At 41 weeks pregnant, you may again start to feel all that irritation and nauseous feelings you had in the first trimester of your pregnancy. Week 41 is the perfect time for giving birth to your baby. Some may start feeling a little tensed by thinking that their due date has come and gone. There is no need to worry unless you enter the 43rd week without any signs of labor. Weeks 37 to 42 in the pregnancy calendar is the time when the baby is preparing for a life outside the mother’s protective womb. By now your baby is fully developed. He will be about 20 or more inches long and may weigh an average of 8 pounds. All your arrangements for inviting this baby into the world should be ready by now.
Developments of Your Baby When 41 Weeks Pregnant
- At 41 weeks pregnant, the baby will be fully developed with distinct eyebrows, eyelashes, toenails, and fingernails. His or her mouth, nose, ears, are all well-formed.
- The eye of the baby has a large pupil but the nerves inside the eye are not completely developed when 41 weeks pregnant.
- These nerves will complete its development only 6 weeks after birth.
- These babies will add on more weight as fat for increasing body resistance after birth.
- This will become a cause for concern if the delivery is going past this week.
- Babies born after 41 weeks seem to have more hair on their skin than babies born before this week.
- Baby’s activity will be much slowed down because the space inside the uterus is becoming less and the baby is increasing in size.
- Baby will be moving down into the mother’s pelvis.
Changes in a 41 Weeks Pregnant Mom
It is not unusual to be overdue and to feel that the limit has reached. You may feel the labor pains anytime in this week which is a quite crucial and an important phase. The cause that triggers the birth is really unknown. The thing for concern is not what triggers the labor, but when the labor will start.
At 41 weeks pregnant, you are ready to give birth at any moment. You may start to feel real contractions during this week. There will be rise in the Braxton Hicks contractions which are milder than the real uterine contractions. This will prepare you for facing the real contraction when it strikes. The urge for urination will be more frequent than normal. This is because your baby’s head is now resting on your bladder. This reduces the expanding capacity of the bladder which in turn results in frequent urination. There are chances of leaking urine while you are sneezing or coughing. This is normal and don’t get it confused with rapture of the amniotic sac. Rapture of amniotic sac will be more apparent with a sudden gush of fluid or a noticeable trickle.
There will be bloody show due to the loss of the mucous plug of cervix. This is caused by the rapturing of blood vessels in the cervix as the cervix is expanding for making way for the baby to come out. A check up when 41 weeks pregnant will show how thinned and dilated your cervix is for the passage of the baby. Diarrhea and running nose are other symptoms of impending birth. Diarrhea usually occurs 48 hours before the birth for preparing your body for labor. Increased sleeplessness is another symptom of this week.
Heaviness and discomfort in the pelvic area is common in the 41st week as the baby has now shifted his position much lower into the pelvis. There will be episodes of fatigue and extra energy which will occur intermittently. These small bursts of extra energy are natural instinctive behavior patterns which helps you to prepare for the imminent birth.
Weight gain during the whole pregnancy is about 25 to 35 pounds for a normal lady. This will be increasing throughout your pregnancy week by week. Different people gain weight at different rate. Thin ladies seem to gain more weight during pregnancy at about 28 to 40 pounds. Signs of imminent labor are lightening, diarrhea, bloody show, rapture of amniotic sac, and contractions. If your labor is not starting in the 41st week, you will have to start natural pregnancy inducing techniques on 42 weeks pregnant moms.
