Your baby
Your child is now full term and barely growing any more. The layer of fat under the skin is thick enough for your baby to keep warm without difficulty. He or she is putting on at most twenty to thirty grams a day, building up a reserve for the first days after the birth. That is handy, because in those first days your child still has to get used to breast or bottle and will not drink very much.
Thanks to that reserve your child will not get too hungry or lose too much weight — although it is perfectly normal for a baby to drop a little in weight in the first two weeks after the birth.
You
Back pain is a common complaint at the end of pregnancy. Hardly surprising: your bump is getting bigger and heavier, which throws you off balance and leaves you leaning back a little. That hollows your back, and that can start to hurt.
On top of that, pregnancy hormones make your pelvic joints supple, so you are literally looser in your joints. Good posture matters a great deal now.
Lifting is best avoided as much as possible, and left to someone else where you can. If you do have to lift something now and then — your eldest child, for instance — bend your knees, hold your child close to you and use your leg muscles to come back up.
Visitors after the birth
Give some thought to who you want to show your baby first. Would you like your family at your bedside straight away, or your closest friend to call round? Or would you rather enjoy the baby with just the two of you and your other children first? In that case it is better not to send the birth announcements immediately.
When a baby is born you can count on plenty of visitors. Some people enjoy that; others are driven mad by it. You may want visitors to come at fixed times, spread out. Many people say on the announcement card that visitors are welcome but should call first. Or the card says when mother and baby rest.
It is good to have someone who can receive visitors and butter the rusks — the maternity nurse, for instance. But you can also choose to hold a big celebration about six weeks after the birth. It may seem like a lot of work, but that way all your visitors come at once. And a party is always good fun.
Third trimester
