36 weeks today...

Holy cow -- 4 weeks of this pregnancy left!  I am 36 weeks today.

Here's what's been going on with our little guy, according to babycenter.com:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. He's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered his body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected his skin during his 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 his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely he's in a head-down position. But if he isn't, your practitioner 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 by manipulating him from the outside of your belly.

*Babies who are still breech near term are unlikely to turn on their own. So if your baby is still bottom down at 37 weeks, your caregiver should offer to try to turn your baby to the more favorable head-down position, assuming you're an appropriate candidate.

This procedure is known as an external cephalic version (ECV). It's done by applying pressure to your abdomen and manually manipulating the baby into a head-down position. (If your caregiver is not experienced in this procedure, she may refer you to someone who is.)

ECV has about a 58 percent success rate in turning breech babies (and a 90 percent success rate if the baby is in a transverse lie.) But sometimes a baby refuses to budge or rotates back into a breech position after a successful version. ECV is more likely to work if this isn't your first baby.

2 weeks ago when they told us the baby was breech at my last ultrasound, my OB told me that there were ways to try to turn the baby, meaning that a c-section was not automatically considered at this point.  Also?  We still have 4 weeks for him to turn on his own (I'm praying that's what he does) and at this point, he's transverse so it seems as though he's making his way around.  :)

Whattoexpect.com had some interesting things to say about the baby's progress this week:

Your baby's skull isn't the only soft structure in his little body. Most of your baby's bones and cartilage are quite soft as well (they'll harden over the first few years of life) — allowing for an easier journey as your baby squeezes through the birth canal at delivery (and less prodding and poking for Mom along the way). At 36 weeks pregnant, the skull bones are also not fused together yet so that the head can easily (well, relatively easily) maneuver through the birth canal.

So your little bruiser (who you've now learned won't be bruising you all that much with those soft bones) is now about six pounds in weight and measures slightly more than 20 inches in length. Growth will experience a slowdown now, both so your baby will be able to fit the narrow passageway to the outside and also so he can store up all the energy needed for delivery.

By now, many of your baby's systems are pretty mature, at least in baby terms — and just about ready for life on the outside. Blood circulation, for instance, has been perfected and your baby's immune system has matured enough to protect him from infections outside the womb. Other systems, however, still need a few finishing touches. Once such notable example: digestion — which actually won't be fully mature until sometime after birth. Why's that? Inside his little gestational cocoon, your baby has relied on the umbilical cord for nutrition, meaning that the digestive system — though developed — hasn't been operational. So your baby will take the first year or two to bring that system up to speed.

The picture quality seems a little low, I apologize -- it's been kinda cloudy here today and we had to use the flash on the camera.  That sure doesn't hide the belly, though, huh??

I'm kind of over the whole changing into this "white-tank-pink-workout-pants" outfit that barely fits anymore for my progress photos, but I've got what, 2 more photos to take in it?  If I make it that far.  So I bit the bullet and did it today.  But I also realized that there are very few photos of me in some of my cuter maternity clothes on this blog.  So I decided today to have Jeff take some of me in regular clothes.  That fit.  :)

This is what I wore to church today.  The high was only 67 and it was party cloudy (Hello, fall!  I've been waiting for you!).  My mom got me this shirt when we went on our shopping spree back in August and I've been waiting for the weather to cool so I can wear it.  It's very comfy, and I got lots of compliments on it today.  :)