36-Week pregnant: Development and diet

WEEK 36 DEVELOPMENT

With your pregnancy bump now so prominent, it’s can be hard to bend down to do up your shoes; you might want to wear shoes you can slip in and out of easily. Even easy tasks can be tiring when carrying a large belly. Maybe parents or friends can help a bit with the housework, doing the shopping or even cooking once in a while. If you feel tired, you could always ask for a bit of help and support as a present for your child’s birth.

Your little darling is getting her nutrition from you, through her umbilical cord right now. After she is born, she’ll be getting her nutrition from breastfeeding, specifically colostrum, the early breastmilk already being produced by your breasts. Similarly, at birth the placenta ceases to “act as a lung.” The amniotic fluid that was in her airway will be pushed out of her nose and mouth by pressure on her chest from going through the birth canal, and everything will kick in the way it’s supposed to as she takes her first breaths independently.

NUTRITION

Although most women that are pregnant have a higher appetite than before they were pregnant, if you are feeling too tired to eat, or suddenly have little interest in adding more to your belly, try to eat small mini-meals or healthy snacks throughout the day. Be sure to stay hydrated by drinking about 8 glasses of water each day. Continue on with any prenatal supplements that your doctor prescribed, but stay away from over-the-counter energy boosters or meal replacement drinks not designed for pregnant women unless advised by your doctor. Women that started pregnancy as underweight are recommended to gain more weight than others. If lack of appetite is a problem for you, speak with your healthcare professional.

TIPS

From some couple, naming the child is a breeze. For others, it can be a source of friction. It doesn’t have to be! You can find inspiration everywhere – naming books (which often have mythical and exotic names as well as more traditional ones), family records, characters or performers from favourite films. One possibility is to approach the selection process slowly by using lists, for example. You make one and your partner makes one. If there are names that are on both lists…well, that would be too easy, wouldn’t it?! A little tip: Don’t get too many friends or relatives involved in the hunt for a name. Nothing gets more tiresome than hearing a variation of “Oh, I used to have a three-legged Chihuahua called that!” every time you mention a name you like!