Comparing notes, as it were, seems to help ease my fears and reassure me that I'm not totally screwing up this whole parenting thing.
But when it comes to comparing babies, that just makes me feel crappy.
We just went in for Helen's two month check up and I was surprised to learn she was only in the 20th percentile for weight. While my husband and our mothers did their best to reassure me it was nothing but a number, I couldn't help the crappy feeling it gave me. Were my breast-feeding efforts not enough? Maybe my milk supply wasn't as good as I thought. Maybe so-and-so's baby was healthier that mine. Maybe my baby was too small . . . my mind went round and round with all the maybes and what-ifs that I kind of went crazy.
Logically I understand why doctors compare weight and length - you can't exactly ask a baby if it's feeling all right. Their measurements are big indicators that they're developing as they should and staying healthy. But I can't help but think the comparing makes mothers a little loopy.
We just went in for Helen's two month check up and I was surprised to learn she was only in the 20th percentile for weight. While my husband and our mothers did their best to reassure me it was nothing but a number, I couldn't help the crappy feeling it gave me. Were my breast-feeding efforts not enough? Maybe my milk supply wasn't as good as I thought. Maybe so-and-so's baby was healthier that mine. Maybe my baby was too small . . . my mind went round and round with all the maybes and what-ifs that I kind of went crazy.
Logically I understand why doctors compare weight and length - you can't exactly ask a baby if it's feeling all right. Their measurements are big indicators that they're developing as they should and staying healthy. But I can't help but think the comparing makes mothers a little loopy.
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