33 weeks...

I'm officially 33 weeks. Well as officially as an ultrasound can find, which can be off by several weeks. So I'm closer to a due date with everyday and that's stays constant so I can always count on that.

Today was the meet up with a possible Pediatrician. What do you ask someone at an appointment for a baby doctor when you don't have a baby yet? I dunno but we made it work. More than anything you get a feel for them. When I mentioned extended breastfeeding she was very supportive and went into the group practice's values concerning breastfeeding and support. I think more women would breastfeed if they had the education and support. It seems to always be a bit of a struggle for one reason or another at some point for a mom and just having support helps them make good decisions based on information instead of fear.

On that topic. Some people assume (outloud) I'll have a big baby. They posit this for many (uninformed) reasons. These reasons get at what people think is genetic and what is actually environmental. Frequently, these people are men, like my father. Last I checked, he hated visiting the doctor and prescribes bread/sugar/milk for any ache. But he isn't the only person to believe some of the myths and assume incorrectly cause and correlation.

For instance, my mother had me and I was on the big size and my sister was too. 8-9 lb. My mother was 10 lb. There is this thought that because my mother made big babies and so did grandma, then so will I. Yeah, I don't think so... The genetic "making" of big babies as a hereditary thing is a myth. The influence of environment, such as exercise, stress, happiness, and food choices is what makes big babies big. It's all in the recipe of how much insulin is being made, how much processed foods are apart of a diet, and that nasty high fructose sugar being in the mix. On top of that, I think stress and weight and exercise greatly affect how mom's bodies and baby's body deal with all those factors.

My mother and my grandmother could have had gestational diabetes and never known if there wasn't the research or the testing. I can almost track big baby birth weights in history with the production of high fructose corn syrup and the availability and consumption of processed foods. These women didn't know that... so this isn't a rant rebuking their choices. My grandmother's generation was told to drink more coffee and smoke more so they wouldn't gain weight. They were told to relax and not move a lot. Then my mother's generation was told it was ok to gain weight but moving still wasn't advocated for. Now my generation is told you can work out, eat, and be your normal self during pregnancy with maybe an extra snack and lots of water and rest.

This does not boil down to: Sophie is going to have a big baby, or whatever that means. People sometimes think big babies are good and healthy and just bad for delivering. Well, actually heavy birth weights can lead to complications with weight later in life. Because science and health care are different, my exercise is different, my eating habits are different, and well every pregnancy is different, I have faith my baby has been given the right chances of a healthy life despite her weight.

I worked out to a sweat yesterday. What used to take me an hour or more to do, I can get in 30 minutes. My heart rate soars and my breathing gets tough and I get tired. But I know working out is great for both my body and baby's heart. I feel it too. My circulation, my veins, my heart all work together to keep this extra blood pumping strongly. That feels good. I feel the oxygen getting to my body and I feel her using up her share. What a miraculous thing the heart is.

Updates in short: Grace can now reach my ribs. Kris is getting more proactive and he's feeling prepared. We take frequent walks. We indulged over the weekend so this week is about vegetables and protein. The summer heat is starting to wake me up and I have the AC pumping to keep me cool in the day time. Blueberries will be here next week for me to pick. And my sister will visit again soon. There's lots more on my mind and rolling around in my head, but half our to do parent list is done and I know we are feeling prepared. Now to go drink some water and stay cool. :D