Welcome to calendar week 36 of pregnancy — officially the commencement of month 9.

Your shortly-to-be infant is eavesdropping more these days, thanks to a newly precipitous sense of hearing, and he may likewise be possibly dropping lower into your pelvis.

This final month may bring extra joint flexibility (and less ideally, pelvic hurting) as loosening and softening hormones kick in ahead of labor.

Your Babe at Week 36

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Talk about a growth spurt! Your baby has gone from the size of a sesame seed to a six-pound, 20-incher in most 6 months fourth dimension! That incredible charge per unit of growth slows now for 2 important reasons. Offset, your little i is storing up the energy reserves he'll demand to get through labor and enter the world. Plus, if his torso got much bigger, he'd accept a really tough time fitting through the narrow alley of your birth culvert...a tight squeeze no matter what.

Speaking of that journeying, it's a good affair for both of yous that his bones are nonetheless flexible, enabling a gentler ride to the big meet and greet. Leading the fashion is his nifty noggin, featuring ingenious floating skull plates that overlap to allow the caput to compress on the way out. When your little one emerges, you'll notice a soft rectangular area on the top of his cute little head. This soft spot — or anterior fontanel — is where your baby'south skulls bones haven't notwithstanding fused. They'll shut by the time he turns 18 months.

Final touches are making your baby ready for prime number time. Blood circulation has been fine-tuned and the immune organisation is set up to practice battle with germs outside the womb. Later on birth your little fighter will keep to reap the benefits of your antibodies thank to your colostrum and breast milk. And speaking of that breast milk, baby's digestive organisation is fix to accept liquid nutrient — theoretically — since your little one notwithstanding gets all his nutrition (and oxygen) from the placenta.

At a Glance

And then cute!

Your infant looks more like an baby this week, with chubby little legs and pink-tinted skin — even in babies of colour considering of the blood vessels merely beneath the surface.

Bionic hearing

Your baby's ears are extra sharp during these last few weeks. Studies show she may even recognize your voice and favorite songs after nascence.

Baby may drop

If this is your outset nascence, your infant may drib lower into your pelvis this week in what is called "lightening" or "dropping."

36 weeks meaning is how many months?

If you're 36 weeks pregnant, you're in month 9 of your pregnancy. Merely a few weeks left to go! Still accept questions? Here's some more than information on how weeks, months and trimesters are cleaved downward in pregnancy.

How big is my babe at 36 weeks?

Forget your aching back — and everything else! — by trying to focus on your baby, who is now nigh 6 pounds and eighteen to 19 inches long.

Growth will tedious down in the coming weeks, both and so your baby will exist able to fit through the narrow passageway to the outside so she can store upwardly all the free energy needed for delivery.

Fetal skull and bones

When you're 36 weeks meaning, your baby'southward skull bones are not fused together however and then the head can easily (well, relatively easily) maneuver through the birth canal.

Your babe's skull isn't the merely soft structure in her picayune trunk. Most of her basic and cartilage are quite soft likewise, allowing for an easier journey into the world during delivery. But don't worry — they'll harden over the first few years of her life.

Babe's digestion withal needs to catch upwards

By now, many of your baby'southward systems are pretty mature, at least in babe terms, and merely about ready for life on the outside. Blood circulation, for instance, has been perfected and your baby's allowed system has developed enough to protect your little ane from infections outside the womb.

Others, still, nonetheless need a few finishing touches. Once such notable example: digestion — which really won't exist fully mature until erstwhile after nativity.

Why? Inside her little gestational cocoon, your infant has relied on the umbilical cord for nutrition, meaning that the digestive system, though adult, hasn't been operational. It will have the beginning year or ii to bring it up to speed.

Your Torso at Week 36

baby size at 36 weeks pregnant

Pregnancy walk or waddle

Welcome to your final calendar month of pregnancy! It's a good thing your baby's almost done cooking since your body may experience pretty "done" by at present too.

For ane thing, by 36 weeks pregnant, you're doing the penguin waddle many third trimester momshoped-for adopt. That new walk is not in your imagination; information technology's in your connective tissue, which those hormones are loosening and softening.

And that's particularly important at present that y'all're nearing your due engagement. Your baby — who's grown quite big by this point — needs to fit through your pelvic bones, so information technology's adept that they're more flexible at this stage. It's your body's mode of getting ready to squeeze a big infant out of a small space.

