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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think a 9lb'er is not really that big??

144 replies

teaaddict2012 · 24/05/2012 14:34

I was 9lbs when I was born and my DS was 9lbs 3 , I know it is big but I thought anything below 10lbs is okay really.

apparently not , I was told I need a special consultant as I had a 'big baby before' I was a bit Shock Hmm I can understand 10/11/12lb being a bit concerning but 9lb!
AIBU to think this is slightly overboard.

OP posts:
5madthings · 24/05/2012 16:56

i dont think a mothers height necessarily means anything when it comes to delivering babies, or shoe size as that was always the old wives tale, i am 5 2, petite and size 4 feet, still delivered fine even 10lb 13oz ds4!

bigTillyMint · 24/05/2012 17:00

I think 9lbs is big, but then my DC were only 6 1/2 and 7lbs. And I am 5'8"

Mil's were 8 1/2, 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 and she is 4'8"Shock

TalHotBlond · 24/05/2012 17:03

9lbs is huge!
Mine were mid 7lbers.

lostInMyHouse · 24/05/2012 17:08

IME it depends which HCP you encounter and which area you are in as to how over 9 lb is treated.

oikopolis · 24/05/2012 17:10

9 lbs is big.

i've been reading a book about incontinence etc after vaginal birth, and statistics show that babies bigger than 8 lbs 12 oz can cause bad injuries to mum on the way out.

and they tend to have more health problems than smaller/normal-sized babies, blood sugar issues, breathing probs. 7ish lbs is a more normal weight for a baby.

lostInMyHouse · 24/05/2012 17:11

and no - all mine were over 9lb and none of them seemed huge.

Did cause unnecessary panic with HV, as I was bf, as they slowly went down the charts to their natural size.

happy2bhomely · 24/05/2012 17:13

Mine were 8.13, 9.7, 7.15 and 11. All vaginal births. The 11 pounder was a planned homebirth. No pain relief and no stitches.

I'm 5 ft 9, medium build with wide hips. I've never looked huge at term. No GD. It has never been an issue and I've always been under low risk, midwife only care.

I do wonder what 'they' might say if we ever have dc5 though because although dc4 was a 6hr straightforward homebirth, there was a moment when we really didn't think he was going to come out. He wasn't particularly long but was very broad with a huge head. I actually heard my pubic bone creak as he came out, and I'm still suffering a little now, over 2 years later.

9lb is big, but not massive. Some people looked at mine like they were monstersSad and it seems to invite all sorts of comments about my fanjoShock

lostInMyHouse · 24/05/2012 17:15

oikopolis - mine didn't cause such issues and from the women I know who've had such 9 lb it isn't true so far.

I also think your also confusing babies who are large because of mothers have diabetes who can have blood sugar and other complications - that why its checked for -with babies who are large because they have a good placenta so get a lot of nutrients to grow very well.

happy2bhomely · 24/05/2012 17:17

I will add that the 7.15 birth was the easiest BY FAR and the 11 lb was the hardest work of my life BY FAR, despite being my fourth..(you know, with my huge stretched fanjo that just allows me to sneeze them outWink

rainydaysarebad · 24/05/2012 17:18

9lbs sounds massive to me. Both mine were 6 lbers.

5madthings · 24/05/2012 17:18

they checked ds4's blood sugars as he was 10lb 13oz at birth and was 'grunty' his blood sugars were fine and he was grunty as he had been born so quickly, under an hour and not all the fluid had been squeezed out of his lungs. he is now 4 and tall for his age and obviously just going to be like dp who is 6ft. he was very long at birth, and his head circumference was off the top of the chart!

and yes people do make innappropriate comments about the size of your fanjo once they know you have delivered a big baby!

OhChristFENESTROSAURUS · 24/05/2012 17:21

My first was 8lb, my second was 9lb - I will not be having a third.

And I'm only 5ft

McKayz · 24/05/2012 17:28

Oikoplois, it certainly wasn't true for me. I had no injuries or anything like that. DS2 was fine and is perfectly healthy. He was 10lb 5oz and he is still big. He is very tall compared to his friends at playschool. Some of whom are about a year older.

At 3lb 2oz bigger than DS1 I would certainly say that DS2 was much easier. He was born at home and it was a very straightforward birth.

9lb really doesn't sound much to me.

happy2bhomely · 24/05/2012 17:29

I know I mentioned my height, because lots of others did, but why does it matter? I understand that it must me more uncomfortable carrying a large baby when you are shorter/smaller framed, but it doesn't make any difference to labour and deliver does it?

I get this a lot. Lots of, "oh yes but your tall, so......." I never know what people mean.

