How the baby is growing at 36 weeks

Our baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. He now weighs more than 6 pounds and is around 19 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.

At the end of this week, the 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.) He’s in a head-down position and ready to come out and meet Mommy and Daddy.