Your precious baby is getting ready to complete their final month! So many amazing changes have taken place over these nine months! Starting as one cell, dividing and growing into a little person that can see, hear, feel…with little toes and fingers and nails and little eyelashes and eyebrows…such a wonderful display of life!
At the end of the ninth month, an average full-term baby will weigh around 7 to 7 1/2 pounds and will be about 20 inches long. His or her lungs are nearly fully developed. Their skin is still coated with its creamy, protective covering called vernix caseosa. They can open and close their eyes and blink. They can turn their heads from side to side. They respond to sounds, light and touch and they can grasp things, their reflexes are coordinated. Their fingernails have now grown beyond the fingertips.
The bones of the skull are flexible allowing the head to pass through the vagina without harm. The size of the “soft spot” between the bones of the skull will vary from child to child but will generally close within 12-18 months of age.
Sometime during this last month your baby’s position will change as they get ready for labor and delivery. The baby’s head will drop down into your pelvis area and the head will engage in the birth position. You may physically notice the appearance of your belly when you “drop.” Others too! Once this happens, contractions and downward pressure will increase. This is the time to get as much rest as you can in preparation for your baby’s birth.
There is joy to be experienced at the end! You have brought forth a beautiful, unique and amazing little person into this world, to hold and love and care for.
Congratulations, Mom, you have done it!
