What happens in the body at 39 weeks gestation?
The woman practically does not gain weight in this period, and even on the contrary - a few days before the birth, the weight may decrease by a couple of kilograms. By this time, the total weight gain is 8 to 15 kilograms in normal, but deviations from these figures can be significant.
At 39-40 weeks of pregnancy, especially if she is second, the baby begins to fall into the pelvis, and it becomes much easier for the mother to breathe. In people it is called "the stomach has lowered" and by this sign it is visible, that the woman should soon give birth.
But it also happens that the baby starts to fall already directly in the process of birth, and therefore it is not worthwhile to rely on this feature of the starting labor to be generic.
At this time, you need to closely monitor the height of the uterine fundus and the volume of the abdomen - if the VDM greatly decreased, and the circle, on the contrary, increased, then perhaps the baby lay across, which is difficult for further independent birth.
Pregnancy in 39 weeks, especially if there are 2 deliveries, can end without preliminary training fights. In this case, a woman can confuse true fights with false ones, believing that she is too early in the hospital. Because it is worth to be more attentive to the signals sent by the body, so as not to run in haste to the maternity ward.
Why the second birth can begin earlier?
An organism that has passed through childbirth remembers them and subsequently reacts much faster. So, the soft tissues of the cervix and vagina have become more pliable and stretchable, and so they open up more quickly and less injure, skipping the baby's head.
The time of contractions and the tardy period are significantly reduced, in comparison with the first birth, and therefore not to be caught unawares, a woman in advance should take care of things and documents for the hospital.
What happens to the baby?
At 38 weeks the child is already fully formed and ready at any time to be born. The baby's body already emits a surfactant - a substance responsible for allowing them to open freely with the first sigh. Up to this point, children born in the world may have trouble breathing.
Weight baby, in comparison with his mother, continues to recruit daily, right up to the birth itself. And this process is quite intense, and therefore pregnant should not overeat, because it is not easy to give birth to a large baby. Depending on the genes and complexion of the parents, the child weighs 3 to 4 kilograms at 39 weeks, but, of course, there are deviations in both directions.
Is it harder or easier to give birth a second time?
The answer can not be unambiguous, because in practice there are many different scenarios. But still, with a high degree of probability, we can say that the second time the process of fights is reduced by almost half, and this is about 4-8 hours. And for a period of the most painful sensations it takes no more than an hour and a half.
Yes, and the expulsion of the fetus is already rolled-up - it takes no more than 10 minutes. In addition, the woman herself already knows how to behave in childbirth, and this gives her confidence in her actions.
The intensity of pain can be stronger than in the first birth, because the cervix is opened faster. But this is not bad, as most believe. Pain is an assistant in childbirth, its strength indicates that the process is going on as it should and, having suffered some couple of hours of pain, the breast of her mother will put her long-awaited baby.