Having a large baby

[Fairy]

I wonder if anyone else has any experience of our 1st pregnancy.

Our son was induced 10 days after my due date and was born after 8 hours with not that much trouble it seemed at the time! But when he emerged he seemed a lot bigger than we expected and this was where the trouble started!

He weighed 10lbs 5ozs and his head circumference was 38 cms!!!! So he was a big chap, due to his size I lost about 2 pints of blood and fainted straight afterwards. When we were wheeled out of the delivery room it looked like I'd been murdered or in a car crash!

So now I find myself at 34 weeks pregnant with our second and finding the consultant at the hospital to be as much use as a wet potato! All I get is 'well you've done it once second time no problem', now that may be true but it does not instill me with much confidence. I'm being scanned again this Thursday, and I will probably be told again that he is an average size, but I cannot believe that I could go from my first being a whopper to the second being just average.

So what I'm asking in a long winded fashion is, does anyone else out there have any experience of this sort thing? Please?!!!!

Ghosty - no there isn't always paralysis. From what I've read the instance of shoulder dystocia is less than 1% and of those only around 15% end up in what is called a Brachial Plexus injury (what my ds had). Other results can be broken collar bone or humerus but I think nearly 50% are resolved with no injury to the baby at all by the midwife following certain manoeuvers (spelling!).

The reason I am asking is ...
When I was born the doctor said to my mum 'Must be a boy ... has really broad shoulders' ... As I was the 4th baby there was no real trauma in delivery but my mum did say that I got stuck.
When I was 15 my mum noticed something when she was giving me a hug ... my shoulders made a major 'clunk' noise. When she looked closely at me she realised that my clavical (sp?) - where the collar bone meets the sternham (sp?) was loose ... I thought that everyone was like that and had no idea that your collar bone is meant to be fixed still.
I had all sorts of x rays and tests and the doctors discovered that I have a very shallow 'cup' in that joint, on both sides and very loose ligaments. He said that it was either congenital OR a birth injury. We were offered an operation to fix it but the doctor at the time said that it would loosen again in time and I would be left with a very nasty scar so we decided not to go ahead with it. He also said that I would begin to have problems (pain, probably arthritis) in my 30s.
Anyway, I am now 33 and he was right. I am always aching and sore in my collar bone. I suffer from neck problems because the muscles in my neck and shoulders compensate for the weakness in my collar bone area ... I currently have physio twice a week to alleviate the discomfort.
My question is ... could I have had Shoulder Dystocia and is this the outcome? I have never heard the term before you see and that is why I am interested as well as worried about having a natural birth with a large baby.
Sorry for hijacking ... didn't mean to but got on a roll ... and sorry for this being so long .....

Sometimes there can be a bit of effort needed to deliver the shoulders and someone might say that they were a bit stuck. With true shoulder dystocia the shoulders will not deliver with the next contraction. It is an emergency situation where different manoevres are used to release the shoulders. It is a frightening situation for the mum and staff. Your mother would be able to describe the panic felt in the room at the time had she had shoulder dystocia. Ask your mum for more details. If you delivered just with a bigger push and pull it is unlikely to have been shoulder dystocia. HTH.

Thanks Mears ... that does help. I will ask my mum for more details but I think she would have said already if there was panic etc. I guess my problem must be congenital then ...
Thinking of you Tigerfeet ...

Paula1 - could you tell me exactly what happened pre- and post-operatively? ie. what tubes went where and when and then the pain relief afterwards - what was it, how did it make you feel, how long did you need it, was it self-administered. Also some practical things like getting out of bed, walking, breathing! I've had a spinal before and a catheter but I suppose its more the aftermath, and during the operation too I guess. I know I'm rambling but I'm just trying to get it all out as it pops into my head.

Thanks

I have decided to opt for an elective section so will go into hospital Friday 4 April. My consultant, husband and myself decided that the risks of surgery are less than the risks of SD reoccurrence and that an elective is preferable to an emergency. I can't put into words how relieved I feel at having made this decision so I am now able to focus on looking forward to seeing my baby and get myself into a positive frame of mind (plus I am now armed with arnica and a TENS machine too!) It's just a relief to now get on with things as this was really making the last few weeks of pregnancy crap. Will let you know how it goes.

I am glad you feel better Tigerfeet ... hope to hear some good news around the 5th April then???

I am glad you feel so much better.. that is better for you and baby.... just make sure they give you loads of skin to skin when baby is born....
Good luck !

Glad you have been able to make a decision you are happy with Tigerfeet. Looking forward to hearing your announcement

I've just read most of this thread for the first time - glad to hear you've made the decision and are happy with it Tigerfeet. I ended up having a cs with my ds (9lb 8oz) after nearly 3 days without getting to more than 6cm dilated. I had the procedure under epidural - even though I'm a complete coward and very squeamish person it was absolutely fine and even quite enjoyable as I knew I was going to see my baby at last with no pain whatsoever! Having previously been determined that I wanted a VB with number one, I'm much more ambivalent about number 2.

Good luck Tigerfeet on 4th April - I'll be thinking of you. The woman on my ward who had elective c-sections seemed to be totally sorted immediately after teh operation and some even went home in a couple of days. Sure that everything will be fine.

A quick announcement to conclude the story so far...I gave birth to a daughter on 4th April who weighed in at 7lbs 1oz and was 49cm long (not like her brother who started all this off who was 9lbs 15oz and 58cm long). Will fill you in on the birth another day but although it was a section it didn't entirely go as planned (went into labour and was sectioned at 2.21am instead of the original elective option of good nights rest, operation at 9am but we all know what happens to plans when life gets in the way ) We're all fine though and I was home after 48hours.

Congratulations, Tigerfeet! I bet your DD looks tiny to you

Congrats Tigerfeet and glad to hear you're recovering well.

congratulations, tigerfeet.

Congratulations Tigerfeet and welcome to your 'little' girl!

Congratulations Tigerfeet.

Congratulations Tigerfeet!

Congratulations Tigerfeet

Not read all this thread but maybe I haven't got a good comparison but I thought ds3 was a 'normal' size baby at 8lb 13oz he was my smallest (despite drs saying he'd be a she going by the scan I had during labour) and my biggest. Ds1 was 9lb 5oz and ds2 was 9lb 13oz.

Not sure that made sense. Ds3- had scan while in labour. Drs said I had a girl and she would be bigger than ds2.
Ds1 - 9lb 5oz and 55cm long
Ds2 - 9lb 13oz and 53cm long
Ds3 - 8lb 13oz and 54cm long
Is that any better/clearer? Didn't get much sleep last night. It's a bit of a match stick job!! Keep

Congratulations Tigerfeet, and welcome to your new baby girl.

Oh how lovely Tigerfeet. I've gone all broody now. Does she have a name yet?

Congratulations, Tigerfeet!

April is a lovely month to have a baby (I've had 3 April babies - 2 girls - aaaahhh!)

Fantastic news Tigerfeet. Hope everything is still going well.