# Day 223: The bag, round one

> The last day of your seventh month. The hospital bag doesn't need packing yet, but it needs a place. Today it goes open on a chair, with five things inside.

- Series: Your seventh month of pregnancy, day by day (https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7), day 223 of 280, 31 weeks + 6 days
- Your baby this week: about the size and weight of a coconut; around 41.1 cm from head to heel
- Canonical URL: https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7/day-223
- Last reviewed: 2026-10-22
- Publisher: Chorevia (https://chorevia.com)
- Cite as: Chorevia. "Day 223: The bag, round one." Last reviewed October 22, 2026. https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-7/day-223

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

Thirty-one weeks and six days: the last day of your seventh month. Today's job is small on purpose. A bag, open on a chair, with the first five things in it.

## Your baby

Around now your baby is around 41.1cm long from head to heel, about the size and weight of a coconut ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-31/)). Day by day they're getting plumper and less wrinkled ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-31/)). The NHS's next page sums up the weeks ahead: your baby is perfectly formed but needs to put on weight ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-32/)).

## Your body

Packing your hospital bag is on the NHS's list at 36 weeks, along with noting your hospital reference number and important phone numbers ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-36/)). The AAP's advice is earlier: "Before your ninth month, make last-minute preparations for delivery" ([AAP](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/Last-Minute-Activities.aspx)). Starting now means it's never a rush.

There's a practical reason too. Your due date is an estimate, and normal term labor can start anywhere from 3 weeks before it to 2 weeks after ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000508.htm)). A bag that's half packed in week 31 is one less job if things start early.

## Try today

### The hospital bag, round one

- **Time:** 15 minutes

1. Find the bag and leave it open on a chair where you'll see it every day.
2. Put in the first five things from the AAP's list: your toiletries, a change of clothes for you, a written list of contacts, a receiving blanket, and the baby's going-home clothes ([AAP](https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/Last-Minute-Activities.aspx)).
3. Write what's still missing on a sheet of paper and tuck it inside.
4. Show your partner where it is, and what's on the sheet.

**Make it work:** Add one thing a week from the missing list. By 36 weeks, it's done without a single packing evening.

## Watch for

- **Normal:** more vaginal discharge as the weeks go on. **Call your provider** for a bloody or brownish discharge, which can mean the cervix is starting to open ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000508.htm)); this early, NICHD counts a change in discharge among the signs of preterm labor ([NICHD](https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preterm/conditioninfo/symptoms)).
- **Normal:** a little urine leaking when you cough or sneeze ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000583.htm)). **Call your provider** right away if you might be leaking amniotic fluid ([MedlinePlus](https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000508.htm)), and note the time and the color or smell ([OWH](https://womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/childbirth-and-beyond/labor-and-birth)).
- **Normal:** not being sure whether a feeling counts. **Call your provider** if you feel like something just isn't right, even if it isn't on any list ([CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html)). Trust your instincts.

## For you

A bag on a chair is also a quiet signal to yourself that this is real and coming. If that brings up nerves as well as excitement, both are allowed. If the worry starts to outweigh everything else, the NHS's advice holds all the way to the end: talk to your midwife or doctor if you feel anxious or low ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-31/)).

That's your seventh month: kick counts, side sleeping, a safe sleep space, vaccines, a birth plan, the route, the stages of labor, tightenings, a firm mattress, a feeding talk, a sling, and the start of a bag. Next month your baby fills out and the visits keep coming, and the notes continue in [your eighth month of pregnancy](https://chorevia.com/learn/pregnancy-month-8).

## Sources

- NHS. "Week 31." Week-by-week guide to pregnancy, Best Start in Life. https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-31/
- NHS. "Week 32." Week-by-week guide to pregnancy, Best Start in Life. https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-32/
- NHS. "Week 36." Week-by-week guide to pregnancy, Best Start in Life. https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/pregnancy/week-by-week-guide-to-pregnancy/3rd-trimester/week-36/
- American Academy of Pediatrics. "Last Minute Activities Before Delivery." HealthyChildren.org. https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/prenatal/Pages/Last-Minute-Activities.aspx
- MedlinePlus. "Am I in labor?" National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000508.htm
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. "What are the symptoms of preterm labor?" NIH, 2023. https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/preterm/conditioninfo/symptoms
- MedlinePlus. "Common symptoms during pregnancy." National Library of Medicine. https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000583.htm
- Office on Women's Health. "Labor and birth." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/childbirth-and-beyond/labor-and-birth
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Urgent Maternal Warning Signs and Symptoms." HEAR HER campaign, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/hearher/maternal-warning-signs/index.html