Your baby is now about 13½ inches long from crown to bottom and almost 21 inches from head to toe. She weighs about 6 pounds. She won't get much longer between now and the big day, but she's still greedily adding on fat and gaining weight.

The calcium in your diet is giving her strong bones everywhere in her body except for her head. Her skull is still relatively soft and pliable, making it easier for her to squeeze through the birth canal. If you deliver vaginally, she might be born with a pointy or otherwise misshapen head. But don't worry -- her head will be beautifully round again within a few days.

Even though you're still weeks away from delivery, your baby may already be on the move. Babies at this stage often "drop" into the top of the birth canal. This is called engagement or lightening. You might just call it a relief, although you could be trading pressure on your stomach for pressure on your public bone. Because your baby is no longer pressing against your stomach and intestines, you might have a newfound appetite. And if you've been suffering heartburn, it should start to fade.

-- Chris Woolston, MS, a health and medical writer with a master's degree in biology, is a contributing editor at Consumer Health Interactive. He was a staff writer at Hippocrates magazine and has also covered science issues for Time Inc. Health and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

References

First published July 25, 2005
Last updated March 6, 2008
Copyright © 2005 Consumer Health Interactive

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