict and dilate in response to light. If you shine a flashlight on your belly, your baby may shy away from the light as if to say, "Cut it out, Ma. You're soooo annoying."
  
• The bones in your baby's skull are soft and are not yet fused together. In other words, now is not the time to teach him how to do a headspin while breakdancing. This pliability allows the bones to overlap; making that trip down the tight birth canal possible (and resulting in that surprising cone head look your baby may sport for the first few days post-birth. Don't worry, it's totally normal and that's what hats are for.)
  
• Your baby will continue to pack on the pounds gaining around 1/2 pound a week from here on out.
  
• Your baby weighs about 4 1/2 pounds, as much as a grownup duck, and is approximately 17.5 inches long, about the same as a collarbone-length pearl necklace.

49 DAYS TO GO