Week 37 ~ Full Term!

Dear Ellison,

You are 37 weeks old now!  We are officially full term!  You are weighing in at around 6.5 pounds and are a little over 19 inches from head to heel.  At this point, your lungs are likely mature enough to fully function on their own outside the womb.  You are gaining about 1/2 ounce per day and are working on your first sticky poop (meconium).  You're brushing up on some skills for the outside world and are perfecting blinking, sucking, inhaling, exhaling, and gripping.  Here are the little details of the week...

How Far Along? Thirty Seven Weeks...21 days to go!

Weight Gain? We'll get a definite number at the OB appointment this week, but I think we're right around 32 pounds.

Sleep?  It stinks.  Really.  I'm just never quite rested enough.  I am very, very ready to start sleeping on my belly again!
Miss Anything? Sleeping.  :-)   Guess I'd better just get over that though!

Movement?  She's still moving all the time.  I can definitely tell she's running out of room in there though.  She's really aggressive!  Lots of giant rolls and pokes with her elbows/knees/heels/other pointy body parts.

Food Cravings? Same stuff.  I got some great nectarines this week that made me very happy!  I am eating much smaller meals now more often throughout the day.  There just isn't very much room in there for big meals, but I get hungry more often.

Any Aversions? Definitely still eggs, but I have gotten a teeny bit better about chicken lately.
Gender? It's a GIRL ~ Ellison Gray.

Symptoms?  Major Braxton Hicks contractions this week.  Ouch.  I'm also still having a little swelling in my ankles and hands.  I can't wear my wedding rings anymore which makes me really sad!  I can get them on, and the mornings are usually fine, but they get much more snug throughout the day.  So I just made the executive decision to retire them till this swelling nonsense goes away.

Best Moment this Week? I think we can officially say that we are 100% ready for Ellison's arrival.  Our bags are all packed, the car seat's in the car, & baby clothes are washed.  If she shows up now, we really won't have anything left on our to do list. (Other than the fact that I should really make an appointment to have my hair cut before she arrives!)  It feels great to be so ready, but I also wish I had a little project to keep me busy for the next couple of weeks.  I've seriously packed, unpacked, and repacked Ellison's hospital bag four or five times!  :-)

Looking Forward To... We will see our OB again this week for our 37 week appointment.  I'm hoping these weekly visits will help make the next couple of weeks go by fast!  And - I'm just looking forward to meeting our baby girl!!  We are so close!!  We're so, so ready for her to be here!!  Come on, Ellison!  :-)