WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOU

Congratulations! Even though you are about three weeks from your due date, if your baby weighs over five and one half pounds and you finish the 37th week, your baby is considered "full term." In most cases, nothing will be done to stop your labor once it starts.

You may be counting the days until your baby's official due date. Remember that only about five percent of babies are born on their due date -- including those with a due date determined by ultrasound! Don't set yourself up for disappointment by concentrating heavily on the "magic" day.

If you are having your first baby your baby may have "dropped" into your pelvis. The process of engagement or "lightening" in a woman who has already given birth is a phenomenon usually reserved for labor. True engagement is the fixing of the fetal presenting part -- usually the head -- at the level of the mid pelvis, or at the level of the ischial spines.

WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH YOUR BABY

Gaining one half to one ounce each day, your baby is growing rapidly. Most babies are larger than five pounds, eight ounces now and have enough fat stores to keep their temperature stable in the extrauterine environment.