Week 38 of Pregnancy
Your baby is about the size of a rhubarb
Your Baby This Week
Development milestones for week 38
At 38 weeks pregnant, your baby is the size of a winter melon, weighing around 7 pounds and measuring about 49 centimeters. All organ systems are fully developed and operational. Your baby's brain continues fine-tuning neural pathways, and this development continues well after birth. The lungs are producing adequate surfactant, and your baby is practicing breathing by inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid. Those little fingernails have grown past the fingertips and might need trimming shortly after birth. Eye color is likely set, though many babies are born with blue or gray eyes that change color over the first year. Your baby is shedding the remaining vernix and lanugo into the amniotic fluid, which they are swallowing. This actually helps prepare their digestive system and will form part of their first bowel movement, called meconium.
Your Body This Week
Changes you may experience
The waiting game has officially begun, and it can feel endless. You are probably so uncomfortable that sleep happens in two-hour increments between bathroom visits and hip repositioning. Heartburn may have improved slightly as baby drops lower, but the pressure on your bladder and pelvis has intensified. Many women experience loose stools or diarrhea as their body clears out before labor, which is actually a positive sign. Braxton Hicks contractions are frequent now and sometimes painful enough to make you wonder if this is "it." The difference: real labor contractions follow a pattern and intensify. If drinking water and lying down stops them, it is not labor yet. You might feel a surge of energy (nesting instinct) that makes you want to scrub floors at midnight. Some women feel increasingly emotional, weepy, or irritable as hormones shift.
Tips & Advice for Week 38
Practical guidance from real moms
Many moms at 38 weeks try every natural induction method they have heard about: walking, bouncing on an exercise ball, eating spicy food, drinking raspberry leaf tea. The evidence for most of these is minimal, but if it makes you feel proactive and your provider approves, there is no harm in trying. Walking is genuinely helpful for encouraging baby to descend. Intimacy can potentially help, as semen contains prostaglandins that may soften the cervix. Nipple stimulation releases oxytocin but should be discussed with your provider first. Try to enjoy these final days of pregnancy, even when you are desperate for it to end. Take a nap, binge your favorite show, go on a date night. Once baby arrives, these moments of stillness become rare and precious. Rest is genuinely the most productive thing you can do.
Medical Guidance for Week 38
What to discuss with your healthcare provider
Your weekly appointment includes cervical checks, though remember that dilation and effacement do not predict when labor will start. Some women walk around dilated for weeks. Others go from zero to active labor quickly. Discuss membrane sweeping with your provider if you want to potentially encourage labor. Know the signs of preeclampsia: severe headaches, vision changes, upper abdominal pain, sudden swelling. These require immediate medical attention.
Disclaimer: For educational purposes only. Consult your healthcare provider for personalized medical advice.