Chorevia

Day 266 of 280 · 38 weeks

Names to call

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 6 sources · Plain-text version

Thirty-eight weeks. Most of the fine body hair is gone. Today you write five names on the fridge, each with one job they could do if plans change.

Size this week
about the length of a stick of rhubarb
Length this week
around 49.8 cm from head to heel
A heavily pregnant woman in a mustard t-shirt pinning a handwritten list to a fridge with a magnet, her school-age son reading it beside her, morning sun across a busy kitchen.

Thirty-eight weeks. You may feel ready, or nowhere near. Either way, today's job is the one people put off because it means admitting they'll need help: a short list of names.

Your baby

A single stick of pink rhubarb on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around now your baby is around 49.8cm long from head to heel, about the length of a stick of rhubarb (NHS). Most of the fine body hair, the lanugo, has disappeared, though some babies are born with a few patches of it (NHS). If yours has some on the shoulders or back, that's why.

Your body

Swollen hands and feet are on the NHS's list of late-pregnancy symptoms (NHS). The Office on Women's Health suggests drinking eight to 10 glasses of fluids a day, cutting back on caffeine and salty foods, resting with your feet raised, and asking your provider about support hose (OWH). Swelling that comes on suddenly is a different thing (see Watch for).

The AAP's advice for these last weeks: look into child care or housekeeping help well before the due date. "Even if you don't think you'll need extra help, you should have a list of names to call in case the situation changes" (AAP). Labour at night, a longer hospital stay than planned, a slow recovery: the list is for the version of the next month you didn't plan.

Try today

  1. The help-names list

    Time: 15 minutes

    1. Write five names. Not the most capable people you know; the ones who'd pick up at 6 a.m.

    2. Next to each, write one job: meals, the dog, a school run, a load of laundry, a lift to an appointment.

    3. Message each person: "Can I put you down for this in the weeks after the baby?" A yes now is easier than a favour asked in the moment.

    4. Put the list on the fridge next to the hospital card, as the AAP suggests having one ready (AAP), and send a photo of it to your partner.

    Make it work:

    Specific jobs get specific answers. "Let me know if you need anything" becomes "Tuesday dinner" once it's written down.

Watch for

  • Normal

    puffy ankles by evening that ease with your feet up (OWH).

    Call your provider

    for sudden swelling in your hands or feet, or rapid weight gain, which may signal preeclampsia (OWH), and get care right away for extreme swelling of your hands or face (CDC).

  • Normal

    both legs a bit swollen.

    Call your provider

    right away for severe swelling, redness, or pain in one leg or arm (CDC).

  • Normal

    feeling slow getting up from the sofa.

    Call your provider

    right away for dizziness or fainting (CDC).

For you

Asking for help can feel like failing a test nobody set. It isn't. The CDC lists little or no social support among the things that may raise the risk of depression (CDC). A list on the fridge is support you arranged in advance.

If you're the partner: you're not on the list, because you're the one who calls it. Know where it is, and make the first call yourself when the time comes.

Sources

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.

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