Week 37 - Full Term

Full term!  It's hard to believe in no more than two weeks, we'll be out numbered at home with three children.  We're very excited to meet our little man soon!  A little nervous too!  He's still a pretty active mover!  I feel him kicking and punching a lot.  He's head down and I get a lot of punches in my pelivc bone area.

I had an appointment with Nurse Hilbert today.  I brought Natalie with me.  I thought she'd like to hear her little brother's heart beat.  She thought it was pretty neat.  It was cute having her there.  His heart rate jumped around a lot from about 130 to 160 bpm depending on whether he was kicking or not.  I'm measuring on track at 37 weeks.  She did an internal exam because I'd really like to hear if my body is making progress even though I know I'll have to have a c-section.  As I expected, no progress yet.  I did find out my Group B Streph test was negative which is good news.

Yesterday my book club surprised me with some baby gifts which was really sweet.  They all got me some boy baby clothes which was greatly appreciated.  It was great having a little "baby shower" for him since being our third child, there typically isn't a baby shower.  And I definitely needed more clothes for the little guy.

Last weekend, we set up the Pack N Play, pulled out the bouncers and exersaucer, and figured out how we're going to install the car seat.  We're not going to install it until I go into the hospital since we'll have to put the girls in the third row which is hard to get at while pregnant.  This weekend, I planning to go through the containers of the girls old clothes to find our newborn cloth diapers and also to pack my bag.  I think that's all we have left to do to prepare for the arrival of this little guy.

This week has been pretty tough for me.  I continue to have a lot of back, knee and feet pain.  I don't get as much opportunity to put my feet up and rest with two toddlers and a full time job.  I'm overall exhausted and uncomfortable almost all the time.  Earlier this week, I was having a horrible time sleeping because my arms kept falling sleep no matter how I laid.  Thankfully, it's gotten a little better.  I'm still waking up to pee all the time and have to readjust frequently but it's not every 30 minutes.  I've also started swelling a lot and with that I'm getting itchy hands again like I did with Natalie.  My hands are puffy, and my ankles and cafes are expanding.  My shoes feel tighter too. 

According to what I've read, our baby is now surrounded by a peak volume of 1,000 mL of amniotic fluid which is approximately equal to 4 cups. From this point on this amount will decrease gradually. His nervous system is maturing now, almost ready to be on his own. The lanugo on our baby's skin is wearing off. In addition, the cortisone that is being produced by his endocrine system will help his lungs to take over the job of delivering oxygen to his blood stream after birth.  Our baby weighs about 6.5 pounds and has a crown-to-rump length of about 14 inches.