Encouraging stories about babies actually being smaller than 38 week growth scans predicted please

[preghead]

I am 38 weeks today with ds3. I had a growth scan yesterday and the baby was estimated to be a tad under 8lb with 2 weeks to go. So they are now panicking and going on about induction or c section at 40 weeks as he could be a 9lb'er at term, 91/2lb if I go over.

I personally am not too worried about this and am happy to go for the natiral delivery I want - really don't want to be induced or have a c section unless really necessary. The reason they go on about it (consultants) is that I had a shoulder dystocia with my first (8lb 4) and am only 5ft. (I personally think this was a bed dystocia and more likely due to mismanaged labour, bad positioning, than the size of the baby). Was very dramatic and scary but luckily ds1 was fine in the end after resusitation and SCBU. Ds2 birth was quick and easy, I stayed standing up the whole time and he came out easily - tho was only 7lb 14 in fairness to them (came on his due date).

Anyway, the midwives don't seem bothered but the doctors want to classify me as high risk (which I don't want as want to go in MLU) and are trying to get me to agree to 40 week induction/possible ELCS if I don't go into labour before then. I think this is overkill.

Has anyone else been predicted a big baby at term who was actually smaller - am holding out for this

At 36 weeks I was told that DD1's head was the size of a 42 week baby. SHe was born at 38 weeks and her head was on the 25th centile so the scan was very wrong!

With ds they predicted his weight four days before I had him and were pretty much spot on!

It happened to me.

I had growth scans for dd1 (3rd baby) which showed that she was much bigger than her brothers had been (9lbs and 9lbs 8oz and both with shoulder dystocia). I agreed to an induction at 40wks and she was just over 7lbs.

Preg, my DD2 was 8+lber at my 37 week growth scan and expected to be 9.5 or 10lbs at birth she was born the day before her due date at 8lb1, quick 1 hr labour. There was no talk of induction unless I went T+10

I had several growth scans throughout my pregnancy and they estimated tats DS would be 10-10.5 lbs at birth! I had an induction at 42 weeks due to being overdue as it wasn't trust policy to offer earlier inductions purely based on the babies size. As it turned out he was 8lb12 so not small, but not as large as predicted :D

yes - told he was 9lbs at 38 weeks, so estimated full term weight of 10-11 lbs, so was induced at 38 weeks - he was 8lb 6oz. just over 1/2 lb difference.

I struggled with DC1, who was a whopping 9lb girl at term. ventose delivery - she as stuck fast.

Ds1 and DS2 were both 8lb 6oz, induced early. easy births the pair of them, gas and air only, 3 hours (ds1) and 1h45m (ds2) total labour.

Yes - predicted a whopper at 36+4 scan causing much panic (mainly to me!). DD2 born 2 days late and weighed in at exactly 8lb. Not small but not huge either.
I have been told (even by the Sonographers doing it) that it is not an accurate way of predicting birthweight.
Good luck and hope all goes well whatever happens.

Well obviously you do have to take the dystocia into account but there's a couple of things to bear in mind. One, a larger baby isn't necessarily more difficult to give birth to. Position and head circumference are what makes the difference. And two, the scans aren't that accurate.

My SIL has been threatened with induction/elcs twice because of a 'whopping' baby. DNs were 6lbs 5oz and 6lbs 12oz respectively.

I have a friend who was told her baby was 'average' sized (she was tiny, her dh 6ft 5" so she was worried). He came out weighing 11lbs (emcs).

So, yeah, it's not accurate.

But you have had a previous shoulder dystocia which they do have to take into account.

Shongololo I love your name, I wanted it but it was gone when I name changed

dd was predicted to be 12lbs+ at 38 weeks.

Needless to say they were completely and utterly incorrect.

She was 9lbs 4oz but 23inches long. So think the lenght confused them.

But no talk of induction or cs at all.

I'm sure they will be totally wrong about your DC too.

My ds1 was declared small for dates by midwife, so I had a scan at 36 weeks. The scan said he was far too big for date so I was checked for diabetes ( didn't have it). He was born on his due date 8lb, on 50th percentile for weight and height.

