36 Weeks!

As of today, I am 36 weeks pregnant! Oh.....my.....goodness! We are SO very close! Pregnant friends are starting to give birth to their babies or are within weeks or days of giving birth. This is getting very real folks!

As of 36 weeks, Baby J now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He is contuining to pack on the pounds at the rate of about an ounce a day. 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. Baby J will end up swallowing both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of his first bowel movement. Fun times, lol!

At the end of this week, Baby J 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.) Woohoo! This is such great news! As long as he stays in there for another week, he will have all his sprinkles and shouldn't require any additional treatment after birth. He is currently in a head-down position, which he has been in for quite some time, so I feel very lucky that additional coaxing will not be needed for Baby J.

Now that Baby J is taking up so much room, I seem to be having trouble eating a normal size meal. I ate an entire chicken biscuit (please note that this is not something difficult to do) from Chick-fil-A this past Friday morning and I felt sick afterwards, ugh! If I do eat a normal size meal, I definitely feel the consequences which usually includes a lot of heartburn and acid reflux, yuck! I am looking forward to the day when Baby J drops a little lower and allows me to breathe easier and have less heartburn. There is a downside though, that will only mean more frequent trips to the restroom.

He keeps growing and growing and growing......as do I!

Say hello to my little friend!

Chris mentioned tonight that he thought he had gained some weight, so he suggested that we include his updated belly pic. I think he's gotten skinnier!