BIG Baby Cute.

Baby Cute is 7 pounds, 2 ounces. That's the 90th percentile for size, and the estimate can be off by as much as a pound either way.

What does this mean? Really, nothing yet. Assuming that he gains a half pound a week, we're looking at a 9 pound baby. If he grows faster, or if the measurements are off by a pound on the BIG side, we could be looking at a 10 pound baby. What does THAT mean? Well, we may choose to do a c-section at 39 weeks if he is measuring really large. Or not. It's a wait and see at this point, really. We have another ultrasound scheduled at 39 weeks, and heck, he could arrive closer to his original due date of 10/4 and this could be a non-issue. We'll see!

Initially, I was pretty upset. The thought of just having a C-section and not experiencing labor and delivery really bothers me. But, the more I think about it, Dave was a 9 pound baby, I was 8 pounds, 9 ounces. My Mom had big babies, Dave's a big guy. It would have been weird to have a 6 pound peanut baby... Instead, we are having a monster baby, a.k.a. BBC (big baby cute). Dr. Tucker assured us that if she really feels we need to intervene, she'll let us know. Otherwise, just keep doing what we're doing. Okie dokie.

Everything else is smooth like butta'. I didn't gain any weight this week, my blood pressure was a "little high" (shocker) and other than puffy ankles and feeling a bit awkward, I am doing great. It was so fun to have another ultrasound! It's amazing how much he's grown since our last one! His little face no longer looks skeleton-like, and seeing his little hands and feet moving around in my womb was crazy... they look like "real" baby parts now, instead of miniatures. The other good news is that he is head down and turned the right way for delivery. What a good boy!

We had our first Expectant Parent class as well. Dave and I agreed that we're happy we're not paying for it. It was a lot of stuff we already know and wasn't presented in a way that kept us on the edge of our seats. We did watch videos of the various stages of labor, that was interesting, as was sitting in a room full of preggos and their partners. It wasn't a total waste of our time, but again, I may be bitter if our insurance wasn't picking up the tab.

36 weeks today. Wowee.

Baby Center: Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little under 19 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.

Baby Gaga: The countdown continues… and in fetal developments: most of the bones (soft skull aside) in their little body are now completely hardened, providing a solid structure from which they can now make their grand debut into the world. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are structurally ready for a secure launch. In physical fitness news: their muscle tone has also improved over these past few weeks, and you’ll definitely be impressed by their steel-like Ulnar grasp (a newborn reflex that occurs if you lay your finger in their palm). And in genital development: if you’re having a girl, her labia are now fully developed. Finally, in the fluids/excretion department: the amniotic fluid-to-baby ratio has fallen over these past weeks, although they’re still swallowing fluid (building up even more meconium for that historic first poop), and some vernix caseosa. They will be more than ready to swallow and digest milk after birth. Just in case you didn’t get it quite yet: you’ve got yourself an adorable and hungry 6.5 lbs 20 inch baby—are you ready?