33 Weeks!!

Size = 17 1/2 inches
Weight = 4 1/2 pounds

Throughout the next few weeks, your baby will gain more than half of his or her birth weight. Your baby will also move less now as he or she runs out of room. By the time you are 33 weeks pregnant, your baby has probably also moved into his or her birth position and is ready to go! AND in the last ultrasound she was head down!! YAY!!

Other fetal development that is occurring when you are 33 weeks pregnant includes the following:

• Your baby is practicing breathing by inhaling amniotic fluid to exercise his or her lungs.Which we got to see her do in the ultrasound in the ER! Yay!!
  
• Some babies have full heads of hair by now; others have only a bit of fuzz.
• Your baby has a normal waking and sleeping pattern. Many times, your movement throughout the day will lull him or her to sleep; while you are inactive at night, it is a chance for him or her to be awake and active.
• When your baby is sleeping (which is most of the time) he or she may experience the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, which is the dreaming period of slee
• Your baby can listen, feel, and see.
• The pupils of the eye can detect light and constrict and dilate.
• Your baby's lungs are almost completely matured.
• Fat will continue to be deposited on your baby's body for protection and warmth.
• Your baby's skin color turns from red to pink.

By week 33 of pregnancy, you will have gained between 22 and 28 pounds from your pre-pregnancy weight. (nope!) The good news is that of the pound a week you're gaining now, roughly half of it is going to your baby. (now I'm about 1lb a week, but that even seems to be tapering off again...)

Your belly button may "pop" anytime from here on out (not yet, but we are getting close!)

I have also started getting a braxton hicks contraction on occasion. I think I've had three in the past week or so ... they are rare...

Odds of a Premature Baby's Survival by Length of Pregnancy

Length of Pregnancy	Likelihood of Survival
23 weeks	17%
24 weeks	39%
25 weeks	50%
26 weeks	80%
27 weeks	90%
28-31 weeks	90-95%
32-33 weeks	95%
34+ weeks	Almost as likely as a full-term baby
Sources: March of Dimes, Quint Boenker Preemie Survival Foundation