Doctors seem to get really hung up on the actual calendar date that they chose. One of my cousins is pregnant as well - she's due in February - and her doctor actually moved her due date BY ONE DAY.
As if that's really going to make a difference.
We are due today, based on estimated information and size of the baby - which genetics said was going to be bigger anyway. I wonder if this was why my mother was always "late" giving birth to her children...
Who makes up the graph that they chart a baby's progress on anyway? I could see if they used the size of the heart, the development of certain organs, or skills that baby has developed in there. (Apparently Cheeta is practicing how to breathe. Go baby!)
It's amusing to me that there is a long list of reasons why babies do and could come early. However, ACOG has only this to say about "late" babies:
"A post term pregnancy is one that lasts 42 weeks or longer. Women who are having a baby for the first time or who have had postterm pregnancies before may give birth later than expected. However, the most common cause of postterm pregnancy is an error in calculating the due date. When a postterm pregnancy truly exists, the cause usually is unknown."(I added the emphasis.) Other than the fact the doctors are getting anxious and are ready to start talking inductions and other methods of "getting things going" I am not too worried about the estimated due date being correct or not. As long as Cheeta comes healthy and I manage the labor thing well, it's not too important what day it is.
This is me, ready for the blessed event.
3 comments:
I want a birth story! (at your convenience)
Jared read once that something like 5% of women give birth on their due date. He was like - um... shouldn't they fix that, because they obviously aren't giving birth on that day...
I read an article about how some scientists are wising up to the idea that different women have different gestational periods, depending on how long their body can metabolically/physically support the not-so-small parasite growing inside them. They gave a pretty healthy window for being full term. Something like 37-42 weeks. It would also in theory explain why women who tend to deliver later deliver all their children later and same for women who deliver early. I'd try to find the article, but I'm way too lazy. Glad to hear you're not one of the 42 ladies though!!
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