You are now
- Week 1
- Week 2
- Week 3
- Week 4
- Week 5
- Week 6
- Week 7
- Week 8
- Week 9
- Week 10
- Week 11
- Week 12
- Week 13
- Week 14
- Week 15
- Week 16
- Week 17
- Week 18
- Week 19
- Week 20
- Week 21
- Week 22
- Week 23
- Week 24
- Week 25
- Week 26
- Week 27
- Week 28
- Week 29
- Week 30
- Week 31
- Week 32
- Week 33
- Week 34
- Week 35
- Week 36
- Week 37
- Week 38
- Week 39
- Week 40
Days 246 to 252
- Your baby
Your baby is continuing to gain weight and will soon take up most of the space in your womb. Babies born at week 36 are usually small, but generally healthy, so try not to worry if you do go into labour early.
See how your baby grows in our week by week image gallery.
Had Braxton-Hicks yet? These are 'practice' contractions - not labour. Braxton Hicks differ from labour because they're not usually painful (thankfully) and don't get longer and more intense over time. You'll know when ou're in labour because your contractions will become painful and happen at regular and increasingly shorter intervals, becoming longer and stronger in intensity. One way you can prepare for the actual birth is to help your perineum stretch by massaging oil into it daily - vitamin E oil, baby oil or even vegetable oil are all fine. Oops... bothered by a little leaking wee? Stress incontinence is common in pregnancy. Pelvic floor exercises will help.
Pregnancy facts: it's not just your baby who's grown these past eight months - your womb has too. Before pregnancy it weighed 40 grams, (about one and a quarter ounces) and now it's a whopping 800 grams (or about two pounds).
Disclaimer
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