Thirty Six Weeks

36 weeks down, 4 weeks to go. According to my ultrasound, the baby will be measuring 37 weeks on Sunday which means she will be full term and can safely come any time after that. I can't believe we have almost made it. I keep telling people that I think she will arrive early, so she most certainly will be as late as possible since I put that out there. I would be more than happy for her to make an appearance any day now though. Except Christmas, please. I really want to spend that time with Rob and Will, and be together for our last holiday as a family of three. I am as excited (if not more) about Christmas as Will is, and am counting down the days to see his face on Christmas morning. Hopefully soon after Christmas comes and goes, we'll see Avery's face for the first time. I have my fingers crossed that she'll be a 2009 baby. Again, totally jinxing myself here.

Week 36 email...

How Your Baby is Growing:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her 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 her 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 she's in a head-down position. But if she 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 her from the outside of your belly.

Once again, I had no earthly idea what a crenshaw melon was. Apparently, it is a hybrid of a casaba melon and a Persian melon. Yeah, I have no clue what either of those are either. Basically, it's a big freakin' melon, okay? And it sits right on top of my bladder. And gooses me in the ribs. And head butts my pelvis. Can your melons do that?

And here is a picture of my big ol' 36 week belly. It definitely looks like there is a little more than a melon in there.


Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas with their families!

Until next time,
L