36 weeks

How your baby's growing: 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.

How your life's changing: Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.

Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying (or any travel far from home) during your final month because you can go into labor at any time. In fact, some airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within 30 days of the flight.

How I'm doing: I'm definitely starting to slow down. I walk much slower than I used to and get tired a lot quicker. I think this is partly due to just carrying around so much extra weight and also because I can't take a deep breath in. I don't think the baby has dropped yet but I'm looking forward to that soon so I have some lung capacity back. Even a few weeks ago I couldn't imagine the baby being high up enough to "kick me in the ribs" like pregnant women often talk about but now that happens all the time. My belly now starts above the bottom of my ribs. This reduced lung capacity also makes things like sneezing, coughing and yawning a lot less satisfying and sometimes a little painful if I inhale too much air.

I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions fairly regularly. Usually at least a few times a day. For me they feel a little bit like a menstrual cramp that comes and goes in waves. They aren't really painful but definitely don't feel pleasant. A couple of nights ago I had about 8 in a row that lasted for almost a minute and were every 3-4 minutes. I knew I wasn't in real labor because they didn't hurt, I could still do something else during the contraction (I didn't have to concentrate), and as soon as I got up and changed positions they went away. The real test of true labor is to change what you're doing and see if the contractions continue. In our birthing class we're also taught to look for "emotional signposts" to determine what stage of labor we're in. If I still have a smile on my face, I'm not in active labor. This is actually how our midwives determine if it's time to come in to the hospital. They can tell by the tone in our voice when we call in if we're really in labor or not and how far along we might be.

I will be 37 weeks on Friday which will mark this pregnancy making it to full-term. I'm very exciting about this cutoff since it means the baby could be coming at any time.