36 Week Growth...

How your baby's growing: 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.

Your baby is working hard to accumulate all the fat she can, in preparation for delivery. Her body is growing rounder every day, since about 15 percent of her total weight is now made up of fat. Once she is born, this fat layer will help her maintain her body temperature and give him a reliable energy source.
*Baby now weighs around six pounds and is 20.7 inches long.
*Major organ development is already complete, such as the kidneys and liver.
*Some fine-tuning, such as the final development of the lungs, is still taking place inside the womb.
*Baby's head is round, but by the time she makes it through the birth canal it may be temporarily a bit misshapen as the soft bones of the skull are compressed by powerful contractions. Her head shape will return to normal within a few days.


How your life's changing: While your baby continues to grow and crowd your internal organs, you may find that you're not as hungry as you were a few weeks ago. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to drop down lower in your pelvis. This dropping — called lightening or engagement — is more likely to happen before labor if this is your first baby. When it does, though, you may feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, making walking increasingly uncomfortable. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs, or as if the baby is going to fall out. (Don't worry, she won't!)

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are a little more frequent now. Be sure to review with your practitioner exactly when and where to call her when you think your labor has started. As a general rule, you should call when you start having regular contractions coming every five minutes for about an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you're not yet 37 weeks and have signs of preterm labor. You should also call without delay if your water breaks (or if you even think you're leaking amniotic fluid), if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, severe headaches, abdominal pain, or changes in your vision. Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying during your final month, when you're more likely to go into labor. In fact, many airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within seven or sometimes 30 days of the flight. (No worries, I would like to stay put...)

With a month of pregnancy to go, you'll probably continue to gain weight, although the majority of your pregnancy weight gain has occurred.
If you've been experiencing heartburn, the baby's movement down toward your cervix may ease that discomfort. Your appetite may return because the baby is no longer putting as much pressure on your stomach and intestines.
As Baby grows larger, and amniotic fluid volume decreases, it's not as easy for her to move around. This may lead to an alteration in the sensation of fetal movements. For some women, it feels as if the baby is not moving as much as it had been, but everything is just fine. Things are just getting a bit crowded inside the uterus.