Pelvic pain

The downside to all this joint flexibility, too the resemblance you now bear to your feathered friends, is pelvic pain. Add the force per unit area from your babe'due south head burrowing deeper and deeper into your pelvis and your heavier uterus weighing you down, and it's no wonder it's a pain to walk around these days.

To salvage the discomfort, relax with your hips elevated, do some pelvic exercises, take warm baths, apply warm compresses, get a prenatal massage from a certified therapist or attempt some complementary and alternative therapies. A belly sling may be helpful as well.

Babe drops ("lightening")

At that place is a happy effect, believe it or non. Every bit your babe drops into your pelvic cavity — and continue in heed that not all babies drop earlier labor begins — the upwards force per unit area of the uterus on your diaphragm is relieved.

One time this "lightening," as it'south known in the pregnancy business, strikes, you'll be able to take bigger and deeper breaths. Your tum also won't be so squished anymore, making eating a full repast more comfortable.

Pregnancy Symptoms Week 36

Changes in fetal motion

As your babe'south quarters get more cramped and she has less room to maneuver, await fetal movements to alter also. Yous should nonetheless feel baby moving, simply in that location will be less jabbing and kick and a lot more squirming. Read More than

Heartburn or indigestion

As your stomach gets pushed up and squeezed past your uterus, you may feel like eating less at mealtimes. That's not necessarily bad news. Smaller meals are better for your digestive arrangement and may actually command heartburn. Read More

Bloating and gas

As if heartburn weren't enough, you're probably passing gas and burping like a frat boy. This besides shall pass (pun intended). In the concurrently, become for smaller meals, which will help the heartburn, and effort not to blitz while eating, which will only cause you to swallow more air. Read More

Constipation

If it'southward getting worse, blame your belly again — a convenient scapegoat! The aforementioned mini-meals that will help ease heartburn and flatulence are besides a expert way to annul constipation — and for the same reason: They won't tax your digestive tract every bit much. Read More

More frequent urination

Your baby might have dropped into your pelvis by at present, crowding your bladder. So it's no wonder you're going to the bathroom as much as you did during your beginning two months of pregnancy. But don't cutting dorsum on liquids — your body needs fluids to stay hydrated at present more than ever. Read More

Vaginal discharge streaked with blood

The discharge from your vagina may exist increasing and getting thinner. Don't be shocked if you discover the mucous is pink, red or brownish later you've had sex or a vaginal examination. That just means that your cervix, which is sensitive at present and may be starting to amplify, has been bruised. Read More

Itchy abdomen

Your belly might feel as if it'south stretched to the breaking indicate past now. Creams containing cocoa butter or vitamin E tin soothe that itchy abdomen and bring some relief. Ameliorate all the same, get your partner to rub information technology on your belly and do some bonding with the baby underneath! Read More than

Edema (swelling in feet and ankles)

Edema (pregnancy swelling) may be getting more noticeable at present as your body retains more fluids. So not only will your ankles and feet be bloated, but your face, easily and fingers may be besides. Go on drinking h2o and other liquids. All those fluids will aid rid your system of excess sodium and other waste products, which will minimize swelling. Read More

Insomnia

Sleep may be more elusive than ever as you toss this style and that looking for the perfect position. Make sure your room isn't besides stuffy — you're certain to feel overheated as the night wears on — past opening a window or lowering the thermostat. Read More

Nesting instinct

It'south normal to be tired by the time you hit week 36. Merely y'all may also get the burst of actress energy known as the nesting instinct — a demand to become organized and prepare for the infant. If you practise feel energized, take breaks to rest and eat. Read More

Tips for You This Week

Note movement changes

Don't exist alarmed if your baby's movements have changed from sharp kicks or jabs to squirms. Your cutie has less room for calisthenics now.

Y'all should yet proceed track of your baby's movements every day, though, so if you're worried, try sipping a sugary beverage or eating a snack and so see if your babe perks upwards. Be sure to call your medico if there'southward a alter in fetal movement frequency or an unusual change in the blueprint of infant's movements.

Learn about your fungus plug

Be prepared to lose your mucus plug, which will look like thick, xanthous discharge tinged with blood. It can happen weeks, days or hours before labor begins.

There's no demand for concern if your fungus plug dislodges well before your due engagement — information technology could still be a few weeks before labor actually starts.

And your baby is withal rubber fifty-fifty after yous're unplugged. In fact, your body continues to brand cervical mucus to prevent infection, which means baby'southward still snugly sealed off. And so you can have sexual practice, accept a bathroom and otherwise go about your business every bit usual.

