36 weeks pregnant: what is happening this week

47.4 cm, and the lungs are likely mature enough to work independently. Sucking and digesting breast milk are both possible. The head may have moved down into the pelvis. There is an antenatal appointment this week and its focus is position: which way up, how far down, and what that means for the plan. Blood pressure, urine and bump measurement as usual. Light leaking of urine when laughing or coughing is common by now and is a pelvic floor consequence rather than anything else. Braxton Hicks continue. Four weeks to the estimate and the odds of an earlier arrival are now meaningful, which makes this the week to sort the handover list - who covers your work at an hour's notice, who has keys, who is looking after anything that needs looking after. Write it down and send it to the people on it. The whole point of a handover is that it works when you are unreachable, and from this week onwards being unreachable can happen without notice.