Good Luck

I was told at a 34 week scan that dd1 would be 'big'. She was 7lb 1oz!

Dd2 was never noticed as being big and was 8lb 13oz and I was told after she was born that she was classed as big!

oooh thanks all for the replies - sounds like it can vary a lot. I do have a massive bump but then I am short so maybe that makes it look bigger (clutching at straws here) and I'm sure everyone said that about the other 2 too. It was the AC (abdominal circumference) that worried them more than the head circ I think - head was 75th centile but tummy near 97th centile! (have obvioulsy been eating too much chocolate). Surely once you get the head and shoulders out no baby gets stuck by the stomach does it!!!

What annoys me is the usual discrepancy between what the consultant says and what the midwives say - midwives agree with all the research I did last time that positioning can make a massive difference to avoiding shoulder dystocia - i.e stand, squat lunge etc to maximise pelvis opening size, but the consultant just laughed more or less and said it would make minimal difference if the baby was "too big". But what is too big?

Hopefully he will come a week early next week when their prediction would say 8lb 4/5 or something. Thanks for all your replies.

I'm 37+4 with baby no.3.

DD1 was estimated to be 'big' (7lb15)
DS2 estimated to be 'average' (8lb11)

This one is measuring on 90th centile estimated 9.5 - 10lb according to fundal measurement, but I had a growth scan a few weeks ago and brought it down to around 8lb 7 at term.

I hope the latter is right! Just waiting to see. Think it's all guesswork in the end!

At 36 weeks DS was predicted to be 8lb+ by a growth scan. I was induced at 38 weeks (for other health reason) and DS was 7lb4.
So yes, they can be wrong

They can be wrong but I would second what others have said that big babies are not necessarily a problem. Ds1 was born at 39 weeks 9lb15 and ds2 arrived after a 2.5 hour labour at term weighing 10lb7.

I have had a growth scan this time at 35 weeks which showed the baby to be 7lb10 already so we shall just have to wait and see....

DC3 was predicted at 36 wks to be 7.5lbs. Was born at 38wks weighing 7lbs. They are notoriously wrong!

I've had growth scans for all of mine for various reasons - mosatly innacurate apart from with ds3 when they were pretty much spot on with his hugeness!!

Ds1 was estimated to be 8 1/2 lb - born at 9lb 9oz#

Ds2 estimated 10lb - 8lb 15 oz at 41 weeks

ds3 estimated 11lb - born at 39 weeks after 3 failed induction attemptsd at 11lb 4oz!

All through my pregnancy with ds2 I was told he'd be big. Estimated at 9lb at 38 week scan. Born at 40+4 weighing just 7lb.

ooh Katylou 11lb 4!!! why do you think he was so much igger than the others! Was ne noticably bigger for clothes and nappies and things if you see what I mean? wow! good effort!

Anyway, I'm hacked off with the stupid doctor now. I saw her on Monday when she told me she was recommending induction at term if not ELCS because the baby might be around 9lb by then and I had a shoulder dystocia 2 pregnancies ago. She also told me to go and get a membrane sweep with my community midwife at the GP surgery next week but not before I reached 39 weeks which is on Tuesday/Wednesday next week. So I left the antenatal clinic where I was and drove to my GPs to book the membrane sweep nect week only to be told community midwives aren't allowed to do them until you're past term. So I phoned up the entenatal clinic, where I had just been, who took my details and said they'd look into it. I then got a message today saying they'd made me an appt next monday at 3.15, that this was the only time I could come in all week, even though I won't be 39 weeks yet which she was insistent on and I will actually be at my son's school at that time picking him up!

I then looked up the NICE and Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstericians guidelines on shoulder dystocia to confirm what I found last time which is that induction at term or ELCS is categorically NOT recomended for either previous shoulder dystocia or excessively large babies - only for gestational diabets, and that induction of labout is in fact a risk factor FOR causing shoulder dystocia as it causes the baby to come down too quickly before it has time to rotate and get in position properly to avoid it.

Why is a consultant telling me to get a procedure from a midwive that they can't legally do and recommending a completely unecessary at best and dangerous at worse intervention!!! Stupid woman.

