The Advantages of being a Big Baby

Judging from how many teeth I have, I am probably a year

As a toddler covered with puppies

Can't quite see how big Steve is here. Mom did not believe in breast feeding

Steve is about 4 months old

Lately in the science sections of the NY Times and the WSJ, there has been debates over birth size and advantages later in life. Basically, with all other factors being equal, success as defined by higher performances on reading and math tests, school grades, college graduation rates, earnings go up significantly according to birth weight maxing out at 10 lbs. The bigger the better (though not for above 10 lbs). Of course there are much heavier contributors to success; education of parents, social class, etc. But the current thinking that a baby is as formed as it is going to be at 38 weeks leading to inductions, planned C-sections leads to smaller babies. Maybe those last couple of weeks in the womb are important and why not wait for nature to take its course?

Initially Naomi was seeing an OB during her pregnancy (until the insurance said we had to drop her and go to the midwives). The OB had a policy of never letting a mother go beyond her due date. But Naomi was not sure when she became pregnant. Maya's due date was decided (and it kept changing) by her size on the ultrasound. What happened if she was large for gestational age (and given that she has two very tall parents, likely) and they took her out too early? I was glad to see her go.

Both Steve and I were close to 10 lbs as newborns so I guess we both maxed out our size advantage. Our babies were big babies that turned into slim toddlers, children and then adults. Their babies so far are averaging a pound less than they were.

There was a conflicting story about rapid weight gain in early infancy leading to obesity later in life. Yep all my babies were off the charts for size. I nursed them and let them suckle as much as they wanted. Their babies were chunky early babies that slimmed down considerably by the time they were a year. Would one put a 6 month old on a diet? I think not. And everyone in our family is slim, except me of course. I was fairly slim until menopause and a whole series of medical challenges hit. I will do something about it next year. I want to look good for the Big Hollywood wedding in late May.

So dark and dismal this morning as I went out to exercise. At least it was warm. Unfortunately I do have a slow leak in my tire. At least I am not thinking about who possibly sabotaged my tires. Maybe I can get one more ride in before having to go back to the repair place.

Merry Christmas to all my readers!!!