7
ericamelondrea
I can’t believe we are at 9 MONTHS now! Holy smokes!!! How exciting and scary!
What I’m Doing Currently: Lunch! and reading “The Mockingjay”.
Sleep: has improved again! I swear..it’s insane how each week differs from each other! I still have to get up about once a night to go to the bathroom, but oh my goodness I am in love with these nasal strips! I no longer have to get up throughout the night needing a drink, or waking up in the morning with super chapped lips! Anthony says they have made a BIG difference on my breathing (aka snoring..hehe).
Gender: It’s a surprise!
Names: We have the boy name picked out, but guess what? It’s a surprise! Still working on the girl name. Why is it so difficult?!
Symptoms/Movement: Movement has gone down a tad-especially in the morning. But I chalk it up to not having a whole lot of room TO move! We are getting close!
I now get menstrual-like cramps and Braxton Hicks multiple times a day. Just the other day, while working, my stomach was hard as a rock for most of the night! I mentioned this to doc, but he wasn’t concerned and told me that will happen as we get closer. I am also exhausted quite a bit. I am really hoping to get some energy back before LO gets here, because the list of “To Dos” hasn’t really budged much. Also, my feet have been swelling like I’ve never seen! I don’t recognize my feet anymore! One evening, I could barely even put my crocs on, which happen to be the only things that fit right now!
Cravings: Chocolate, as usual, but other than that, this section has been kind of boring.
Pondering: My long list of things to do. I have also made a new game with myself. Everywhere we go, I wonder what would happen if my water were to suddenly break right then and there, or if I suddenly started getting actual contractions. I then end up making a game plan of what we would do and where we would go. Like I said, I feel like a ticking time bomb!
Favorite moment this week: Visiting the family for the weekend! Also, Anthony had his head on my belly and suddenly, he said he could hear LO’s heartbeat! It was so awesome! He was so amazed! Such a cool moment!
What’s going with Little One this 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.
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 she’s in a head-down position. But if she 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 her from the outside of your belly.
