Update on Serena - 36 Weeks Pregnant

At about 20 inches and five and a half pounds (but with about four more weeks to grow), most of our baby's growth over the next month or so before we meet her will be in weight (with an approximate gain of one ounce per day), not height (she's pretty much reached the in-utero limit in that department). Accordingly, fat continues to accumulate at a rapid pace these days (on Serena, not me, of course...ahem). Back in the middle of the pregnancy, our baby's weight was made up of only two percent fat; now at 36 weeks pregnant, that percentage has soared to closer to 15 percent (and will increase to 30 percent at term). This means our baby's once skinny arms and legs are now quite plump…and irresistibly, squeezably soft.

Also continuing to grow at an amazing pace is our baby's brain power. Luckily, the part that surrounds that amazing brain — the skull — remains soft in preparation for the descent through the birth canal.

Serena has been 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.

At the end of this week, our 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.) She's already in a head-down position in preparation for her birth day!