Ah, the end of the road is in sight. In just a few more weeks you will finally get to see your baby. Over the last 27 weeks your baby has made many strides and has developed from just a small embryo into a little fetus. Through the remaining weeks of your pregnancy your baby will continue its miraculous development and grow significantly to become the little person you will soon meet.

Your baby now weighs approximately 2 to 3 pounds is roughly 15 inches long. During the first part of the third trimester your baby will open its eyes for the first time. Movement of the fetus is very obvious and forceful given that your baby’s bones have fully developed by this stage in the pregnancy. You can especially feel the movements when you are sitting or lying down. It is thought that our movement lulls the baby to sleep, so when the mother is resting the baby is often awake.

The baby will gain a lot of weight during the remaining weeks of your pregnancy. From about the 30th week through the 37th week the baby will gain approximately half a pound a week. As the baby grows his or her movements will become less forceful as their living quarters get more and more cramped.

As the weeks pass the baby will complete the development of their reproductive systems. The downy hair that has covered their body throughout much of the pregnancy will fall out. The development of the baby’s lungs continues, each week the lungs become stronger. Premature babies born after week 32 often survive the challenges that face a preterm baby, but each week they stay in the womb allowing their lungs to develop will better their chances of survival and reduce the complications they will face.

Throughout the final weeks of your pregnancy it is all about adding on the pounds, and developing the lungs and the very necessary suck reflex. Around week 36 the baby will begin to move into position for delivery.

As the 40th week and your due date approaches the baby’s organ functions will continue to improve so that by the time they enter the world they will be ready to hit the ground running. The weight the baby has gained during the final weeks of the pregnancy will help the baby be able to control their own body temperature after birth.

This is an amazing time in your pregnancy. Your baby is almost here. Talk to your doctor about what you need to do, what you should look for to indicate you are going into labor, and when you should head to the hospital. Enjoy these last few weeks.

Here a few websites were you can find images of what a baby looks like during the third trimester.

(source: CNNHealth, WebMD)