36 Weeks

Well, here we are starting month 9...I feel like it's going to be the longest month of my life!  I'm so impatient and ready to meet this baby boy!!

Here's the update from BabyCenter.com...Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position. But if he isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.  This is what he probably looks like this week.

As for me, well, I'm hanging in there.  My feet are swollen and fat, but it's worth it!  I've had some dizziness and pain over the last week, but according to my "What to Expect When You're Expecting" book (and Dr. K), those things are just part of the final part of pregnancy.

My check-up last week went well; got a good report.  Harrison's heartbeat was 145 bpm, and Dr. K guestimated that he probably weighs between 5.5 lbs. and 6 lbs.  I think that is more of a generalization rather than a guess specific to me, but whatever.  I go back tomorrow for another check-up, and he is going to check me to see if there are any signs of dialation.  I really enjoy going to the doctor because I get to hear Harrison's heartbeat, and that is just the best sound!  I can hardly wait for him to get here so I can hold him in my arms!

Here's a parting gift for those of you that read this blog...a picture of me at 36 weeks...big as a HOUSE and still carrying very high!  So, the chances of me having a baby in the next week are slim to none...he's still up in my business!  :-)