At some point during your pregnancy, it hits you. You have to push a baby out! At 35 weeks, you only have about five more weeks to go until the big day. While it may seem overwhelming at times, remind yourself, women have been doing this since the start of humankind. You got this!

What’s happening with your body?

You might be getting a little more tired these days, which is to be expected. You’re carrying around an almost full-term baby in your tummy. Your uterus is up to your rib cage, which may also make sleep a bit difficult.

Plus, you might be feeling little kicks and jabs even sharper these days. That’s because your level of amniotic fluid has decreased a bit. But don’t worry, there is still enough fluid inside to provide the needed cushioning for your baby.

By week 35, you’re also getting your last few screenings. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, your doctor will check you for group B streptococci. Group B strep is a bacteria that is usually harmless in adults, but it can be a problem for your baby if you pass it on when you deliver.  Group B streptococci can cause complications, such as meningitis and pneumonia in newborns.

The bacteria is very common, and it’s estimated that about 10 to 30 percent of women are group B strep carriers. The screening involves a quick rectal and vaginal swab. If you test positive for group B strep, during labor, you’ll be given antibiotics intravenously, which decreases the chance your baby will become infected.

What happening with your baby?

You baby is almost ready to be born. He is about five and a half pounds and as big as a honeydew. Your little one looks pretty much like he will when you deliver in a month or so.

Physical development is mostly complete. His intestines are producing meconium, liver is processing waste, and most other organs are ready to function on the outside. Most of your baby’s growth now is the development of fat. The added fat will not only make your baby a cutie, but it helps regulate her temperature once she is born

At this point, he is just putting on a little more weight and perfecting his ability to breathe on his own.  In fact, he would likely do well if you were to go into labor at this point.

Because of how crowded it’s getting, your baby may not have as much room to kick and jab. But you should still feel regular movements several times an hour. Your baby should be in the head down position now and is ready for the journey south.

Although your baby’s bones are hardening, his skull is still pretty soft. That’s because his head needs to be a bit pliable to fit out the birth canal. You think you got it tough, it’s not easy squeezing out down there. Because your baby’s head is being squeezed a bit as he makes the trek out, don’t be shocked if he has a cone head when you meet him. If your little one’s head is misshapen, don’t worry. His cone head will probably round out in a few days to a week.

Things to keep in mind

If you have started to have a few fears about delivery, that’s perfectly normal. If this is your first baby, you may be especially nervous. Plus, hearing all the horror stories about 30-hour labors, pooping on the delivery table and epidurals that don’t work could frighten even the calmest mom to be.

So is there anything you can do to calm labor jitters? Yes and no. One thing that may help is knowing what to expect. If this is your first baby, fear of the unknown can make anxiety worse. Even if you have had children before, each labor is different, so you still might not know what will happen.

Knowledge is a powerful weapon and can decrease fears, but you also don’t want to go overboard. Learning about everything that can go wrong during labor will not do you any good.

Keep in mind, for every scary birth experience you hear, there are at least as many if not more, positive experiences. You just might not hear about those.