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I took Patrick to the pediatrician on Friday because he just doesn't seem much bigger to me now that he was at birth. Obviously, that is concerning. Good news--he IS bigger than he was at birth. Bad news--we're not sure just how much bigger. The problem is that the birth weight was most likely inaccurate. When he was weighed in the delivery room, the scale said 9 lbs, 4 oz. which was then broadcast to everyone when we announced his birth. Down on the maternity floor at his 12-hour check, he weighed in at 8 lbs, 1 oz. So, either he lost A LOT of weight right away or one of the scales was wrong. His discharge weight was 8 lbs, 8 oz. (according to the scale on the maternity floor). At two weeks, he was 8 lbs, 13 oz. at the pediatrician's office. Friday, at just about 5 weeks, he's 9 lbs, 13 oz.

So, as you can see, there's a bit of confusion about his birth weight. I don't think he was truly a 9 pounder. Dr. Veit and I decided that 8 lbs, 8 oz. as a birth weight is more realistic. One thing that is not debatable was his head circumference, which was in the 90th percentile. So, somehow people think that natural childbirth is much more impressive with the 9 pounds statistic, but I'm here to tell you that pushing that head out was the hardest part and that was a big head no matter how much he weighed. The rest was relatively "easy. ;-)

I'm writing all this because we're sending birth announcements soon and I will not print the birth weight as 9 lbs, 4 oz. He definitely was chunkier at birth than he was 12 hours later, but I don't think he lost 1 lb, 3 oz. So, we're going to go with Dr. Veit's estimate of 8 lbs, 8 oz. His weight gain hasn't been great, so I am a bit concerned, but we're going to keep monitoring it. My milk supply seems really good and he loves to eat. So, we'll just wait and see. He has grown 2 inches since birth and is 23-1/2 inches long now! So, he's kinda long and skinny! :-)

Long story, but I think it's important to record for posterity--this blog is the best record I keep of my little guys' lives! I'm still catching up on Will's baby book...yikes!