More on Big Baby and a trip to the ATL

We're due 2 months from today (a belly picture is soon to come)! I had another dr's appt. this morning, and all is well. I'm 31 weeks along, and I'm measuring at 37 weeks--still 6 weeks ahead! I mentioned that after my last ultrasound the tech said baby's due date looked like March 29. The doctor said they never alter the due date based on the baby's weight, so we'll still plan on April 11, the day before Easter! Baby Canfield is in the 90th percentile for his/her weight. An overachiever already.

The surprising thing (and good thing for me) is that I'm right on average for my weight gain. The doctor said I'm all baby, which is what every pregnant woman likes to hear. Of course, I'm not sure why my underwear doesn't fit anymore... (sorry if that's TMI). If you're an average weight person to begin with, they say try to gain 25-35 lbs total. At 20 weeks an average weight gain is 10 lbs, and then 1 lb a week for the next 20 weeks. I'm at 31 weeks, and have gained 22 lbs, which is one above average. Please note that I will never talk about my weight in such detail after the baby is born. I'm just glad I'm not in the 90th percentile of weight gain, even though baby is.

Even though my gestational diabetes test came back normal, my sugar levels are still a bit higher than average, enough that I should watch my diet a little more closely. I'm going to try to cut back on sugar and carbs as much as I can. Gestational diabetes can make the baby gain more weight than what is healthy, and we all know we don't want junior to be any bigger than he's already destined to be.

I'll be getting another ultrasound at 37 weeks or so, and if baby is still really big, the doctor may consider a C-section. While this isn't the ideal birthing experience, it may be better than the risks of natural birth. Baby's shoulders could be too big, and might get "stuck" during natural birth causing some damage. Obviously, we don't want to traumatize junior too much before he's born. And big babies are also hard on the mother (i think you can figure out why!) I never imagined myself as one who would need a C-section, but I'm actually okay with the idea. My doctor said he usually prides himself on not doing a lot of C-sections, so if he decides it's the right thing, I think I'll feel comfortable with it. My hairdresser told me that she had a 10 lb baby. After 12 hours of hard labor, she had a C-section. I definitely would rather just go in and get a C-section and skip the hard labor before it part.

So, we're giving up the idea of having a cute tiny newborn and are expecting baby to look more like a 4 or 5 month old when it's born. So please, if you're planning on buying something for baby, no newborn sizes! :)

And on a completely different note, we're heading for Atlanta this evening! We'll be attending the Mission Year reunion with some members of our team from last year. We'll be going to our service sites to visit (the homeless advocacy center for Katrina, centraloutreachandadvocacy.org, and the afterschool program fro Troy, stewartcenter.org), and visiting our refugee neighbors and church from last year. Yay! And we'll be making a trip to IKEA to get some cheap furniture. Hopefully this prego can make it in the car for the long haul!