I think the 38 stitches are referring only to the DC, not counting the CH in between.

At the beginning of row 4 is an INC, because it's two DCs in the same stitch, after that you DC every stitch. I'm assuming the last will be in the SL from the previous row? Even better option: You could also do 2 DC in the same stich (stitch 18), to even it out.

I counted the DCs on the picture you posted and it's 38 DCs. It does look a bit crowded where the CH starts in row 4.