So as might be guessed by my low weight gain–I don’t have an extremely large kid. At this point the kid is pretty certainly under 6 lbs and is probably closer to 5 lbs. (Guessing these things is really just a guess–but midwives are generally within 1/2 a lb, which is better than stupid ultrasounds.) I have two due dates because the standard due date is based on your LMP (date of your last period) and assumes a 28 day cycle. I don’t have a 28 day cycle. The ultrasound due date is 9 days later than the LMP due date. It’s looking like the ultrasound due date is probably more accurate which means that honestly I shouldn’t try to give birth at home until May 4th. That’s another twelve days. 🙁 If the Lizard was really large the midwife would be fine with anytime after this Saturday, but the Lizard really isn’t that large. For a variety of reasons it is best if the baby is over 6 lbs for a home birth. (Much lower likely need of interventions.) In normal pregnancy by this point the fetus is gaining around 1/2 a pound per week. This means that I really do probably need another two weeks of growth so that the Lizard can be more than 6 lbs.
This means I need to suck it up and get used to bedrest for at least 12 more days. Given the size of the kid sucking it up and being mostly on bedrest longer than that is a good idea. She’s happy that I have been mostly good so far but told me that the flu-like symptoms I have when I push things are pretty common during early labor so I am probably pushing things a little too hard. Damnit.
At this point my uterus has hit my ribs; it’s a little bit annoying but not too bad. This means that the rest of the growth is going to be straight out. All the people who have excitedly told me how huge I am and that I look like I’m about to pop are going to have a field day.