36 Weeks Pregnant

How my baby's growing:

My 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 (We'll find out exactly when we do our next ultrasound). 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. My 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, my 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. Again we'll find out the specifics this next week.

How my life's changing:

The baby has started to "drop" down into my pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is the first baby. Been feeling an increased pressure in my lower abdomen, which has made walking increasingly uncomfortable, and it's causing me to use the bathroom more frequently. Braxton Hicks contractions are also more frequent now.

I took some time this week to prewash the babies clothes - they are just so darn cute, I felt like I was playing with doll clothes! I realized I can wash a lot more of them at a time than Micah's clothes, however it was quite tedious sorting them, especially those little socks. The onesie that says "Daddy's little alarm clock" is one of my favorites.