I came into my OB’s office this morning for more fetal heart rate monitoring as well as an ultrasound. I originally had an appointment scheduled for this Friday, but we just moved it up to today given what happened this past weekend. Everything still looks good, according to the doctor, but the doctors all seem to be saying that Pookie Bear is measuring a bit small. As of today, her weight estimate according to the ultrasound is 5 lb. 2 oz. Ultrasounds are known to be off, and it’s usually plus or minus 10-15 percent, but the doctor said on average, babies at this stage could be around six pounds. So we don’t know what’s causing her slow down or if she’s just plateauing early. At all my appointments since about 24 weeks, I’ve been keeping track of Pookie Bear’s growth. Since week 28, she’s basically gained about one pound every two weeks, which is normal and healthy. At my week 34 appointment, my doctor said she was about 5 pounds, so to hear that in the last week and a half she has grown only about 2 ounces just didn’t seem right to me. And I couldn’t help but be concerned. But her heart rate is good, her breathing is good, and she’s super active, so what else could we possibly be doing to help her?

“When you become pregnant, that’s the moment you become a mom,” my therapist said. Pretty much every woman and every article or podcast you read/listen to says that. People who have never been pregnant or haven’t had kids think that a mom is born on the day the baby is born. But, frankly, that’s not really the case. The reason for that is that the moment you know you are pergnant, that’s really when your worries begin: are you eating enough? Is the baby growing enough? Is she going to be okay during this scan? Are your prenatal tests all going to come back normal? Am I exerting myself too much and harming my baby? If I get stressed, will it affect my baby negatively? Worrying seems to be part of being a mom; they are almost synonymous. I just have to keep hoping and praying my baby will be healthy and okay… and keep gaining weight.