36 Weeks

I'm 9 months pregnant!!! Only a month to go! I can't believe it. I'm on the homestretch and feeling very excited. I had a Dr. appointment today and from now on I see them every week! They did an internal exam today and from the looks of things, baby won't be making any early appearances, however his head is at station -3 vertex (head down) and is in perfect position! I was confused about this whole "station" business so I found a diagram online that I found helpful. As you can this means the baby hasn't "dropped" yet but is well on his way!

The temperature in my office was in the high 80's on Monday and when I got home from work that night, my feet and ankles were really swollen. I could barely fit my feet into my shoes to drive home. I had to put just my toes into the shoes! What was also strange is that the left ankle and foot was more swollen than the right. I called the Dr. the next morning just to make sure and they checked my blood pressure today. My blood pressure was perfect but they said that what caused it was probably the high temps at work. I'm dreading going back into the office tomorrow. I'm going to try wearing shorts and flip flops tomorrow to see if that makes me more comfortable, but we'll see. I just have a few more weeks to go with work and then I can be at home.

What is baby up to this week?

The countdown continues… and in fetal developments: most of the bones (soft skull aside) in their little body are now completely hardened, providing a solid structure from which they can now make their grand debut into the world. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are structurally ready for a secure launch. In physical fitness news: their muscle tone has also improved over these past few weeks, and you’ll definitely be impressed by their steel-like Ulnar grasp (a newborn reflex that occurs if you lay your finger in their palm). And in genital development: if you’re having a girl, her labia are now fully developed. Finally, in the fluids/excretion department: the amniotic fluid-to-baby ratio has fallen over these past weeks, although they’re still swallowing fluid (building up even more meconium for that historic first poop), and some vernix caseosa. They will be more than ready to swallow and digest milk after birth. Just in case you didn’t get it quite yet: you’ve got yourself an adorable and hungry 6.5 lbs 20 inch baby—are you ready? At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term.