The amount of amniotic fluid is starting to decrease in preparation for birth and the functions of the placenta are also decreasing. Nevertheless, your baby might not be ready to be born and it may still have a few weeks more left of gestation to do, depending on when you first got pregnant, in which case these functions will still go on.

The baby himself is the one that sends out the signal for the contractions to start. How it does this, we still don’t know exactly. Meanwhile, his lungs will continue their development right up to the moment of birth, his nails are growing and he is still accumulating fat under his skin.

The average weight of a newborn is 7 pounds and a half or 3,500 grams and the length is 20 inches or 51 centimeters. Nevertheless this may vary. There are babies that weigh less and are perfectly healthy and others that weigh more and are also very healthy.

Congratulations! In a very short time you’ll have your baby in your arms!