39 weeks pregnant: what is happening this week

50.7 cm. The skin has developed a tougher outer layer and a waxy coating of vernix that protects it through the birth itself. Circulation is still maturing, which is why hands and feet can look blue for a while afterwards - a normal newborn observation rather than a problem. Two things commonly show up now. Discharge increases, and some people have a show: a plug of mucus, sometimes streaked with blood, which can come away days before anything else happens or not be noticed at all. And pressure at the base of the bump increases as the head descends further. Nesting energy arrives in bursts. The NHS lists the signs of labour explicitly - regular contractions that get stronger and closer together, waters breaking, a show, backache - and the useful thing about that list is knowing that only one of them is decisive on its own. Waters breaking is a call to the maternity unit regardless of whether contractions have started. Everything else is a matter of pattern over time.