Tray: Our potentially larger than average baby

We went in for our ultrasound this morning.  The good news is that Tray is healthy and well-developed with a strong heart rate (153).  The other news is that Tray is apparently quite large.  At 33 weeks, an average baby weighs 4.75 pounds.  They're estimating Tray's weight at 6 pounds, which is the 95th percentile.  Both my measurements and Tray's measurements are average for full-term (37 weeks).  What does this mean?

Our OB is still not alarmed.  She said there's a large margin of error in ultrasound results, especially further along in the pregnancy.  Furthermore, this particular ultrasound company likes to overestimate their results.  Their philosophy is that it's better to overestimate than to underestimate.  Our OB said we needed to take the results "with a grain of salt."  She's relatively confident that Tray will be bigger than average, but there's nothing else to suggest that Tray will be abnormally large. 

I inquired about what her standard procedure is moving forward.  She'll continue to measure my fundal height (as is normal) and she'll do a manual exam of Tray's size in a few weeks.  If Tray seems to be getting even bigger, she might send us in for another ultrasound.  Otherwise, my care will be consistent with a totally normal pregnancy (which, I suppose, it still is).  I asked whether I'll be able to go into labor naturally.  She said "absolutely" and went on to cite a recent study that shows that big babies who endure induced labors do NOT fare better, as was originally thought.  She also said that she and her colleagues would do absolutely everything possible to avoid a c-section and would be diligent about not "throwing in the towel too early."  

My doula had a 10 pound baby and she's a bean pole and a marathoner.  She doesn't want me to worry but suggested that I might ask my OB about practicing some self-induction methods around 37 weeks or so.  We will certainly consider her advice very seriously if I don't happen to go into labor before then. 

There are a lot of things that are really confusing about why I might be having a larger than average baby.  I don't have gestational diabetes (in fact, my OB said my glucose results were "fantastic").  I'm not big and Matt isn't big.  I've gained only 18 pounds overall, apparently 6 of which are baby and another few are extra amniotic fluid, which doesn't leave a lot for me, my uterus, my boobs, etc. (there have been studies that show women who gain a lot of weight in pregnancy have bigger babies).  I was a big baby but that's because I was nearly 3 weeks late.  Brian wasn't a big baby.  Matt wasn't a big baby and neither was Sam.

Big sigh.  Today was hellish but the best part was when we got to see our baby again:

Tray's profile

Tray's little piggy foot

19 week ultrasound

Today we went in for what they call the 20 week ultrasound.  I was really nervous going into this appointment because I'd read so much about bad news being delivered at the 20 week ultrasound.  The purpose of this appointment is to really take a lot of time and look over all of baby's parts:  fingers, toes, bones, organs, facial features, etc.  If we had wanted to find out the sex of the baby, this would have been the appointment.  Fortunately, we're still on the same page about wanting to be surprised! 

Here are some photos!

Baby profile at 19 weeks

Baby foot!

Baby sucks thumb!

Huge relief to know everything is perfect with Baby Tray!!

In other news, my morning sickness is almost completely gone!  I still experience the occasional gag in the morning but I'm like a new person otherwise! 

Seeing our baby

We've had 2 ultrasounds so far. The first was at 7 weeks and all we could really see was a blob and in the middle, a very fast heartbeat. Still, it was such a huge relief to know that all was well. You hear so many horror stories about blighted ovums and miscarriages, etc., it's impossible to describe the feeling the first time you see your baby.

Our 2nd ultrasound was at the very end of December. This ultrasound was part of the sequential screen and was performed outside of our regular OBs office. Just prior to this ultrasound, we went in for our regular check-up at which point the OB said she was going to try to find the baby's heartbeat using a doppler. She warned that at this stage (less than 12 weeks), it was a bit of a toss-up whether she would be able to hear the heartbeat. There was a moment when she put the doppler to my belly before she started to explain which heartbeat was mine and which was the baby's (you can hear both) when, once again, my heart sort of stopped in anticipation and fear.

At the sequential screen ultrasound, our baby actually looked like a baby and we could see it moving around. We could even make out tiny hands and feet. All of that and he/she was only 4cm long at the time!