With DS he was estimated as 8lb already and expected to be about 10lb. He was born at 40+8 and was 7 lb 15!!

hmmm I am increasingly thinking I will ignore all this bs and proceed with a natural active delivery whenever he chooses to come as planned - I would be pretty pisssed off if they managed to persuade me to be induced or even worse have an ELCS and he turned out to be a normal sized baby.

Well, SIL had a C-section because it was thought her baby was too big for her. He turned out to be 6 lbs 9 ozs!

I don't think a larger baby always means a harder delivery, either. My friend a relatively 'easy' delievery with her 9 lbs 13 oz second child, number three who was only 7 lbs 8 ozs was harder apparently.

I was told that my DS was 'average' and he came bang on dates a little shy of 9 lbs. Don't consider that particulary big (friend had a natural delivery with a 10 lb 15 oz baby so who am I to complain!)

Hi preghead - am in an almost identical situation to yourself. I'm 39 weeks today with DC2, my DS1 was 9lb6oz born at 40+5, and has shoulder dystocia (resolved quickly by MWs, no SCBU etc, we were home witin 8 hours).

I had a growth scan at 36 weeks which estimated weight to be around 9lbs at term - head is on 50th centile, belly on 97th centile (but I don't have diabetes etc, he's just a chunk!)

My opinion was that if he is 'only' going to be around 9lbs then I want to go naturally if at all possible. My consultant advised sweeps at 38 and 39 weeks - my community MWs were also surprised by this, but I had one sweep last Friday and have another booked for this coming Friday. We'll have a discussion at this appointment about how I feel about induction at term - cervix is currently favourable so if I was induced, she thinks it'll be relatively quick/no Syntocin etc.

Still, I'd much rather go totally naturally (though I suppose the early sweeps could be considered as an intervention, but the MW expressly said beforehand that if baby wasn't engaged/it didn't look favourable then she wouldn't do it - fair enough).

We'll see what happens on Friday I suppose. Good luck to you, and hoping you get the easy SD-free natural birth you want :)

PS have also written in my birth plan that I want to be as active as possible, no continuous monitoring, no epidural etc. and have been told that I'll be able to use pool etc.

There will be a team of Paeds etc outside the delivery room for pushing stage apparently - tho not sure they could do anything the MWs can't!

Hi NW - how funny! (well not really, but you know what I mean) - exactly the same situation!

If it is any comfort to you I had all this last time and my second son was born on his due date naturally with no intervention (despite all the doom and gloom predictions) quickly and easily. I stood up for the whole labour and then squatted at the end with DP holding me under the arms and he shot out with a few pushes. He was only 7lb 14 admittedly but still.

What pisses me off more than the unecessary stress and worry is that at my hospital they seem to be insisting that I am classified as high risk becausue of all this and high risk people cant go in the MLU birthing unit for natural births where I want to go (after the last 2 times, I just want to give birth somewhere relatively nice if at all possible). What pisses me off more is last time they told us exactly the same things you were told - team of doctors will be on standby, resusitator in the room, 2 experienced midwives with me at all times checking babies descent down the birth canal at regular intervals - the consultant wrote it in big letters all over the back of my notes. When it came to it, we turned up, they were rushed off their feet, we got shoved in the spare room they only ever use if they have to as there was virtually no room to move around the bed (where I was expressly not going due the "bed dystocia" element of my previous birth), the midwive laughed at my partner when he asked where the resusitator was and said " oh do we have a nervous father here would you like a cup of tea dear". To which he said "no I just watched my firstborn child emerge from my partner dead to all intents and purposes with an apgar score of 1 and then had to endure 8 minutes while they tried to get him to breath and I was under the impression that someone would be keeping an eye on the situation this time". Even after all that she did a membrane sweep, said it would be hours yet, fucked off and we never saw anyone else again until the head emerged and my partner hit the emergency button and she came rushing back in as he came out!

This is the same bloody hospital where the doctor wants me to have an ELCS because they are so scared of shoulder dystocia births!!

Anyway, I am ranting - good luck next week and I am sure it will be fine - please let us know how it all goes.