Some light bleeding toward the end of your pregnancy might be a sign that labor is starting. Ask your doctor whether it's OK for you to take acetaminophen. Wear low-heeled, comfortable shoes with good arch support. At night, sleep on your side with a pillow tucked between your legs. Sit up straight and use a chair that provides good back support. To ease the pressure on your back, try to practice good posture. You might also feel discomfort in your pelvis and hips as your ligaments loosen to prepare for labor. The extra weight you've gained puts added pressure on your back, making it feel achy and sore. You may even feel like it’s harder to take deep breaths. You may find it hard to get comfortable when you’re in bed at night trying to go to sleep. This can cause you to have some aches and discomfort. As your baby grows, it takes up more room in your abdomen. Soft body hair called the lanugo falls out and is almost gone by the end of week 40. If it’s a boy, the testes have descended into the scrotum.ĭuring the third trimester, the vernix caseosa, a protective coating, covers your fetus’ skin. It also has nails on its toes and reaching to the ends of its fingers. Most babies have blue eyes at this stage, and they’ll stay that color until a few days or weeks after they’re born. The bones at the top of its skull are soft to ease delivery. It gains muscle tone and about 16% body fat. Your baby develops in other important ways in the third trimester. It will stay in this down-facing position for the last 2 weeks of your pregnancy. At week 36, the baby’s head should begin to move into your pelvic area, also called lightening.

Your baby begins to turn itself head-down to get ready for delivery. By the end, a full-term baby usually is between 19 and 21 inches long and between 6 and 9 pounds. In the third trimester, your baby keeps growing.

You've only got a few more weeks to go, but this part of your pregnancy can be the most challenging. Now that you've reached the third trimester, you're in the home stretch of your pregnancy.

Discharge or amniotic fluid