Thursday, January 3, 2008

36 Weeks (December 28 - January 3)

Happy New Year! January 1st was also our wedding anniversary. Hubby and I have been married for seven years now! Anyway, speaking of those things, it means food for me again, lol! I had two yummy slices of strawberry cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory this week. They're really good but I know it means another weight gain for me. Starting this week, my doctor's appointment will be every week. I had my appointment yesterday. Everything went fine except that I gained 5lbs in 2 weeks! So, from 129lbs, I now weigh 134lbs. The doctor didn't say anything bad about it though. I think she understood the fact that people just really gain weight during the holiday season. Baby's heartrate this time is 162.
Anyway, I have been preparing things for the baby's coming. I already finished washing the baby's clothes and folded them as well. I got quite a few new cute stuffs for the baby that I am actually having a hard time which one to pick for the baby's homecoming, lol! I haven't packed my hospital bag yet though so I should do that in the next few days. I have ordered a couple of handmade hats for the baby online. Got this two from Lisa's Handmade Babywear. Aren't they cute? I just love it. She makes them nicely and I am very satisfied with what I got. I can't wait to put it on the baby, hehe! Can you tell that I am very excited? I am but there are actually times that I am scared as well. I don't know but I just get paranoid sometimes. I just pray everything's gonna be fine with the baby and me during delivery.
How my baby's growing:
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.