36 weeks/9 months [praying for Judah]

Development Prayers:
Judah is still packing on the pounds!  At the ultrasound last week, he was almost 5 pounds and now he gains weight at the rate of about an ounce a day. They didn't tell us how tall he was, but at this point the average is 18 1/2 inches long. He's also 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. Judah 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--nice.

At the end of this week, Judah will be considered full-term!  How has this already happened?  He's already in position like I said before, so now it's just a waiting game after next week.

Symptoms:

• I recently got my latest symptom: cracked heels.  They hurt so bad and no matter how much lotion I put on them or how many foot rubs with lotion Joel gives me, they still appear worse than before.  I have an appointment on Monday with the doctor and will ask her if there is anything else I can do.  
• Another new symptom is swelling of the hands and feet.  I don't know how summer preggos do it!  The few days of heat we've had has been torture for my fingers and feet.  Joel and I went walking the other night and I as we were walking in the door, I lifted up my hands and we both went, "Whoa!" Thankfully I had already taken off my rings.  And my feet!  I wore flats to work the other day because we had a special group coming in, so I had to actually wear business attire, and when I took them off, my toes looked like little sausages and my ankles were nearly gone.  When Joel was rubbing my feet that night, he said it even felt like they had fluid in them.  Seriously, summer moms--I have a whole new respect for y'all.
• At night, I now get up every 2-3 hours to go to the bathroom instead of the one time at 3:30 am.  The first time I knew I was in trouble was when I was getting back in bed, thinking it was 3:30 am and seeing on my phone that is was only 11:30 pm.  Guess I should be getting used to those intervals now.  The worst part is that because I wake up so frequently, you don't get that deep sleep cycle that you're used to--maybe having my baby in my arms will make it better or easier?? :)
• I officially have the waddle down.  Or at least that's what someone at work told me recently.  :( But that's a whole other blog post on what guys should an should not say to a pregnant lady.