Week 29: Gender is still deceiving, while size is overachieving!

Whew! I'm overdue to post a prego update. That is mostly due to the fact that, I really don't prefer to pose so much for photos anymore...but my shape and stature is admittedly comical. I do look like a have swallowed a basketball...or melon...or something large and round....

I definitely hit a growth spurt somewhere between weeks 23-24-25. I just seemed to be getting larger, which I totally notice just after afew days. Tyler & I were completely taken aback by my rate of growth. Again, this being our first child, we are totally amateurs and we have no idea to expect.

My 29 week ultrasound indicates that the baby is weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs 7 oz. What weighs 3 lbs 7 oz? My pregancy development = food analogy chart says that is about the

weight of 4 naval oranges. I mailed a package the other day at work that was 4 lbs, which almost maxed out the little office scale we use to calculated postage. Amusingly enough, this open bag of flour that I just happen to have in my pantry is coming in at 3 lbs 6 oz. Wowee!

Apparently the ultrasound technician (who we pelt with questions during every session) seemed to think that the baby was also in the 31 week development stage, due to its weight and apparent size. Whoa - so the baby is a couple of weeks ahead of our gestational calendar.... Zoikes! What did that mean?

Tyler & I have always been concerned about the baby's size and what the baby's birth size will be. I was an 8 pound, 12 ouncer, while Tyler was 10 lbs plus. What weighs 10 lbs? Well, a 10 lb bag of sugar, to be certain. (I thought about this when I was jammin' this summer and purchasing sugar in bulk. Ten pounds...now that is something to fear.) Although I read that it is more the woman's birth size that may influence how she carries and the size of babies she bears, I was still well over the average birth weight, which is somewhere in the 7-8 pound range.

Well after talking it over with my doctor, he was not at all concerned about the baby's current size which was very reassuring. He stated that some babies will go through growth spurts and that he would only be concerned if the baby's development was more than two weeks ahead of our gestational calendar. Whew! (for now.) The Doc also mentioned that he/she was measuring somewhere in the 60th percentile, which is still a-ok.

All of this raised the possibility in my mind of the baby arriving early, especially after recently, when a friend told me that she delivered over a week early because they (she and her doctor) became concerned about the baby's size.... Zoikes! How can I be ready for early? I struggle (sometimes desperately, especially now, since I definitely move alot more slowly than I used to) to make anything on time. I work in a deadline-driven industry, and I'm used to working my fingers to the bone right up until the last millisecond. This happens sometimes, not all the time, but I rely on a firm deadline and using all time available to me until that moment. When I find that I'm early or that I have extra time... well... then I try to do more. I realize it is a bad, endless, cycle. How could I possibly be ready for early?

At this point, I can't really let myself become overly concerned about the baby's arrival being early or on time or late. He or she will arrive whenever and at whatever size, when he or she is ready. I am leaving it up to nature, the powers-that-be and letting it be completely out of my hands, just like the gender issue. I will prepare as best as I can and aim to be in "standby" mentality for the latter half of December, but for now, I will put my feet up, take it easy, and focus on relaxing and tackling all of my nesting projects!