My due date is four weeks from today. FOUR WEEKS. 28 days. I'm full term in only one week. How is that even possible? (I mean, I know how it came to be and how it really has been almost 40 weeks since I saw those two little lines, but...It's just so surreal to be here!)
I THINK my nesting instinct is kicking in for real. What no one tells you is that your nesting instinct is really just panic when you realize all the stuff that you want to get done before your baby comes. Bean's room is an absolute disaster area, but it's easily fixed with a couple loads of laundry and some quick organizing.
My to-do list is coming along nicely. Hopefully Jacob does his stuff this weekend. If that happens, all we'll have to do is my cleaning section, get the car seats installed and pack our bags for the birth! I feel really good about where we are regarding the to-do list, which is a really nice way to feel!
Lastly, today I have had bouts of extreme hunger every two hours. I'll eat a normal amount of food and then two hours later, it'll feel like I haven't had anything to eat for hours and hours! It is bizarre and slightly exhausting. I wonder what it means?
How I'm Feeling
As usual, I'm feeling pretty good! Having a few more aches and pains. I actually experienced my first pregnancy-related back pain only yesterday. I think I got really lucky with that one! I feel like I have a lot of energy most of the time, but crash REALLY hard when I run out of said energy. So, I'm trying to find a good balance that will help me utilize the energy well without overdoing it.
My Braxton-Hicks contractions are becoming stronger, although it seems as if the frequency has gone down a little bit. I had a couple days of semi-frequent BH contractions, but I figured out that they only happened when I sat a certain way, so I stopped doing that and it seemed to help. It's weird to actually be able to feel the contractions now, although they're not painful at all. I can also tell that Bean has really dropped. I'm going to ask Nora if s/he is "engaged" or not, because I think s/he is, but I obviously am not the expert. Our next appointment is this Thursday, and then we'll see her every Thursday after that until Bean comes!
What Bean's Doing
(taken from babycenter.com and womenshealthcaretopics.com)
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.
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Your baby is still working on putting on weight during pregnancy week 36. While that may not seem very exciting, keep in mind this is his primary job from now until delivery. Round babies are healthy babies. This is probably the one time in your baby's life they can put on pounds with wild abandon. If you were to peak inside your womb, you'd probably see your baby giddy with glee.
Did you know that some researchers believe your baby actually releases a signal to trigger labor? There are actually several different theories. Some believe that when your baby's brain is completely mature it sends a signal to the fetal adrenal glands. These glands then start to secrete the hormone cortisol, which may alter the metabolism of estrogen and progesterone, resulting in labor.
Other researchers have postulated that the fetal lungs secrete signals indicating they are mature, as well as enzymes that result in the release of
prostaglandins, which help the cervix ripen and help the uterus to contract. This is highly likely as the body does release
prostaglandins around the time of birth.
Other Interesting Stuff(taken from childbirthconnection.com)
By the end of the 36
th week of pregnancy, the enlarged uterus almost fills the abdominal cavity, despite the fact that the cavity is greatly expanded by the stretching of its front and side walls. The well-developed, plump baby, in the membranous sac within the uterus, lies wholly within the abdominal cavity, with the abdominal muscles supporting much of its weight. During this week, the
fundus is at the tip of the
xiphoid cartilage of the breastbone, which is shown pushed forward. The liver, transverse colon, stomach, and spleen (which is behind the upper portion of the stomach) are crowded into the vault of the abdominal cavity. The small intestines are crowded above, behind, and to the sides of the uterus. The diaphragm is pressed upward, reducing the vertical diameter of the chest cavity sometimes as much as 4 centimeters; to compensate, the space on the side, front, and back of this cavity increases. The capacity of the chest cavity is not diminished. This displacement of the diaphragm changes the position of the heart, and the increased blood volume may cause the heart to dilate slightly.
Although there is an increase in the amount of blood pumped from the heart per minute and in the amount of air respired per minute, the change in the position of the heart and the upward pressure of the diaphragm probably account for the difficult breathing and the smothered feeling you may experience during this week. The crowding of the stomach and intestines contributes to the discomfort after eating.
