36 Week Update

Kaylynn's 36 Week Update

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.

I didn't think doctors did that anymore...flipping the baby from the outside, that is. I've read that 9 times out of 10, if they try that, the baby just flips back and it could lead to all sorts of issues with the umbilical cord and what not. But I'm not a professional, I could be way off.

My doctor also said I wasn't full-term until 38 weeks. What's a week though? I do know that she is not 6lbs right now! Suckas. And she's probably longer than 18 1/2 inches, just a guess. I can tell you that she's in a head-down position, reaking havoc on my bladder. One sip of anything and I have to pee. I keep pouring down the water though; I'm tired of my cankles.

I'm tired in general. But that's ok. I'll gladly be tired for another month if it means that Brian can study and take his finals in peace! So prayers and crossed fingers out there that she doesn't arrive before Dec. 11th. Please! We need it.