36 Week Update

36 Weeks and 1 day: 27 days to go!!

Here's what's happening with the Little Miss this week:

She is still packing on the pounds - at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds, comparable to a crenshaw melon. She is more than 18 1/2 inches long. The Little Miss is 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. She will swallow both of these substances along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture called meconium. The meconium will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

Remember, these measurements are an "average" of most pregnancies. Since I'm in the small to normal range, the Little Miss may weigh a little less than the predicted current weight of 6 pounds.

At the end of this week, the Little Miss will be considered full-term. Full-term is 37-42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term. Since she's head down and won't be moving, my OB will not have to perform an maneuver called an external cephalic version which is where she would try to coax the Little Miss into a head down position by manipulating her from the outside of my belly.

Appointment update:

Today brought my now-weekly OB appointment for 36 weeks. Really nothing too new to report. Since my Braxton Hicks contractions had tapered off this past week, she didn't do an internal exam. My Group B Strep test results came back as a negative so I don't have to worry about receiving antibiotics during labor. Blood pressure was good and I was up 1 pound for a total of 19 gained overall. The Little Miss' head is completely occupying my pelvis which, some days, results in a very uncomfortable Mom. My belly is measuring at 34cm but with her head firmly in my pelvic area that's about where I should be measuring from previous meaurements.

I return Tuesday for my 37-week appointment where I will be given an internal so we'll know if I've progressed any more since my 35-week check!