Sympathy for my wife
Took The Second Child to the doctor this week. He’s healthy, which is great. He’s also in the 75th percentile on height (compared to junior who is 25% – together, they’re average). He’ll be tall and she’ll be small. Also, his head was in the 100th percentile, meaning his head is bigger than just about all other kids’ heads. That explains the longer labor this time.
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:20 am
I think I read somewhere that contrary to popular myth, a baby’s head size is largely irrelevant to how bad labor is; what matters is not what comes first, but what comes widest – and the shoulders are wider than the head every time. Well, maybe not if your kid is a Peanuts character, but otherwise.
June 22nd, 2006 at 10:25 am
Then why do they pop right out after the head comes out? Seems the shoulders are more pliable than a skull.
June 22nd, 2006 at 12:05 pm
It’s the circumference that matters most, not the width in one direction. The cervix, etc., have to stretch big enough to go around the baby. Since a newborn’s skull is disproportionally large compared to the rest of him, the head stretches things out a lot. The shoulders might a little be wider, but the chest is pretty narrow front to back, so the circumference is not so much – and besides that, the shoulders *are* pliable, while the brainbox has to be nearly rigid.
June 22nd, 2006 at 3:44 pm
Heh
My son was born saluting everyone, so that his elbow was sort of poking out and blocking things. I think my wife still holds it against him
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:06 pm
This post is becoming an advertisement for birth control.
June 22nd, 2006 at 5:33 pm
SayUncle’s kid has a big head? Stop the presses!
🙂