Tuesday, April 12, 2011

36 Weeks!

THIRTY SIX weeks!  Wow!  I am really feeling the pressure to finalize everything around here.  I know that some things can still be done after Ruby gets here, but....it's nice to have a deadline and make ourselves get it done.
I made a list of what I need to pack for the hospital.  I've got a list for my labor/delivery bag, another "staying" bag, the diaper bag for baby stuff, and a list for the kids' bags for wherever they end up while we are at the hospital.  I also made a list of stuff I want to be sure to have on hand at home once we get back.  I remember trips to the pharmacy for various post partum supplies and want to go ahead and have that done ahead.
Now...I just need to actually get all the stuff and pack the bags!
There are only three "big" things on the list that I need to purchase...a robe, the parts for our breastpump, and a nursing bra.  The rest is random little items.
Here's more about week 36:
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds 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.

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