Week 36 - It is time for the babies to come

We had an interesting day on Thursday. We went to our specialist appointment and found out that Baby B fell off the growth chart. We were hoping she would weigh at least 5lbs but she was only 4 1/2 lbs. Baby A is doing well and weighs 5 1/2 lbs. His head is pretty far down in my pelvis so it is not very comfortable. The specialist feels that the latest they want to keep them in is Nov 6th, so we have a due date. We will have monitoring appointments just about everyday between now and next Friday. They will be monitoring for pre-eclampsia, stress for the babies, and placenta activity.

Babies progress:
Your babies are still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. They now weigh almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. They are shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered their body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected their skin during their nine-month amniotic bath. Your babies swallow both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of their first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your babies 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 they are in a head-down position.