{"id":1395,"date":"2022-01-10T23:05:35","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T05:05:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/?p=1395"},"modified":"2023-04-21T14:10:08","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T20:10:08","slug":"38-weeks-pregnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/","title":{"rendered":"38 Weeks Pregnant"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What Changes are Occurring With Your Body?<\/h3>\n<p>At 38 weeks pregnant, you may experience some swelling in your feet. which is a normal part of pregnancy, especially towards the end. However, if you experience severe or sudden <a title=\"Swelling During Pregnancy\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancy-health\/swelling-during-pregnancy\/\">swelling<\/a> in your hands, face, feet and\/or&nbsp;ankles, you should contact your health care provider. This could be a sign that&nbsp;you are developing a condition called <a title=\"Gestational Hypertension: Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH)\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancy-complications\/pregnancy-induced-hypertension\/\">pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH)<\/a>, also known as <a title=\"Preeclampsia : Toxemia\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancy-complications\/preeclampsia\/\">preeclampsia or toxemia<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>How Big is Your Baby at 38 Weeks?<\/h3>\n<p>Babies sizes vary around the last several weeks of pregnancy, but at 38 weeks pregnant your baby is probably between <strong>17 and 20 inches (43.2 to 50.8 cm) long<\/strong> and weighs <strong>6 \u00bc to 7 \u00bd&nbsp;pounds (2.8 to 3.4 kg)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>What Is Happening With Your Baby during Pregnancy Week 38?<\/h3>\n<p>Your baby is continuing to grow, but the vast majority of the organs are mature and fully functioning. The only exceptions are your baby&#8217;s brain and lungs. These two organs can function&nbsp;outside of the womb at this point, although they will continue to mature during childhood. You may wonder what your baby will look like. Maybe you&nbsp;want your baby to have Aunt Ellen\u2019s red hair, your partner\u2019s&nbsp;green eyes, or your father\u2019s long legs. You most likely will&nbsp;not be able to tell right away what color of eyes your baby will have&nbsp;unless they are brown. If they are brown, there is a good chance they&nbsp;will stay that way. However, if your baby\u2019s eyes are gray or&nbsp;blue, they could stay that way or turn green, hazel, or brown. Normally&nbsp;this occurs by the time your baby is nine months old.<\/p>\n<h3>What Should You Plan for This Week?<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Your healthcare provider should discuss the following information&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>with you if it has not already been covered:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Who to call when you think you are in <a title=\"Labor\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/labor-and-birth\/\">labor<\/a> and when the call&nbsp;should be made<\/li>\n<li>Early labor completed at home<\/li>\n<li>Any medical problems<\/li>\n<li>Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancycomplications\/gestationaldiabetes.html\">Gestational&nbsp;diabetes<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Anemia During Pregnancy\" href=\" https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/pregnancy-concerns\/anemia-during-pregnancy\/\">Anemia<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/pregnancy-complications\/intrauterine-growth-restriction\/\">Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/labornbirth\/breechpresentation.html\">Breech&nbsp;positioning<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Tips for Making Your Pregnancy Better<\/h3>\n<p>If your health care provider thinks your baby is in a <a title=\"Breech Births\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/labor-and-birth\/breech-presentation\/\">breech position<\/a>, you may need another sonogram for confirmation. This can give you one last&nbsp;look at your baby before delivery. Some women may also have <a title=\"Fetal Non-Stress Test (NST)\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/prenatal-testing\/non-stress-test\/\">non-stress tests<\/a> performed during the last weeks of pregnancy. A non-stress test can be performed at your health&nbsp;care provider\u2019s office or in a hospital setting. You will be asked to&nbsp;lie down, and a fetal monitor will be attached to your abdomen. You will push a button every time you feel your baby move, and the monitor records&nbsp;your baby\u2019s heartbeat. While having these kinds of tests can feel overwhelming,&nbsp;they can also provide an opportunity to bond with your baby. Many mothers actually enjoy this time because they can hear their baby\u2019s heartbeat.<\/p>\n<h3>Tips for Mom\u2019s Partner:<\/h3>\n<p>Have you packed your bag for the hospital? If not, you may want&nbsp;to go ahead and get that taken care of because your baby could be&nbsp;arriving at any moment. Many fathers like to get their new son or daughter a special gift. It&nbsp;could be a toy, first football, doll, book, or stuffed animal. If&nbsp;you are planning on this, you may want to pack it with your&nbsp;bag. You may also want to think about getting your partner a special&nbsp;gift. This can be a great way to remind her how much you love and&nbsp;appreciate her. Remember these do not necessarily have to be extravagant&nbsp;or expensive gifts, just something to show that you care.<\/p>\n<p class=\"citation-date\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<h4>Want to Know More?<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/labor-and-birth\/birth-plan\/\">Creating Your Birth Plan<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/cord-blood\/cord-blood-banking-your-three-choices-explained\/\">Cord Blood Banking &#8211; Your Three Choices Explained<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Changes are Occurring With Your Body? At 38 weeks pregnant, you may experience some swelling in your feet. which is a normal part of pregnancy, especially towards the end. However, if you experience severe or sudden swelling in your hands, face, feet and\/or&nbsp;ankles, you should contact your health care provider. This could be a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":7511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[62],"tags":[],"faq-categories":[8401],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v20.11 (Yoast SEO v20.11) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>38 Weeks Pregnant - American Pregnancy Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At 38 weeks pregnant, you may experience some swelling in your feet. which is a normal part of pregnancy, especially towards the end.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"38 Weeks Pregnant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At 38 weeks pregnant, you may experience some swelling in your feet. which is a normal part of pregnancy, especially towards the end.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Pregnancy Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanPregnancyAssc\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-11T05:05:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-21T20:10:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/enpregnancy-week-8essemana-8-del-embarazo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leslie Mitson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leslie Mitson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leslie Mitson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1c908de0af061e558f8d79135450e41f\"},\"headline\":\"38 Weeks Pregnant\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-11T05:05:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-21T20:10:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Week by Week Newsletter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/americanpregnancy.org\/healthy-pregnancy\/week-by-week\/38-weeks-pregnant\/\",\"name\":\"38 Weeks Pregnant - 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