Week 36

At the end of this week, miss Lillian will be full term. So, it could happen anytime now or she could be late.... Lillian continues to have less room and it shows! I'm not sure I can really clearly determine what parts of her body are pushing and moving but most of my stomach is hard where she is at. If she hasn't changed positions from the last ultrasound then she is still head down, her back runs along the entire left side of my stomach, and her legs and knees curl up on the top/right side of my stomach. I feel most of her movements on the right side and her feet get lodged in my ribs every once in a while. I thought that would stop happening since she has dropped down but I think it has just given her more room to stretch out when she wants. :)

This past week I've been having more contractions and cramping. They were very different than what they have been before; they tended to start in my back and would wrap around to the front. I was supposed to get a cervical check at my doctors appointment this week; however, my doctor was busy with deliveries so another doctor came down to finish up her appointments. Unfortunately since they don't have malpractice insurance here the doctor didn't do anything they were supposed to be doing at this appointment; a cervical check or my group B strep culture. So, I have to wait until next week to see where I'm at. I've been doing a lot of walking lately to try to bring her down and it seems to be working, she feels a lot lower, pressing on my cervix and hips most of the time. I really didn't think it was possible to waddle more than I already do but Greg says I am.

According to babycenter.com, here is what's going on with Lillian this week:

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of 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 covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her 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 her 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 she's in a head-down position. But if she 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 her from the outside of your belly.