WEEK 35!!!!

New News!

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

From now on, baby's growth is mostly in the plumping up department -- though he won't get much longer, he'll put on a pound or more of baby fat before birth. (He's about 15 percent right now and will be about 30 percent by full-term.) His hearing is totally developed (tip: baby responds best to higher pitches), and if he really is a "he," his testes have probably completed their descent.

Got iron? It's very important to eat lots of iron-rich food in the third trimester. Your baby absorbs this crucial mineral from your body to build up iron stores in his own body, mostly in the form of red blood cells. The majority of the absorption takes place in the final months before delivery.

Heads or tails. "Should my head be up or down?" The head-down, or vertex, position is the ideal position for birth. Labor goes more smoothly when the baby's head, the largest body part, comes through the birth canal first. About 3 to 4 percent of babies haven't flipped to this position by 35 weeks. If something other than the head appears first, the delivery is called a breech birth. Amazingly, despite the tight quarters in your uterus, your little acrobat may turn several more times before he's born.

Measuring up. Your baby's arms and legs are getting chubbier as he continues to gain weight. By the end of this week, he may weigh up to 5.5 pounds and measure around 16.8 to 18.5 inches long.

At more than five pounds and between sixteen and twenty inches, your baby is becoming more ready for birth with every passing hour. He's the size of a small roasting chicken. His nervous system and immune system are still maturing, and he's adding the fat that he'll need to regulate his body temperature. But, everything else, from his toenails to the hair on his head, is fully formed. If he were born now, he'd have more than a ninety-nine percent chance of surviving!

So, we had an extremely busy week and weekend that just happened! I would like to thank my Chi-O ladies for a wonderful shower! It was so good to see you and I had a wonderful time :) THANKS!!! We also went to Amanda Moloy's bachelorette party on Sunday at Lake Monroe- which ended up being really fun and nice weather! She gets married this weekend-yay! I would also like to give a shout out to my amazing sister, Alyssa, it's her 21st BIRTHDAY TODAY!!! So Happy Birthday Lyssa---LOVE YOU!

He keeps getting bigger- I'm shocked that he's fitting in me at this point, and I still have 5 weeks to go! I really don't know where he'll fit...we'll wait and see! He should almost be topping the charts at a whopping 6 pounds this week...I was 6 pounds 3 ounces when I was born! So, he'll definitely surpass my weight when I was born in his 36 week! He's moving still- not flipping, but definite leg and arm movements...or at least trying to move! I think I will pack the pounds on in this last month because I feel as if I have a tape worm...I've been constantly hungry this last week! It will be interesting to see how big he will actually get now! I'm so excited to meet him and I don't have that much longer! Austin and I have come up with about 4 names that we really like...and will be kept a secret until he's born! So that's once stressor that's gone, now I still have to get his room finished and everything in order before he arrives! I have hit a wall too...not literally, but I am getting more and more uncomfortable and really tired a lot faster then I was before. I also have the waddle down pat! Other tehn that I don't have much to report--he's kicking me as I'm writing this, so I'm guessing he wasnts me to tell you all HELLO! Have a great week!

p.s. I'll post my belly picture tonight!