32 Weeks Pregnant | Practising for the Outside

Baby is roughly the size of a large jicama and is now rehearsing breathing.

What is happening this week

Your baby is around 42cm and about 1.7 kilograms. They are practising breathing movements, drawing amniotic fluid in and out, which develops the lungs ready for air.

Toenails and fingernails are fully formed, and most of the lanugo — the fine hair covering them — is starting to shed.

How you might be feeling

Breathlessness is common now, as the uterus presses upward. Many people find they can no longer eat a full meal, and go back to grazing the way they did in the first trimester.

Sleep is broken. Hips ache. The advice to rest becomes harder to follow the more you need it.

Worth writing down

Thirty-two weeks is a good point to write to your baby rather than about them. Whatever you would want them to know about this stretch — before it becomes a story you have told so often it has smoothed over.

Our Pregnancy Journal — Made With Love has a page for every week to forty. It pairs with Your First Years for afterwards, or take both together. Buying for someone else? The Pregnancy to Baby Keepsake Gift Set covers the whole journey.