4 weeks or less!

How far along? 36 weeks (and 1 day)

Due Date: August 2, 2011

Total weight gain/loss: 24 pounds.  I was really disappointed about my 4 pound weight gain last week, but this week I didn't gain anything, so I feel a little better.

Maternity clothes? Pretty much everything at this point and I may never return to regular pants since maternity pants are so comfortable!

Stretch Marks? There is one little spot on my right hip that I can't tell if it's a stretch mark in the making or not.  Other than that, none.

Sleep:  Pretty terrible again.  Waking up every hour or 2 to go pee and change positions.

Best moment this week:  Feeling like I have most everything accomplished that I wanted to get done before Baby Girl gets here. 

Movement: She's still very active, but has yet to flip head down.  I have my C-section scheduled for August 2nd, but will be changing that to the week before while I'm at my doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Food cravings: Seafood!

Food aversions: Chicken and eggs, although I have been able to eat a Chik-Fil-A sandwich here and there.

  

Gender: Girl (if not, this little boy is gonna have one brightly colored room and a lot of dresses to wear)

Labor Signs:  I stopped my Procardia this week and have continued to have about the same amount of contractions every day, but now some of them feel like strong menstrual cramps.  At my doctor's appointment last week, my cervix was still closed, but it was 50% effaced and soft, so it makes me wonder if I'll even make it to my scheduled C-section date in 3 weeks.  This also makes me a little sad that she hasn't turned because I feel like I would have a good shot at a good labor.

Belly Button in or out? Still in, but getting pretty flat.

What I miss: Walking without my arches of my feet hurting.  All the swelling (which really isn't too terrible compared to some edema I've seen) puts so much pressure on the arches of my feet and they are killing me by the middle of the day.

What I am looking forward to: Being term next week and Matt coming home from Vegas in the next few weeks and then, of course, this baby coming out of me! 

  

Milestones: 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.)