Week 33 – 34
April 14th, 2007 at 10:23 am (Stages of Pregnancy)
Your baby now weighs about 2.1kg (2,100 grams or approximately 4 lbs 10 ozs) and measures about 45 cm in length (or 17.75 inches). They are now fully formed physically and have a firm grasp reflex. During the last 6 weeks, your baby’s main task is to gain weight and grow a little larger, as well as build up their immune system, which is obtained from their mother as antibodies passed through the placenta.
Most babies assume a ‘head down’ position around this time and stay this way until they are born. You may notice your baby’s movements changing in character (to be more ‘stretches’ and ‘squirms’) as they grow larger and there is comparatively less room for them to move.
Your baby can now determine the difference between sweet and sour tastes. Premature babies as early as 33 weeks have been observed to suck harder on a teat dipped in glucose! However, unborn babies can also detect subtle changes in the ‘flavour’ of the amniotic fluid surrounding them. It is believed the fluid acts as a type of “flavour bridge” to their mother’s breast milk, which also carries different food flavours from the mother’s diet.
Your baby can swallow up to a litre of amniotic fluid each day, passing this out as a type of ‘urine’ through their kidneys and bladder, back into the fluid around them.