Week 36 ~ Freezer Meals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your baby's the size of a honeydew!

She's still in the 17.2- to 18.7-inch and 4.2- to 5.8-pound range and continues to beef up. 

 

 Your due date is just four weeks away. Hasn’t time flown? Your once-poppy seed would probably be able to breathe on his own if he was born right now. (If not, he’d probably need some TLC, but he’d likely be okay.) Most of his systems are in working order at 36 weeks. Since baby really could decide to make his arrival any day now, try to put in a little prep work. For example, if you took a child birth class a few months ago, you might want to reread any materials you were given and practice some of the breathing techniques you learned with your partner. Go over your plan for getting to the hospital, and all the what-ifs (like, if you go into labor while you’re at work, will you go home first or straight there?). Week 36 is also a good time to enjoy a date with your partner. We’re guessing you won’t be up for dancing, but a nice dinner might be just what you two could use.  www.thebump.com

How your baby's growing:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's 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. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.
At the end of this week, your 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.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

How your life's changing:

Now that your baby is taking up so much room, you may have trouble eating a normal-size meal. Smaller, more frequent meals are often easier to handle at this point. On the other hand, you may have less heartburn and have an easier time breathing when your baby starts to "drop" down into your pelvis. This process — called lightening — often happens a few weeks before labor if this is your first baby. (If you've given birth before, it probably won't happen before labor starts.) If your baby drops, you may also feel increased pressure in your lower abdomen, which may make walking increasingly uncomfortable, and you'll probably find that you have to pee even more frequently. If your baby is very low, you may feel lots of vaginal pressure and discomfort as well. Some women say it feels as though they're carrying a bowling ball between their legs!

Video

Inside pregnancy: Labor and birth

 

Contractions begin and the cervix gradually opens. See the stages of labor and watch a baby being born.

 

You might also notice that your Braxton Hicks contractions are more frequent now. Be sure to review the signs of labor with your practitioner and find out when she wants to hear from you. As a general rule, if you're full-term, your pregnancy is uncomplicated, and your water hasn't broken, she'll probably have you wait to come in until you've been having contractions that last for about a minute each, coming every five minutes for an hour. Of course, you'll want to call right away if you notice a decrease in your baby's activity or think you're leaking amniotic fluid, or if you have any vaginal bleeding, fever, a severe or persistent headache, constant abdominal pain, or vision changes.
Even if you're enjoying an uncomplicated pregnancy, it's best to avoid flying (or any travel far from home) during your final month because you can go into labor at any time. In fact, some airlines won't let women on board who are due to deliver within 30 days of the flight.

www.babycenter.com

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Just a quick note to share that now is the perfect time to start doubling or tripling your meals each night so you have plenty available for after the baby's birth.  

 

I have an established monthly meal schedule in place.  Each night that i have a casserole or crock pot meal, meaning one that can be frozen, I not only make the meal for that night, but i make two more to freeze, one for January, one for February in this case.  This way we can still follow my monthly meal menu but i don't have to make dinner each night, just thaw and heat up.  

 

The past two weeks I have frozen 12 meals already, mainly casseroles.  It really isn't hard to do.  You just need to plan ahead to make sure you have enough ingredients on hand!

A little work now, will prevent a lot of headache later!!!