Your Pregnancy Week by Week: 34 Weeks

The following information -- and much more -- can also be found in the free weekly email Lamaze Pregnancy Week by Week. Sign up now to receive helpful information for your stage of pregnancy. Subscribers will be given the opportunity to complete a Lamaze Parent Satisfaction Survey after their pregnancy and receive a Lamaze Toys coupon. We want to hear about your birth experience and the impact that childbirth education may have had so that we can continue to make sure parents have the information they need for the safest, healthiest birth possible.

You're in week 34 of your pregnancy!

In the moments right after birth, babies go through an amazing and challenging transition. Inside the womb, they are kept at the perfect temperature and get everything they need through their umbilical cords. After birth, they must keep themselves warm, their lungs must shift to breathing air, and they must learn to suckle, swallow and digest their mother's milk. Whether or not all these changes will happen safely and easily depends in large part on the care babies and mothers receive right after birth. This week, we'll explore the sixth Lamaze healthy birth practice: Keep your baby with you.

What's New with Baby

Are you noticing more pokes and jabs these days? Perhaps this is because you now have more baby than amniotic fluid, meaning there is less fluid to cushion little blows from little limbs. Believe it or not, those little fingers have not-so-little nails. By now, her fingernails have reached the ends of her fingers and perhaps have begun to curl around the very top. After she is born, a soft emery board or blunt-edged scissors are all you need to trim up those nails. Avoid biting the nails of newborns, as this can cause infections. Your budding beauty is now approaching five pounds, and is now about 19 inches in length about the size of a cantaloupe.

What's New with You

If you are working outside the home during this pregnancy, you may be wondering about the right time to begin maternity leave. It truly depends on you. Some women begin their maternity leave weeks before their due date. Others have waited until their labor actually began. Listen to your body. If you are feeling well-rested and healthy, continue to work as long as you feel comfortable. However, if you are really struggling at work, ask yourself what you can do to be more comfortable. For some, it means modifying their workspace or working hours. For others, it is a signal that maternity leave should begin sooner rather than later. Keeping yourself well-rested and healthy in the final weeks of pregnancy is priority number one!

Story from a Mama who has been there

'When my granddaughter Ana Paula was born, she was immediately placed on her mom's chest and, without any problems, she found her way to her mom's breast where she stayed sucking and gazing into her mother's eyes for a long time. You are never really prepared to witness this miracle, no matter how many times you have seen it happen. When mother and baby find each other for the first time, the world seems to stand still for a few moments as if honoring mother and baby in this magical moment. There are no words to describe this, especially when your daughter has gone through a huge transformation in just a few hours. She was no longer my little girl. Angelica received Ana Paula as a courageous, incredibly strong and caring woman'a loving mother!'

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