5madthings · 24/05/2012 17:34

i dont think height matters, my midwives always said its your pelvis that is important, obviously! the consultant i saw tho was quite insistent that as i am small and petite i wouldnt be able to deliver a large baby and tha ti had just been 'lucky' with my 4 previous deliveries...

and yes more uncomfortable, all of my babies engaged early and their bums were still right up under my ribcage, there was nowhere else for them to go! they all have along body, like dp! he also has a big head, so i blame him for their massive heads as well Grin

i was happy with big babies, they seemed slightly less fragile? and hwne i had no 5 who was only 8lb she seemed positively tiny, but of course that isnt small really and she soon caught up with her brothers and is big for her age now :)

NinthWave · 24/05/2012 17:34

Agree about inane fanjo comments. A woman I'd only just been introduced to once said "fucking hell, have you got a manhole down there?!" when I told her DS2 was 10lb 6oz Hmm

CBear6 · 24/05/2012 17:35

DS was my first and was 9lb 3oz with a 38cm head. He was a VB at exactly 40 weeks. I had a second degree tear but that was down to his position and presentation (OP and had his head tilted) rather than his size IYSWIM? I didn't consider him huge, quite the opposite really as all I could do was marvel over my 'tiny baby'. I didn't have GD or any other issues, he was just at the larger end of the scale.

DD came along last year after and I spent the last trimester worrying she would be a giant. I had an emergency caesarean at 40+3 (she was a missed breech) and she was a relatively tiny 7lb 10oz but looked a lot smaller - even the surgeon asked the MW if she was sure she had the right weight.

I think the growth charts class 'normal' as being anywhere between 9th percentile and 95th percentile because there is such a wide range. So long as a baby is growing steadily and is healthy it doesn't matter, my GP always tells me to look at the child not the scales.

OhChristFENESTROSAURUS · 24/05/2012 17:35

I don't know if it makes much difference to the labour if you are on the short side tbh, but it is more than 'uncomfortable' to carry a large baby for sure Wink

LadyofWinterfell · 24/05/2012 17:35

DD1 - 8lb 8oz at 42w
DD2 - 7lb 13oz at 39+6
DS - 9lb 1oz at 41+6

DS was a really long baby too, and is very tall still at 2.8.

oikopolis · 24/05/2012 17:39

it's great that many women don't get injured by large babies, but i'm offering that statistic because i want to point out that HCPs do have numbers on their minds when they look at the size of babies. they're not just trying to be difficult for the sake of it.

BigBoobiedBertha · 24/05/2012 17:41

I guess if you are tall then your babies are likely to be long and therefore they will also be heavier - more bones have got to be heavier surely? But I can't see what it might have to do with the birth either.

My larger baby was a much easier birth - he practically fell out all by himself. I didn't have to push, indeed I deliberately didn't as he was an unexpected home birth and we were waiting for help!

5madthings · 24/05/2012 17:43

i wonder how much of it is size and how much of it is positioning of the baby and the fact that they may have been births where forceps/ventouse was used.

my hardest birth was dd, who was my smallest at 8lb, she was back to back and came out facing the wrong way up, but the labour was still only 3hrs nad a few pushes, the midwife said she would have shot out had she been the right way round!

and i get that they are concerned and want to be careful but the best thing they can do is to help and support women to ahve a natural labour in a good postion. not just offer a c section, and the nice guildlines dont recomened a c section or induction purely for worries about the size of the baby do they? am sure somone quoted that on here or another thread?

i was just annoyed by my patronising consultant who was quite insistent that i woudlnt be able to deliver a 9lb baby when i already had done with the previous 4, one of which was almost 11lb.

miaowmix · 24/05/2012 17:49

9lb seems massive to me, but I've only had one baby and she was 6 lb 11 (born on due date), so quite petite. DP 6 foot plus and me 5 ft 5, but we are both slim (well, I was then), so I never anticipated a bruiser.
I was the born at a slightly lighter but v similar weight, think there may be a link?

lostInMyHouse · 24/05/2012 17:52

I saw a consultant exactly the same 5madthings - he also insisted DH and I didn't know how old our previous DC was. According to his notes DC was 6 years old DH had to get the photos from day before of DC second birthday before party before he would even look at his notes again to find he'd read them wrong.

Should have been funny I suppose Hmm

McKayz · 24/05/2012 17:56

5mad I ws fully expecting to be offered induction or a CS with this baby but they all seem very happy to let me have my home birth. I have a growth and presentation scan tomorrow but MW is expecting that they'll say baby will be between 9lb and 10lb full term.

I haven't had any comments about my fanjo but certainly lots of people told me I must be lying when I've told them that DS2 was over 10lb, born at home with G&A. I even took the red book to show some people as I was sick of it.