Saturday I got my non-shower day of shopping with my mom and grandma in. We hit Babies’R'Us first and I had to physically put them away from the clothing section. The child has more clothing than both Eric and I combined. He definitely does not need anymore. We made out like bandits. Between the multitude of coupons I had and the awesome sales woman who gave us three (count em, 3) 15% off coupons, we saved about $60 on everything. We then hit Target for one thing because, well, Babies’R'Us is the definitive end all, be all of baby stores and we managed to get pretty much everything there.

We also got all of his diapers in on Friday. They are washed, sorted by size, likelihood of use, plausible place of use (out or home) and folded in their proper prefold fold so all we have to do is whip them out, lay them flat and lie the child on them. The changing table is set up. The crib that we will probably never use is set up. The bag is packed. The co-sleeper has been set up just to see how we’d sleep with it there. I have read all my baby books twice. I am now completely ready for this child…at least, gear-wise.

10 days. Dear God, 10 days.

Your baby has really fattened up. She likely weighs between 6 and 7 1/2 pounds now (boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls), and she’s probably between 19 and 20 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which you’ll soon be able to test with your pinky! Her organs are fully developed and in place, but her lungs and brain — though developed enough for her to function now — will continue to mature right through childhood.

Wondering what color your baby’s eyes will be? You may not be able to tell right away. If your baby is born with brown eyes, they’ll likely stay brown. If she’s born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she’s 9 months old. That’s because a child’s irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she’s born, but they won’t get “lighter” or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

10:30am
Financial – 1:00pm

About a week ago, the child did some very strange rolly-polly move in my belly and suddenly I was being kicked and punched on both sides of my belly at the same time. I could no longer feel his feet in my ribs, either. Logic dictated that, “Shit, the child has flipped himself sideways” or transverse, for you folks who know what the hell you’re talking about. What other reason could there be for getting raging flails on both sides of my body? I was convinced it was due to those damn exercises, which I will never be doing again, just in case. Plus, the squats made it impossible for me to climb stairs for 3 days.

I bitched and moaned for the entire week about how shitty it was that the kid was sideways. How I was going to have to have a c-section now and how he was doing it just to be a total brat. I threatened to ground him for the rest of eternity unless he did the rolly-polly move the other way, ASAP. I told him I was going to tell on him to the midwives if he didn’t flip. No flipping.

So, today at my appointment I told on him. “I think he may have moved sideways,” I said.
“Let’s check,” she said.
Here’s where she proceeded to grab my belly, trying to find his head…and it hurt, again. It really hurt again. “Huh, I can’t find anythin…OH! There he is…he’s way down here.” Apparently his rolly-polly move was to sufficiently wiggle his way down into my pelvis. His head is so low, she was nearly grabbing my lady bits. I repeat, it hurt.

So. the child’s head is all the way down. My inability to lift my legs without severe pain is completely normal. The fact that my right foot has been swollen for days is completely normal. I’m having contractions every morning for an hour or so starting at about 7am, and it’s completely normal. I had contractions while in the waiting room, also completely normal. Somehow, I’m still pretty sure the child won’t be coming anytime in June but honestly, at this point, I’m very nearly hoping for it.

Congratulations! Your pregnancy is now considered full term — meaning your baby is developmentally ready to handle life outside the womb. (Babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 weeks are post-term.) Your baby probably weighs a little over 6 pounds at this point and measures between 19 and 20 inches, head to heel.

Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don’t be surprised if your baby’s hair isn’t the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children are born blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.