36 Weeks

I think I have officially hit the "I'm uncomfortable and over it" phase of pregnancy. I thought I was bad a few weeks ago, but I was wrong. I'm just going to warn everyone now that this post will have a lot of bitching and moaning so feel free to stop reading NOW.

I feel like Baby V has had a growth spurt over the past week and a half (in fact, according to my scale as of this morning I have put on almost 1.5 lbs in the past 24 hours....how the hell does that happen?!) While I haven't had any direct kicks to my ribs, baby boy's butt certainly has managed to wedge itself up there. This makes sitting for long periods of time and laying in the wrong position very uncomfortable for my rib cage.



As he gets bigger the space for everything else (like my internal organs...example lungs) gets smaller. So the shortness of breath and tightness in my chest are back with vengeance. And the newest "fun" is the sciatic nerve pain that is running from my butt to my ankle which makes sitting squarely on my bum uncomfortable and a bit painful.



OH and I almost forgot to mention how much I miss being able to bend over! You don't realize how much you bend over for things in a day until you cant' anymore. Putting on shoes that need to be tied has become an adventure. And as the hormones increase so does the temperature. On our way to our appointment I had to have the window down because "it was so hot!"....it was 4 degrees out that morning. Poor Justin was bundled up in the car while I felt like I was sitting in a sauna.

We had an appointment with the midwives yesterday. It was quick and uneventful and from this point on I will be going to see them every Tuesday until Baby V makes his big debut. I was tested for Group B Strep which is a bacteria that can be passed to the baby at birth if not treated before. If the test comes back positive (which is not a big deal because apparently it is pretty common) then I will have to be given antibiotics at least 4 hours before delivery. But I have my fingers crossed for a negative result because I would really like to try and avoid having an IV during L/D. On a good note, it looks like Baby V is NOT going to be a monster (fat) baby. I was at 34 cm, his heart was at 140 bpm, and he is still head down.



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.



Lindsey