Baby Growth During 3rd Trimester

Your little one will be much larger in the third trimester, growing from around 2 ½ pounds and 16 inches long at 28 weeks gestation to between 6 and 9 pounds and 19 to 22 inches long by 40 weeks. Because your baby is growing so fast, don’t be surprised if that growth spurt (along with a reduction in living space) results in some serious kicks and jabs in your stomach.

Here are some of the highlights of your third trimester of pregnancy:

Bone. When cartilage turns into bone at 7 and 8 months, your baby will get calcium from you – so make sure you’re eating plenty of calcium-rich foods.

Hair, skin and nails. By the 32nd week of pregnancy, the baby’s formerly transparent skin becomes opaque. At week 36, fat continues to accumulate as your baby sheds cheese grease (the waxy substance that protects skin from your amniotic fluid) and lanugo (the warm, hairy coat).

Digestive tract. In the last few weeks of pregnancy, meconium — or the baby’s first feces, which consists mostly of blood cells, cheese smear, and lanugo — begins to build up in the baby’s intestines.

Five senses. Your baby’s touch receptors will be fully developed around 29 or 30 weeks. At 31 weeks pregnant, your baby is picking up signals from all five senses, discerning light and dark, tasting what you are eating and listening to the sound of your voice.

Brain. In the third trimester, your baby’s brain is growing faster than ever, testing some nifty skills like blinking, dreaming and regulating body temperature.

Around 34 weeks gestation, the baby’s body turns south and assumes a head-down-down-up position – unless, of course, your baby remains stubbornly breech, in which case your doctor will likely try turning the baby manually Week 37.