Big baby: induction.

[Liss85]

Hi,

Sorry for the long post - I had my 32 week scan yesterday at 32+3, the sonographer scared me silly saying that he was concerned and the consultant would want to speak to me about the size of my baby. Apparently she's jumped in size considerably since my last growth scan. So far she's been charting around the 50 percentile mark but yesterday she's shot up to the 90th. She's gone from just under 3lbs last time (28 weeks) to 5.5lbs this time. The consultant says she's not bothered by the jump but that she wants me to be induced at 38 weeks. I really didn't want to be induced for a number of reasons and I feel like the control has been taken away from me. A few people I've spoken to have similar size babies but aren't being induced and I've read so many things about people being measured big and the baby was way off the estimate. I don't want to give up the possibility of the birth I want (I know it may not be possible any way) based on something that seems so flawed. I just wondered what you would do? And what your experiences have been? Consultant says if I want To avoid being induced then to have sweeps from 37 weeks along with sex and curry...

[AveEldon]

Why are you having growth scans?

[Liss85]

I'm high risk due to a blood clotting disorder I have. This shouldn't affect induction as I've never had blood clots and my sister who has and was on the same injections wasn't induced early with hers.

[AveEldon]

You need to ask them - why do I need to be induced? What are the risks of waiting?

Remember they can offer induction and you can decline their offer or suggest a different date that suits you better

[JeNeRegretteRien]

I was in a similar situation. The jump was not as big (85th percentile at the third scan and 91st at the 4th), but I also had gestational diabetes. I didn't want to be induced, but what convinced me to agree was when the midwife told me that babies can put on 40g per day in the last weeks of pregnancy, so if I'd gone to 41 weeks, mine would have been massive, while the measurements would have had to be way out for her to be less than average size on the induction date. In the end, I went to hospital to be induced at 39 weeks and it turned out that she was already on her way anyway. She was 3.8kg and clearly ready to come out!

As the previous poster said, could you ask for the induction to be arranged for a bit later on to give your baby more chance of coming naturally? That way, if you do end up being induced, at least you'll know it really was probably all for the best.

[Shanster]

I'm having the same debate right now with my dr. He did say that growth scans are often inaccurate and can be off by up to 20%. With DC1, I was induced because a scan at 40 weeks showed she was almost 9lbs. I was induced and had a perfectly average 7lb 8oz baby. With DC2, I didn't have a late scan and he was 9lbs 8oz. My dr wants to induce at 39 weeks and I want to hold off. My midwife agreed with me and reminded me I have a choice and don't have to accept the recommendation from the DR. I know I can have a large baby boy vaginally with no issues so I don't want to be induced early. Anyway, that big baby was great, he could sleep for 4 hour stretches from the very beginning because he could take in enough milk for a long sleep :)