The Bump: 36 & 37 Weeks

Week 36: Your baby is gaining 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 hair that covered her body, as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath.

Week 37: Your baby is now considered full term, even though your due date is still three weeks away. If you go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. She weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel (like a stalk of Swiss chard). Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long.

I am definitely started to get a bit more uncomfortable as due date approaches, but i'm not complaining...I would take this stage of pregnancy any day over the "morning sickness" stage. My back hurts, my sciatic nerve hurts, I pee far too many times, and I don't really sleep. Everyone keeps telling me, "take advantage of this time and sleep, sleep, sleep....". Ya right, not happening. Oh well, I guess it's preparing me for having a newborn, right :-)

We are definitely excited about the soon-to-be arrival of this little one, but it almost doesn't feel real yet. I feel like she could stay in there and cook for a few more months. I have to keep reminding myself that she could literally show up ANYTIME!