Thursday, July 10, 2008

Miss Jackson is Still Huge, May Be Giantess

At my doctor's appointment this morning the obstetrician demonstrated to a medical student how to palpate the baby and estimate size and weight.  After cupping the baby's head and bottom and showing how she was positioned, the OB said breezily to me, "So I would say your baby is no more than seven pounds or so now... which is good since you are only 35 weeks."  Seven pounds?!  I kind of half-laughed, half-choked as I said, "Isn't that big?"  

I'm actually not worried because (1) I know even ultrasound size estimates are far from accurate, much less an OB's estimate just based on feeling my stomach, and (2) not to get super crunchy but I also believe that my body probably will not grow a baby it can't deliver... it's just funny to think about how she might be huge.  It's funny for now, I should say.  Probably won't be if she actually is gigantic, but we'll worry about that when it's time for her to arrive.  Jake is inexplicably proud that I am growing a "large Polish baby."

Nora also reminded me that some people say large babies are good sleepers, which is a nice comforting thought, although right now she doesn't seem very sleepy at all.  She seems more like a freakishly large insomniac gymnast at this point.  Always moving, this one, and large movements to boot.  It's not a stretch to think that she might wind up being a tad dramatic. The thing is, we just don't know!  We don't know what she'll be like.  This is the most exciting part of pregnancy... wondering about her personality.  We are, needless to say, ready to meet her (although I do want her to wait to come out until (1) her lungs are fully developed and (2) I have a chance to see The Dark Knight in the movie theater).  

Jake's been giving me a hard time about not doing a great job of keeping her name a secret -- I made the mistake of running down a list of people who already knew her name and I had to admit that her name hasn't been as closely guarded as the "Miss Jackson" pseudonym would suggest -- but we were out with friends on Saturday night and Jake slipped and referred to her by her real name TWICE.  I felt vindicated.  

6 comments:

The Comers said...

AM was a 10 pounder. and she slept (and ate) like a champ from the get-go.

Hannah said...

Will Jake let you confirm my guesses, then?

Emilie said...

Ha... I just asked Jake if I could tell you and he said, "No. When you have a security breach, you have to contain the breach, not just say to hell with it."

Plus I think he thinks (probably correctly) that there are only a handful of people who actually care and he wants SOMEONE to be interested when she's born. :)

Emilie said...

I should make it clear, too, that we are not telling some people and keeping other people in the dark. I had just made the mistake of telling some people, hypothetically, in casual conversation, what name we had probably chosen IF she was a girl. Then she turned out to be a girl and we decided since everyone would know the sex ahead of time, we'd keep the name a secret... but I'd already blown it. I kind of hoped/expected a lot of people would forget, but no. (And then some of those people told other people, before they knew that it had been deemed a secret.)

Hannah said...

Tell Jake I am changing my mind on handing Nathan's Pink Floyd shirts down to Miss Jackson.

(Just kidding! I am sending Miss Jackson the Pink Floyd shirts the second Nathan outgrows them. Am dying to get them out of the house. And at Miss Jackson's current growth rate, she should fit into them by December.)

Caroline said...

I was just telling Gwen this week that I cannot wait until you have Miss Jackson so that we can find out her name.

As you get towards the end of your pregnancy you will find that your body will maintain weight or even lose a pound. I bet Miss J is not quite as big as the md estimated... she will turn out to be the perfect size for you. :)