38 Weeks

Your baby continues to grow this week and weighs about 6 to 6.8 pounds. Her crown-to-rump length is still about 14 inches and total length is around 20-21 inches. Most women do not grow any larger during the last few weeks of their pregnancy. From the top of your uterus to your bellybutton is about 6.5 to 7 inches. You may be very uncomfortable now-you are almost there!

Just before real labor contractions start, you might notice false labor contractions. These should not be confused with Braxton-Hicks contractions. False labor contractions can be as strong as real labor contractions, but do not get closer and may go away if you get up to walk around. Contractions help dilate the cervix and encourage your water to break. Your baby could be born any day now, but only 5% of mothers deliver on their actual due date!

Over the last few weeks of pregnancy, your baby has been building up waste materials in the intestines. This waste material is known as meconium and is greenish-black in color. Meconium is made up of cells that your baby has shed, lanugo and other substances. Meconium is the first waste that your baby will pass after birth. However, sometimes babies pass meconium before delivery and are delivered with greenish-black waste covering their body. Special care must be taken when a baby passes meconium in the womb.

The baby's skull is not fully solid as the five bony plates, known as fontanels (little fountains), are still separate and can be pushed together. Birth may mold and elongate the fetal head, a safety precaution to reduce the skull's diameter for an easier birth, without damaging the fetal brain. After delivery, the baby's head returns to a rounded shape. Eyes have no tear ducts yet, they appear a few weeks after birth.

38 Weeks and we are totally ready. Car seat is installed, hospital bags are packed and Friday Joey and I went on a shopping spree and got everything we still needed for when Audrey comes. We even bought a video camera. Now its just a waiting game. I have had no labor signs and the doc didn't check for progress on friday because of the fact that I haven't had any contractions. Audrey is content in there so we are patiently waiting for some sort of action. I am really hoping that she decides to come before I hit the 41 week mark. But her parents are two stubborn people so she just might have that characterisitc already and make us wait longer than we want to. We will see.