June 20. I cannot believe that Baby D’s due date is just seven days from now!
Bryan and I celebrated our 6th anniversary on Sunday, which was a lot of fun. We went to a hot and sunny Mallards baseball game here in town. I had a good time at my 10th high school reunion on Saturday night. Anne came over and painted a sunflower on my enormous belly. Baby has been growing ever bigger, and with hot weather in the forecast this week, I imagine I’ll be ready to deliver whenever he wants to join us. Bryan is beside himself with anticipation about meeting him, and each day we’re getting closer to seeing his little feet instead of feeling them push out of my side:) My next (and last scheduled) doctor’s appointment is on Wednesday.
Babycenter.com Update
How your baby’s growing: Your baby’s ready to greet the world!
He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it’s likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) Your baby’s organs are fully developed and in place, and the outer layers of skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.
How your life’s changing:
At each visit, your midwife or doctor will do an abdominal exam to check your baby’s growth and position. She might also do an internal exam to see whether you’ve started effacing (when the cervix thins out) or dilating (when the cervix opens). If the week passes and your baby stays put, don’t panic. Only 5 percent of babies are born on their scheduled due date. And your baby can’t make you wait indefinitely for his arrival. If you go past your due date, your provider will schedule you for fetal testing (usually a sonogram) after 40 weeks to ensure that it’s safe to continue the pregnancy. If you don’t go into labor on
your own, most practitioners will induce labor when you’re between one and two weeks overdue.
Pregnant women on television sitcoms always have their water break dramatically — in the middle of a crowded room, of course — just before going into labor.
Don’t worry about a similar scenario happening to you. Membranes rupture before the beginning of labor in less than 15 percent of pregnancies, and it’s not normally an enormous gush — usually a small gush or a slow leak. In any case, if your water does break (or you even suspect you might have a leak), call your doctor or midwife right away, but stay calm — it may be hours before your first contraction.