Prep your announcement

If you're planning on sending out birth announcements, it'south a proficient thought to address all the envelopes or compile the email lists now. One less thing to do once baby arrives!

Become plenty of B6

Chase your protein with an adequate supply of pyridoxine. Never heard of it? It's the vitamin also known every bit B6, and its function is to help your body and baby use all that protein to practice its cell-building job.

Recollect of it this way: If protein is the brick, B6 is the mortar. And B6 plays an particularly large office in the development of baby's encephalon and nervous system.

You'll notice B6 in prenatal vitamins and foods like bananas, avocados, wheat germ, brown rice, bran, soybeans, oatmeal, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, watermelon and meat. Come across, in that location'southward overlap with your protein sources, making your chore even easier.

Get your labor questions answered

If you feel uncomfortable or concerned nigh labor, information technology's always best to telephone call your health care provider and inquire whatsoever questions you lot may have. Even if yous make an unnecessary trip to the hospital or doctor'southward office, yous'd be far, far from the merely person who'south done so.

Pre-labor can last for a few hours to a few days, weeks or fifty-fifty a month in some cases, and signs and symptoms can be different for every person (and every person's pregnancy).

Acquire about the stages of labor

There are three phases of labor: early, agile and transitional. The get-go of these stages is usually the longest. Thankfully, it's also the to the lowest degree intense. It can final from a few hours to several weeks, oftentimes without any noticeable or bothersome contractions.

The second stage, or agile labor, usually lasts a few hours. By this time, you'll probably be in the hospital or birthing middle, and your contractions will get stronger and longer (lasting about 40 to sixty seconds).

The third and last phase is chosen transitional labor, and it tends to exist the most intense stage. It's as well the shortest, generally lasting from 15 minutes to an hr.

Fix for a strep test

No, non the kind of strep that causes throat infections. During week 36 or 37, your doctor will test y'all for group B strep (GBS), a blazon of leaner that's establish in the vagina.

GBS leaner is usually harmless to the many adults who carry it — and an estimated 1 in 4 significant women practice, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — but it can cause a serious infection in a newborn during childbirth.

To test for GBS, your practitioner volition have swabs of your vagina and rectum. If the results are positive, y'all'll be given antibiotics through an IV during labor, so there's footling chance of you passing the infection to your baby.

From the What to Expect editorial squad and Heidi Murkoff, author ofWhat to Look When You're Expecting. What to Expect follows strict reporting guidelines and uses merely credible sources, such every bit peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions and highly respected wellness organizations. Larn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-appointment by reading our medical review and editorial policy.

  • What to Expect When You're Expecting, 5th edition, Heidi Murkoff.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Losing Your Mucus Plug and Encarmine Testify During Pregnancy, November 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Grouping Strep B Testing During Pregnancy, Oct 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Childbirth Phase One: The Three Phases of Labor, August 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Pelvic Hurting During Pregnancy, October 2020.
  • WhatToExpect.com, When Does Your Baby Develop a Brain?, June 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, When You lot'll Feel Your Infant Move and Kick, June 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, Changes in Fetal Movement, June 2021.
  • WhatToExpect.com, What to Write in a Infant Nascence Proclamation, June 2021.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics, Your Infant's Head, June 2010.
  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, How to Tell When Labor Begins, May 2020.
  • American Higher of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, How Your Fetus Grows During Pregnancy, August 2020.
  • American Heart Association, CPR and Showtime Aid, 2021.
  • Johns Hopkins Medicine, The Tertiary Trimester, 2021.
  • Mayo Clinic, Biofeedback, March 2021.
  • Mayo Clinic, Fetal Development: The 3rd Trimester, June 2020.
  • Mayo Clinic, Signs of Labor: Know What to Expect, May 2019.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, Am I In Labor? June 2021.
  • National Institutes of Wellness, National Library of Medicine, BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, Stillbirth Is Associated With Perceived Alterations in Fetal Activity—Findings From An International Example Control Written report, November 2017.
  • National Institutes of Wellness, National Library of Medicine, Dietary Proteins, Feb 2021.
  • National Institutes of Health, National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Data, Biofeedback in Medicine: Who, When, Why and How? June 2010.
  • National Institutes of Wellness, National Library of Medicine, Your Baby in the Birth Canal, June 2021.
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  • Stanford Children'due south Health, Fetal Circulation, 2021.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women'southward Health, Labor and Birth, June 2018.

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