CloudMom Giveaway August 2024

Howdy, pregnant mommas and daddies-to-be! As I mentioned in Week 31 last week, I am no longer pregnant! A week and a half ago, I gave birth prematurely to my sixth baby Bracey at only 30 weeks of pregnancy. Learn more about Bracey’s premature birth and first weeks in my Baby’s First Year series. Bracey’s currently in an incubator in the NICU, which has been a blessing and an ordeal, but thankfully, he’s doing great.

While taking care of my new little guy (and he is indeed little, since he weighed only 3.3 pounds at birth), I’m finishing up this series, standing alongside you until you give birth. I’m tapping into my experiences during my first five pregnancies as well as up-to-date research to serve up all the advice and information you need.

How are you doing mentally and physically? Feel free to DM me on Instagram or Facebook if you need to talk through any of your struggles. Without further ado, let’s dive right into your 32nd week of pregnancy.

Nesting Urges

Having trouble sitting still? Cleaning up messes, reorganizing drawers, folding and re-folding clothes? Nesting while pregnant is something humans share in common with birds: we like preparing a nice, cozy, and safe nest for the arrival of our little ones. Nesting during the third trimester of pregnancy is a perfect way to spend time getting ready for your baby, but make sure to take breaks, relax, hydrate, and not overexert yourself!

At week 32, your baby weighs 4 pounds and is 16.5 inches long, about the size of a jicama. Your baby has grown so much that they are running out of room. In order to fit comfortably into the uterus, your baby has curled up into the fetal position. Your baby is producing lung surfactant to help mature the lungs and is continuing to gain half a pound per week. In fact, your baby will gain 33% of their total weight in the next month and a half!

By birth, your baby will have up to 100 billion neurons and 50 trillion connections in their nervous system. Mind boggling, right? This is only the beginning, since your baby’s brain will continue to grow after birth. Your baby also continues to practice breathing, a practice that is being refined by the brain, and that allows for a more rhythmic and smooth pattern to appear. Before birth, your baby’s breathing pattern will be at around 40 breaths per minute.

If you give birth to a boy, you will have the option of having him circumcised before you leave the hospital. Historically, circumcision has been a common practice in many countries. However, due to the small risks of a botched circumcision and questions regarding its efficacy, circumcision has grown controversial of late and rates are declining. To help guide you in deciding whether or not to circumcise your little boy, here is a guide to the pros and cons of circumcision:

At your Week 32 prenatal appointment, your doctor will be assessing your baby’s size and weight, position and heart rate. You likely will receive some detailed images and videos of your baby’s activity that you can store in your baby’s keepsake box. Your doctor will take your weight, temperature, blood pressure and a urine sample to check for protein and sugar.

Biophysical Profile

Contraction Stress Test

Fetal Acoustic Stimulation

Nonstress Test

For a comprehensive guide on what foods are essential to eat (and not eat!) during pregnancy, check out Week 4 and Week 5. Also, check back in each week for a healthy pregnancy recipe.

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If you are 32 weeks pregnant — although pregnancy is not calculated using months but rather using weeks — you are around 8 months pregnant. WOW!

• What to Expect & What to Expect When You’re Expecting – 5th Edition (2016)
• The Bump
• Baby List
• Parents.com
• Healthline.com
• WebMD
• The Mama Natural Week to Week Guide to Pregnancy & Childbirth (2017)
• Mayo Clinic’s Guide to a Healthy Pregnancy – Second Edition (2018)
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists