36 weeks and a (very) quick update

BabyCenter:

Your baby is still putting on the pounds — about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little less than 19 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the creamy substance that covered and protected her skin during its submersion in amniotic fluid. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, which will stay in her bowels until birth. This blackish mixture, called meconium, will become her 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 she's in a head-down position by now, which is optimal for a smooth delivery, but if she 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 her from the outside of your belly.

iVillage:

Your baby weighs about 5 to 5 1/2 pounds and is approximately 16 1/2 to 17 inches in length. Even though your baby is gaining rapidly, you may find that your weight is beginning to stabilize. Some mothers even lose one to two pounds during the final month while others continue to gain about one pound per week.

BabyZone:

It’s getting cramped in there! Kicking and shoving have replaced the early swooping and rolling—there’s simply no more room! She is about 17 inches long and weighs about five pounds. From now on her growth will be slow and steady as she continues to put on weight and fill out.

And then there's me . . .. We've run a few fire-drills, thinking that "today might be the day" and spent a couple days in L&D with concerns over my Pre-E (which now appears to be impending HELLP Syndrome, based on dropping platelet levels, etc). Thus far, we're hanging in there. We've had several Non-Stress Tests thus far, and Caroline seems to be tolerating things just fine. We also had a Biophysical Profile sonogram that estimated her at 6lbs 8oz at 34 weeks and 6 days (but, we all know how those big heads throw off the estimate calculations!). I go in again on Thursday, when we'll have another look at my blood counts (including platelets and liver enzymes) and another Biophysical Profile, as well as another Non-Stress Test and see from there what the determination might be.

Good thing my Dr warned us over a month ago "not to embroider that c-section date on anything just yet!" I'm just glad we've held out 2 weeks longer than it initially looked like - every day she keeps cooking is one day bigger and stronger. I'll take them where I can get them.

Anyway, back to lay on my left side . . ..