Breaking the Rules

This baby is a Non-Conformist!

First, she decided to stay in the breech position during the entire pregnancy up thru 38 weeks.  Only 3-4% of babies are breech at full term.  That meant we had to go through the ECV process which was fortunately a success since the alternative would have been a C-section.  The success rate of an ECV is only 58%.  Then she never "dropped" as babies typically do.  Only the forces of active labor moved her into the birth canal. 

And she was borne with the amniotic sac still enclosing her - Connie's water never broke.  Our Doula said she had been through almost 200 births, and had never seen that.  Connie discovered that this type of birth is called being "born in the caul".  The caul is the portion of the amniotic sac that encloses the baby, and a baby born in this manner is called a "caulbearer".  This type of birth happens in only 1 of 1000 births.  Legend has it that caulbearers have supernatural powers (we'll see). 

Finally, we just had our pediatrician checkup.  Emilia's weight is now 7 lbs 14 oz.  At her last doctor visit 6 days ago, she weighed 7 lbs 4 oz (her birth weight was 7 lbs 2 oz).  She gained 10 oz in 6 days!  The doctor said the normal weight gain is 1/2-1 oz/day.  Our little chugaluger is gaining weight at a rate of 1.7 oz/day.  At that rate, she'll weigh 395 lbs by the time she's 10  ;^O