How much weight did your LO lose in the first week?

[VictorianSqualor]

DS2 has just been weighed, he is feeding brilliantly, is happy, alert, plenty of wet and dirty nappies, IMO thriving, no issues at all.

Midwife agreed he seems perfectly fine and as he weighed 10lb 3oz at birth he can afford to lose some weight without it being too much of an issue.

However he has lost over 10% of his birth weight in the 5 days since he was born and apparently this would normally be cause to refer to paedatricians so he is going to be reweighed wednesday.

Just wondering how much other peoples babies lost with no other problems? (Preparing for a 'you must top-up' conversation )

My dd lost nothing, she's a gannet and actually gained a few ounces.

My baby niece however lost around 13% with absolutely no repercussions, no top-ups and no fuss. She's 12 weeks now and dainty but thriving in every other way, just meant to be slight I think.

Were they the same scales as before?

No, it's his first weigh in since birth.

DD was very jaundiced as a baby and a midwife weighed her on her scales in the morning, sent her for a bilirubin check at the hospital that afternoon where she was weighed again and there was a 7oz difference between the two scales.

When are they weighing him again? Another weigh on the same scales would provide a more accurate picture of whether he's still losing now.

I am a paediatrician and if baby is feediing well alert etc. would not be too concerned how much has he lost ? As you say if over 10 lbs at birth then can obviously afford to loose it. Make sure it's the same scales on wednessday and try not to worry, midwife is obviuosly not that concerned or would be referring you. Congratulations he sounds smashing.

DD lost 15% in the first week but she too fed almost continually and jumped from the 50th to the 99th percentile by week 12. Tell them to sod off.

He has gone from 4626 to 4060.
TBH I'm not worried, he's my third and I know he's well and feeding fine iyswim.
Thankfully the MW agreed and said we'll just have to 'keep an eye'.

I think you are absolutely right. Babies are individuals, their weight gain is only one part of their development and hey, if it keeps the midwives interested for a bit longer and you away from the clutches of the health visiting service so much the better

Hi my Ds2 was 6lb 12oz born and a week later was 6lb 5oz., 10lb 3oz is a great weight to start with, i think it's acceptable to loose about 10% of their weight in the first 7/10 days. x

I'm always absolutely right wmmc
How are you geared up for your HBAC?

DD was 7'10 and dropped to 6'12 within 2 days!!!

I had her weight checked regularly over the first year, never gave her formula, she was always bright eyed and bushy tailed, always on the 9th centile but consistent.

AFAIC, YOU are mum and know that baby is doing well, YOU will know if there is any cause for concern at any point and you KNOW there's no cause for concern at the moment!

Any 'you must top up' conversations should be deemed as harrassment!

Contact local bf support group if you need to, and carry on feeding as much as ds2 wants.

BTW, I've not 'seen' you to say CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

wmmc I'm being nosy after VS's question. Are you planning an imminent hbac? I had an em cs with dd a year ago and I am "in talks" with dh (get me, I work for the UN I do) about number 2. I happened to casually mention to my hv at dd's 12 month prod and poke that I am keen for an hbac next time and she looked liked I'd stripped off and danced the polka in front of her. What was your experience of it? Talking to hcps I mean. Did you have a battle? I'm a bit wound up about agreeing to try for another without clarifying a few things about possible birth choices (was told hours after em cs that I would have to have a hospital birth next time, taking no longer than a few hours or they'd take the sunroof option).

Just being nosy about your personal experiences. Please tell me to bugger off if necessary.

Thanks klaw
You up to helping me prepare for a VBA3C in a year or so

DD1 went from 6lbs 3ozs to 5lbs 10ozs

DD2 went from 9lbs 3ozs to 10lbs

Weight is only a part of the picture. A 5 day old baby who's feeding well will also have plenty of soft yellow poo, lots of wee, and be feeding enthusiastically and often day and night, with a clear transfer of milk....if all these things are happening (and you say they are , then what the scales say is less important (especially as weighing may not be accurately done or recorded as has already been said. In particular, if the midwife has weighed on spring balance scales, or if the baby has been clothed, you can discount any result as not being worth recording).

Absolutely VS!!!!!

VS/prodigalshow - yes I am planning HBAC but not till the end of July. Am having a few issues at the mo- I have a congenital factor X deficiency which means, periodically my blood doesn't clot. But I'm finding it hard to get obstetric care who understands the condition. I've finally been referred to Mr Impey (VS knows who I mean) who apparently knows a bit, but it'll be a week before thing that we know my clotting levels etc. Luckily it means that it is in my best interests to have a non-interventionist birth because it avoids the likelihood of bleeding (instrumental delivery, cs etc. are no-nos unless it's life and death - of course they didn't know this last time instead favouring the filling me with syntocin to see if anything pops out method of torture delivery followed by an em-cs under epidural (again not sensible with factor X probs.)

Frankly I'm probably safer at home and since I can't have any decent drugs, I'd rather be far, far away from scary doctors. Nicky Wesson's Home Birth book will help you prodigalshow. Lots of facts and figures to beat the consultant round the head with!

My DD weighed 9lb 11oz when born after 6 days she lost 11% of her birth weight, she had to be wieghed every other day but was feeding ok however she still did not gain, so We were referred to the hospital for blood test, just to reasure you everything was fine. I have heard and not sure how true it is did you have a C Section as they say that if you re weigh you baby about * hours after they are born they would of already lost weight as they are still containing some fluid. Not sure how true this is but I had a C Section however I can say my DD is doing well she is 11 weeks old now and weighs 12lb 3 oz at last weigh however I did have to stop BF at 6 weeks.

Thanks wmmc, my first delivery was a homebirth transfer so I'm already very pro homebirth. Having had a lovely hypnobirthing/birth pool/relaxed first 20 hours of labour with midwives who seemed to acknowledge I wasn't some kind of breeding stock, the final 6 hours of being told off, ignored, fiddled with and tutted at tells me all I need to know about where the next one should make its grand entrance. I will hunt out Nicky Wesson asap and avoid the episiotomy/ventouse/spinal block/em cs route next time if at all possible. I think my biggest battle will be the blanket 'you've already had a cs, a homebirth is impossible' attitude.

I wish you the very best of luck and will keep an eye out for how it all goes and whether or not you ever find that elusive chocolate.

How's things VS?

My ds was 9lb 8oz at birth and had lost 1.5 oz by day 6. Since then he's piled the weight on- he was 14lb at 5 weeks but hasn't been weighed since then (now 8 wks

My ds was born two weeks early and i was bfing him, he lost 8oz went down from 5lb10oz to 5lb2oz.. we had to buy low birth weight nappies as when dh put a nappy on him it fell off!!

I hope Mr.Impey can help, suppose that's one good thing about the JR being so big, there is normally someone who knows something about it, if not then he'll have to find someone who does and do some research wont he, it is a teaching hospital after all

I hope you get your HB TPS, you should come over to the VBAC thread (I'll link it later) there are lots of people who are very knowledgeable there that can help you get all the gumpf you need to shut the docs up.