Week 37

How far along: 37 weeks – began September 11, 2017.

Size of Baby: Honeydew melon (19 inches, 7 pounds)

Milestones: BB's lungs are just about perfected, and he is basically the length he will be at birth. His reflexes are quite strong, and if I were to put my finger in his palm, he'd grasp it so hard that I could nearly lift him up. BB will be born with about 70 reflexes designed to help him survive on the outside. 

Best Moment This Week: Ever since contractions were picked up on the non-stress test, I've been trying to pay more attention to see if I can detect them. Most of the time, I don't feel anything, but I'll happen to reach down and my belly is very firm. Other times, I experience a little cramping or pain that indicates one's happening. Not feeling every single one, I can't say for sure how many I'm having in a day or how close together they are, but I'm estimating it's between 10-12 a day, once or twice per hour. The OB didn't seem too concerned unless the contractions start getting closer together or my water breaks, of course... Next week, they'll start checking my cervix to see if it's softening/dilating. At my appointment, BB's heart rate was in the 140s-150s and he was still head-down. 

What I’m Looking Forward To: I'm feeling good about all of our preparations for when BB arrives! We had a few stressful days where we couldn't figure out how we were going to keep the bedroom cool enough for BB since the temperature kept spiking into the upper 80s. Maintenance gave us the best air conditioner they had and helped us strategically set up fans to maximize the cooling effect. If we run the air conditioner fairly regularly, it gets down to about 75 degrees, so we can live with that... It's just going to ramp up our electricity bill a little more than we were hoping. At least we'll only have to deal with the heat for a few months, so it's not the end of the world. 

What I Miss The Most: Trying to soak in the last few weeks of this pregnancy. I feel like I've been pregnant forever lol and it will be bittersweet having BB on the outside rather than snug in my belly. At the same time, it will be freeing being able to eat sushi again, go jogging, sleep on my stomach, and not worry about how everything I take or do affects him. 

Symptoms: Besides the contractions off and on, there hasn't been anything new. I've been a little neurotic about cleaning and organizing for a while now, but I guess you can say that's been on overdrive. 

Cravings: Cream cheese and bagels has continued to be a go-to, along with an occasional piece of cheesecake, and I found a low carb fruit-based popsicle that I have sometimes.