Pregnancy Week 37: Cervical Dilatation and Effacement, and Pack Your Hospital Bag

Your cervix is getting ready for labor by your thirty-seventh week of pregnancy. It may have already begun dilating. Your doctor may also use the term effacement to describe your cervix. Both cervical dilatation and effacement are necessary for your baby to be born. Also during your thirty-seventh week of pregnancy, pack your hospital bags since you now have a full term baby who is waiting to be born.

Pregnancy Week 37: Baby's Development

Your baby is officially fully developed by the end of your thirty-seventh week of pregnancy. He is considered full term now, even if your pregnancy lasts up to five more weeks. All that is left for your baby to do is to keep growing. He can gain up to a ½ pound per week from this point. Your baby is practicing inhaling and exhaling. Right now, he's practicing with amniotic fluid, but it will be air very soon.

Pregnancy Week 37: Cervix Effacement and Dilatation

Your baby's development may have slowed down, but your development is just getting geared up. By your thirty-seventh week, your body is preparing itself for giving birth. Your doctor may perform an internal exam to determine if your cervix is getting ready.

Your cervix should start to thin out. This is called effacement. Your cervix may also begin to dilate slightly. It is not unusual for this to happen several weeks before you go into labor. It is also common for your cervix not to dilate until right before going into labor.

Your baby will also be checked to see if he is in the correct position. He should be head down. His head will help efface and dilate the cervix.

Pregnancy Week 37: Hospital Bag

You should pack the bag that you are going to take to the hospital. You need to include comfortable pajamas because staying in a hospital gown isn't all that comfortable. You will also need clothes for you and your baby to go home in.

Make sure you pack your birthing plan, if you made one, and all the accessories that go along with it. Do not forget to pack your phone book so that you can call everyone and tell them the wonderful news.

There are so many items that magazines, friends, and family suggest that you absolutely need to take to the hospital with you. If you have a vaginal birth then you will only be there one or two days. Most of the extra items either the hospital can supply or someone can bring them to you if you need them. The less you have to deal with at the hospital the more time you have to bond with your newborn.

For more pregnancy weeks and fetal development you can read:
Pregnancy Week 33

Pregnancy Week 34

Pregnancy Week 35

Pregnancy Week 36

Click here to find more information on your pregnancy and baby's development.

Sources:

Personal Experience

Fit Pregnancy (2009). Pregnancy Calendar. Retrieved: April 8, 9, 2009. Web Site: fitpregnancy.com/calendar/40251887.html

Myers-Gorrie, Trula, Slone-McKinney, Emily, & Smith-Murray, Sharon (1998). Foundations of Maternal-Newborn Nursing (2^nd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: W. B. Saunders Company.

What to Expect (2009). Weekly Pregnancy Calendar. Retrieved:April 8, 9, 2009. Web Site: whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/week-by-week/landing.aspx