36 Weeks

Erika and the baby hit 36 weeks this week. When we hit the end of this week, the baby will be considered "full term." It could be any day now, but both of us would rather he be on time than early. Erika only has a few call days left, and then she has a couple of weeks off before the due date. It would be nice to have those days, if possible. Here is the latest collage:

As per the tradition of these posts, here is the latest from a biological point of view (courtesy of Baby Center):

Your baby 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. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of his first bowel movement.