How big is Maddox? - 36 weeks

4 weeks to go until our due date!! We are getting so close!! We have an appointment tomorrow and will have the first internal exam to see how we are progressing. I'll let ya know how that goes.

At this point Maddox is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 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. He swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of his first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, Maddox 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 he'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating his from the outside of your belly. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure Maddox is head down. I guess we will find out for sure tomorrow.

I'll let you know how my appointment goes tomorrow afternoon sometime. Now, I'm going to make a new post with our maternity pictures...YAY!!