Mom at Week 40
As your due date approaches you will feel anticipation along with fear of the unknown and un experienced. Soon labor will start and your baby will be a tangible part of this universe and your life. Here are 3 areas you need to monitor when you go into labour
They are Frequency, Duration and Leaking. Let’s take you through what these actually mean.
Frequency
Frequency means how far apart your contractions are. This is timed from the start of one contraction to the start of the next contraction. The closer the frequency of your contractions, the closer you are to delivering your baby.
Duration
Duration means the actual length of the contraction. This is measured as the time taken from the start of one contraction to the end of the same contraction. The longer the duration of your contraction, the closer you are to labour. You could request your husband or close family of friends to time these for you so you know the progress in labour.
Leaking
Leaking refers to the amniotic fluid. This is your baby’s sterile environment and if you are leaking then it means that they baby is also susceptible to infections. Contact your doctor immediately if you’re leaking and inform them so that you can get to the hospital and the doctor can probably induce labor and deliver the baby.
Once you are on your way out to the hospital, pick your hospital bag and do not forget to pack in all the reports as the doctor may need to refer to the same.
If you still don’t go into labour at week 40, you wil be induced into it somewhere at week 41 or 42 provided its safe to wait till then and the baby heart rate, movements ets are all well.
Your baby’s growth
Your baby is all grown now and ready to enter the birth canal anytime now and enter your lives. He/she can’t wait to meet his parents and say hello to the beautiful people in the world that await his arrival.