It's a boy and he is HUGE!

Round about four weeks ago, when I was 20 weeks and 5 days pregnant, I had my first ultrasound and they told me our boy was 15 ounces.  Aww... just under a pound.  Precious, little, alien-looking thing.

Today I am 24 weeks 5 days pregnant and we had another ultrasound to check some things they couldn't see on the first one and they told me his weight was 2 pounds 1 ounce.  It took me a second, "uh, he more than doubled in size in four weeks!"  After she looked at everything, the ultrasound tech told us she would let a doctor look over the pics and make sure he's grown enough.  "Uh, he doubled in size, I sure hope that's enough!" I said.

She didn't say anything, but when the doctor came in she informed us that he was big, much bigger than most babies, in fact he's bigger than 96% of all fetuses his age.  Then she said some things that made me wonder, the biggest head-itchers were: "He hasn't skipped many meals!" and "You really don't have to gain anymore weight at this point, baby will just take what he needs from you."

First of all, I don't think fetuses can voluntarily skip meals.  This felt like she was saying I hadn't skipped any meals, but I don't think I'm supposed to be skipping meals, I'm pregnant!  Maybe it was just a joke and she didn't mean it to come across as insulting, but it felt a little insulting.  I was looking for reassurance, something like, "sometimes babies are big, it doesn't mean you have eaten too much or you have gestational diabetes, keep up the good work!"

Secondly, really, I could not gain ANY weight for the next three and a half months, when baby is putting on the most weight, and be fine?  I mean, I guess I have some extra fat to spare, and I've already gained 25 pounds, but something tells me it would be hard to not gain any more weight.

We went to the grocery store after this and it hit me, "I haven't had a weight-neutral diet in years!  I've either been losing or gaining weight since 2006!"  I'm not sure how much I should eat to just maintain weight, especially during pregnancy.

Of course, she didn't say that I must not gain anymore weight, but said that it's OK if I don't.  So I guess I'll wait until March 4th, when I have my next appointment with a midwife and ask her if she'd recommend cutting back the intake of food a bit.  She will also do a screening for gestational diabetes.  God, I hope I don't have that, I hope this big baby is just a combo of genetics and few too many Chipotle Burritos.

So as I was freaking out a little in the car ride home, Brent told me that he was in the 90th percentile for height when he was a kid.  We don't have his fetal-growth records (no one does), and he doesn't know how big he was at birth (I was 7 pounds 10 ounces), but this could just be our son taking after his above average dad.  We might just have a big baby that turns into a big kid that turns into a big adult. 

If I do have the diabetes, then it will definitely mean watching what I eat more.  So I guess I'll start now and try to select better foods, but I really feel like I already do that, I mean, I have days that go better than others, but in general I eat a lot of whole grains, nuts, beans, fresh fruit, lots of tomato sauces, I love hummus and baba ganoosh (spelled wrong) and falafel.  I eat mostly chicken or fish instead of beef or fatty meats, I drink lots of milk, eat cottage cheese and yogurt.  I even prefer non-sugary cereals like muesli.  Probably the one thing I could eat more of would be vegetables, but I sometimes have raw veggies in my lunch, and often buy salads or load up on veggies in other areas (burritos, anyone?).  There was that day I ate way too many Hot Tamales, and a couple dinners have consisted of pizza and ice cream, but over all I get a pretty varied diet, and there were veggies on that pizza!  We also use a trans fat free, low saturated fat margarine instead of butter.  Oh and we buy organic foods as much as our budget can stand it.  Plus I take my prenatal vitamins and even an extra folic acid pill and fish oil.  I might have one pop a week and limit my caffeine to one cup of coffee a day.  Dammit, I feel like I'm pretty healthy!

Of course gestational diabetes can happen in healthy people too, and I shouldn't worry about having it until the test is telling me I do.  And I would be thrilled to not gain another pound, ecstatic even, I hate that I'm already 25 pounds heavier, and have already gained 14 pounds in the second trimester, with more weeks to go.  But I just don't see how I could not gain anymore.  It even seems maybe dangerous to try to stop it.  Baby should gain another 5 to 7 pounds.

And then of course is the fact that they can't really weigh him while he's in-utero.  They make a guestimation based on measurements and compare these measurement to a bunch of other fetuses measurements.  And, just as all children develop at different rates, so do all fetuses.  Brent is now maybe only in the 70th percentile for height instead of the 90th.  Maybe the Perry's are early growers.  They pack on the pounds and height early on, then slow down near the end.  And the both of us are a few inches taller than average, so it's to be expected that we'll have a slightly bigger, taller baby than average.

I guess it's too soon to think about basketball or football scholarships, but we can daydream about it for now.