Stress

So far, I'd have to say that pregnancy is an experience that is equal parts joy, anticipation, and sheer terror. I've discussed this before, but there's an entire industry devoted to scaring the crap out of prospective parents.

Lately, I haven't been sleeping very well. It all started when we saw our doctor for a routine visit and the fundal height (pubic bone to top of uterus) was measuring large... The measurement (in centimeters) should roughly line up with the number of weeks pregnant you are, and ours was about 5 weeks ahead. Even though I knew it was a big mistake, I went online and started reading about the potential causes and outcomes of a measurement that large. While there were plenty of "it all worked out fine" stories, there were also some worst-case scenarios. It's no surprise that I gravitated towards the bad.

We went back after two weeks for a follow-up. We expressed our concern to our doctor who chalked it up to either a sloppy measurement or to a growth spurt. He measured again and came up with 29cm which falls comfortably within the +/- 2cm range for normalcy. It was a huge load off of my mind. He still scheduled an ultrasound to make sure everything looks OK. We had that yesterday (our fourth of the pregnancy) and are waiting to hear the results. The baby was definitely measuring big. Typically, a baby/fetus is at around 2.5 lbs at 28 weeks. Ours was measuring at 3 lbs. So... Big baby? Probably. New set of worries? Certainly.

Then our doctor dropped a bomb. He planned a trip to India over our due date. This was clearly a mistake on his part (he actually slapped his forehead and practically said "D'OH" when he recognized his error) and is going to bring another doc in to deliver. We're OK with this and I'm sure it'll all work out fine. It's just one more bump in the road.

It never ends. There's always something around the corner to scare you or that makes you envision the worst-case scenario. I've heard from a number of relatively new parents that the first few months outside of the womb are even worse. I'm not surprised, but there's something to say for actually being able to see the baby when you think there might be something wrong. Right now, all I get is the occasional kick through the stomach.