Week 36

This week:
-sore: back, legs, hips, feet...neck...everything
-nauseous: mostly at night. I've even had to sleep nearly sitting up several times. blah
-tired: back to needing naps throughout the day, and taking several breaks while cleaning
-having a lot of Braxton hicks contractions, some that stop me in my tracks to focus on breathing
-hot flashes (or something?!). This one is the weirdest to me....It's almost like a nervous thing, but to an extreme. And I've never been like this, so it's really odd. It seems like it only happens when I'm talking to someone (anyone!). I'll get really hot/flushed, and start sweating...I can feel my face and neck turning red and BURNING up! But it doesn't just stop, I stay like that for a few minutes. I'm not a nervous person, so I think it's really weird. I always feel bad when people get embarrassed or nervous when they're talking, lol but now it seems like that's me. Even though I don't even feel like it at all. Hope it goes away soon!
-baby girl is moving a lot, but it's not nearly as uncomfortable. presumably because she's bigger? I don't feel as many jabs, just like a rolling/wiggling motion. I like it better :) But she is HEAVY.
-Thinking about actually being a mom, actually holding her in my arms, talking to a little face, changing her and feeding her...I just get so emotional. I'm nervous and excited. Am I going to be good enough? Will nursing go well? What is she going to look like? Is she going to have my dark hair? Sean's curly hair? What if I feel depressed? Will I be able to love her enough? There are just SO many thoughts going through my head all the time! I am so excited, but it's becoming much more real now. 4 weeks? That sounds like "tomorrow" to me!

Update from babycenter:
our 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.