MONTH 9
Getting Ready for Birth and Beyond
Weeks 36 Through 40
Finally, you are weeks, maybe even days, away from delivery. Confetti, please! At Week 37, your baby is considered full term. So, you made it, mama! But we’ll wait for the big day to formally congratulate you. Just keep in mind, fewer than 5 percent of babies are born on their due date. By Week 36, your baby is the size of a large honeydew melon and weighs about 6 pounds. At delivery, your beautiful baby will be about 20 inches and weigh somewhere around 7.5 pounds. One gorgeous healthy pumpkin.
YOUR BABY’S DEVELOPMENT
• In Week 36, your baby’s senses are well developed. All of his or her body parts are sensitive to hot and cold, and to pressure.
• In Week 37, your baby continues to get ready to breathe by inhaling amniotic fluid.
• In Week 38, your baby’s organs and systems continue maturing while fat and muscles build.
• In Week 39, your baby is having a dress rehearsal. You should have your birth plan mapped out by now.
• In Week 40, it’s showtime! You’ll be meeting your beautiful baby soon.
CHANGES IN YOUR BODY
All the same symptoms as you may have experienced in Month 8, only more intense. Some moms will experience “lightening,” when the baby “drops” and breathing gets easier. You may feel increased fatigue or you may have more energy from nesting syndrome. Your baby is doing more squirming and less kicking because there’s less room. Your cervix is getting dilated. It’s weeks or days before your water breaks and the mucus plug falls out. Or not. Sometimes, this has to be induced.
IDEAL NUTRITION
Your nutrition focus is foods to enhance your baby’s brain and bone development, blood volume, immunity, and delivery. The following nutrients will help achieve this.
• B vitamins: cell division, brain formation, nervous system development
• Calcium: bones and teeth
• Copper: iron utilization
• Iron: maternal blood volume
• Magnesium: heart functioning, blood glucose regulation, blood pressure control
• Manganese: bone development, thyroid, blood glucose regulation, nervous system
• Omega-3s: brain and eye development
• Phosphorus: bone development
• Protein: supports fetal muscle growth
• Selenium: cell structure and immunity
• Vitamin A: cell formation, bones, teeth, central nervous system, vision
• Vitamin C: iron absorption and immunity, healthy gums and teeth
• Vitamin D: calcium absorption
• Vitamin E: cell structure and immunity
• Vitamin K: bone mineralization
• Zinc: cell structure, immunity, and wound healing
PROTEIN
Eggs
Meats
Nuts: almonds, cashews, pistachios, Brazil nuts, walnuts and nut butters
Pork
Poultry
Seafood (fish and shellfish): salmon (wild and Atlantic), tuna, mackerel, herring, sardines in oil, halibut, cod, catfish, canned oysters
Seeds: sunflower, pumpkin, chia, hemp seed, and flaxseed
Tahini
Tofu and tempeh
DAIRY
Cheese
Enriched plant-based milks (rice soy, and almond)
Fortified dairy milk
Fortified orange juice and other juices
Yogurt
GRAINS/LEGUMES
All-bran cereal and other fortified breakfast cereals
Beans: soy, black, navy, pinto, kidney, white, great northern, black-eyed, pink, cranberry, Lima, and cannellini
Chickpeas
Corn and flour tortillas
Cream of Wheat
Edamame
Folic acid–fortified products
Lentils
Oatmeal
Peanuts
Wheat germ
Whole grains: quinoa, barley, brown rice, bulgur, and whole wheat couscous
VEGETABLES
Artichokes
Asparagus
Avocados
Baked potato with skin on and all other potatoes
Beets
Broccoli and broccoli rabe
Brussels sprouts
Butternut squash
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Dark, leafy greens: kale, collards, mustard, Swiss chard, bok choy, and turnip greens
Hearts of palm
Mushrooms
Pumpkin
Red bell pepper
Romaine lettuce
Snow peas
Spinach
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes and tomato juice
FRUITS
Bananas
Cantaloupe
Citrus fruits and juices: oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemonade
Dried apricots and figs
Guava
Kiwi
Lychee
Mangoes
Papaya
Prune juice
Pineapple
Raspberries
Strawberries
FATS/OTHER
Brewer’s or nutritional yeast
Olive oil
Omega-3s
Molasses, blackstrap
Seaweed, kelp, spirulina