4 Weeks!

Hello everyone!

Well, this week has been uneventful... which is good... no more DRAMA! I have started to have some issues with swelling in my feet and ankles, but nothing that is a medical concern. They are usually pretty normal in the morning and then swell nicely by bedtime. It probably doesn't help that i sit in front of a computer 24 hours a day.

I can't believe the time is coming so quickly. Please just pray for the next weeks to come, the delivery, and the adjustment afterwards. This is an exciting but intense change in our lives. Love you all!

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Baby Update:
Your baby is still putting on the pounds — about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little less than 19 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the creamy substance that covered and protected his skin during its submersion in amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, which will stay in his bowels until birth. This blackish mixture,
called meconium, will become his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Babies between 37 and 42 weeks are considered full-term; a baby born before 37 weeks is pre-term and after 42 is post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position by now, which is optimal for a smooth delivery, but if he isn't in the next week, your provider 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 manually, by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

Baby Image at 36 weeks:
http://www.babycenter.com/general/1498744.html