36 weeks!

Whew! Busy week, there wasn't any time for other entries. Nor was there really anything worth blogging about, so all is well.

We had a very nice visit from Grandpa and Grandma Sneed this weekend. They took lots of photos of me and my belly for keepsakes, as the next time they see me, I'll have had the baby! We visited the Museum of Naval Aviation today, which had a ton of exhibits, too many to see in one afternoon. We'll most definitely go back, probably when our family comes to visit after baby.

Here's our babycenter.com update for the week:

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.

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. 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 into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

She hasn't dropped yet, but she already presses on my lower abdomen a lot. I hope it doesn't get too uncomfortable when she does finally drop. If so, I may have to take time off from work after my orientation is finished in two weeks. Anyway, here's my big, cumbersome, bladder-squishing belly:

(note the wrist braces - you can't see it, but they're on both hands) The carpal tunnel is worsening as I retain more water and gain more weight. My fingertips are always numb. Blood pressure is all normal, though.

Thanks for checking in!