Don’t be surprised if you have a sudden urge to prep and organize around this time; this is called the Nesting Instinct, and it’s the instinct to prepare your house for the arrival of your baby.
Putting on the pounds
There’s not much left to do now for your baby except to grow; the only part of your baby that isn’t fully developed yet is the lungs and respiratory system. Other than that, your baby is using these final weeks to develop their muscles and to gain even more of that protecting and insulating fat.
During week 33 of your pregnancy, your baby grows to measure around 43 centimeters from head to toe, and weigh approximately 2350 grams. On average, babies gain around 250 grams in weight every week from now until birth.
The “nesting” instinct
No, we’re not calling you a mother hen. The Nesting Instinct is the instinct to clean, tidy, organize and redecorate your house before the baby arrives, and it is a very real thing that usually happens during the last weeks leading up to the birth. Most women experience the nesting instinct in some form or other, ranging from just organizing the new nursery to organizing, deep-cleaning and painting the entire house.
We’re not here to tell you what you can and cannot do (we know you’re a superwoman!), but we do have some recommendations for your own safety before you go all-in on the nesting. Don’t climb high and try to overreach things; we don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself and possibly the baby. Don’t lift anything too heavy, your back (and the rest of your body for that matter) is under plenty of pressure as it is. Also, don’t paint using solvent-based paint and don’t use harsh cleaning agents, like bleach or oven cleanser – leave that to your partner or hire professionals. That’s it, happy nesting!
Babyproofing your home
Speaking of nesting and preparing your home for the arrival of the baby, you can start baby-proofing your house already. Granted, at first, they don’t move around much, but before you know it they will become much more mobile. A flailing baby can grab a surprisingly large number of things, and pretty much all of it will end up in their mouth somehow.
Go over your house in baby height and remove anything that might be dangerous for them to touch or taste; if you have fireplace, make sure to buy a safety gate, and if you have a staircase, make sure to get a safety gate for that too. Make sure to move any electrical wires or appliances out of baby-reach; you can even cover the outlets just to be safe.
You can also install corner guards on tables or other sharp corners, and install latches on cupboards and drawers to prevent your baby getting into anything dangerous like batteries or cleaning products (or of course, if you want to prevent them from accidentally destroying something valuable or irreplaceable, like old family photos.)