A Mother's Memory

From the very beginning of my pregnancy I was concerned about the weight of my baby. I had read that the birth weight has a lot to do with genetics and my mom had told me that I was 9lbs 15oz. My husband was 8 something, so more normal but still on the bigger end.

I gained a lot during my pregnancy, but it was pretty much all in my belly. Then the swelling started. The swelling was really bad and was all over my body. My face, my legs, and my ankles. Oh my poor ankles. I couldn't fit into any shoes from about 7 months on. I didn't think they would ever look normal again. The doctor said the baby must be really big because things weren't circulating as they should be. So they had me go in for an ultra sound a couple of weeks before my due date to get an estimate on the baby's weight.

They decided the baby was around 8lbs 11oz, give or take up to a pound. Up to a pound?!?! That's a huge amount of wiggle room! So she could be as tiny as 7lbs 11oz or as big as 9lbs 11oz? This didn't give me any ease of mind because it was still a totally mystery.

As we got closer I went to the doctor one week before my due date. She said nothing was happening and I was so huge and swollen that they wanted to induce me the next week (3 days before my due date). I had really wanted to avoid being induced, but my husband said we were going with whatever the doctor wanted. 

My sister was leaving for a business trip on the day I was scheduled to be induced. I was so upset. Of everyone who I wanted there she was in the top 3 (along with my husband and my mom). So she came that weekend (that Saturday was the day of my grad school graduation). Since there was no way I could hobble down the aisle to graduate we decided to have a small family gathering to celebrate. 

My sister decided to would bribe the baby out of me. "If you have the baby tonight I will take you for a pedicure." "If you have the baby tonight I will buy you a chihuahua." And on and on. So she made me go for a walk that night and wouldn't you know it... I went into labor.

While I was in labor they felt the baby's head and said she was around 7lbs. Great! A regular size baby! I can definitely do this. Then after 16 hours it was time to push. After awhile they decided that the baby wasn't descending and they weren't sure why. They thought it might have to do with the shape of my pelvic bone and the baby not being able to get under it or something (everything was a blur by that point). So they went ahead and did a c-section.

Apparently the doctor said something along the lines of "holy cow" when they took my daughter out. She was 9lbs 11oz. I was right all along! A big baby.... just like me! Or so I thought....

Last weekend I was at my parents house and I flipped through my baby book. 8lbs 15 oz. What? No, I was 9lbs 15 oz. Nope, for all these years my mom had marked me up a whole pound. She couldn't believe it when I pointed out my actual birth weight. "No, you couldn't have been. You were the biggest baby ever! You were huge! People thought you were a toddler." 

I guess the traumatic birth experience (I was born in a blizzard and was almost delivered in the emergency room because I was in such a rush to get out) made it all a blur and she mentally changed my weight and stuck to it for my whole life. For me, I could never forget the stats for my baby girl, but I was a second child so I'm not totally surprised... lol!

So where did my giant baby come from? I was still on the big end, but my daughter was really big! Was it genetics or over eating? I'm gonna go with over eating :)