Poll - how big was your baby and how hard was your labour?

[beartime]

I've been reading the Gentle Birth posts about dieting leading to a smaller baby which means an easier labour, so wanted to see if this is really true. Also should take into account if the baby was healthy or not afterwards - because maybe small means less healthy?

So can you give your baby weight, length of labour, any complications and health of baby?

Mine was 8lb 7oz, 17hrs from first twinge, got cord stuck round his neck which led to episiotomy and ventouse, very healthy. Also tore.

I always thought the bigger the baby the easier it is?

Mine ranged from 7lb 10 to 10lb 2

no stitches with bigger 2!

dd born 2 weeks early 7lb 8oz and 9hr labour from 1st twinge.she was taken into hospital at 2 weeks with suspected meningitis.
ds born 2weeks 1 day early 8lb 2oz and was an hour in labour just about got to hospital in time,waters broke at door of delivery room he arrived 3 minutes later!!!

DS1 - 8lb 5oz, 12 hour labour from first twinge to delivery, no problems, baby fine & no stitches.

DS2 - 7lb 7oz, 5 hour labour from first twinge to delivery, again no problems, healthy wailing baby & no stitches required.

7 lb 1 oz, with a lovely small head, but 32 hours - she was back-to-back.

DD was 6lbs 15oz. I had no proper labour. 50 hours of induction followed by a c section due to failure to progress.

DS1 was 8lb 10oz. Labour was 12 hours from first twinge to baby in arms. Second degre tear, but more to do with his 37cm head than his overall weight, I think. Apgars 8 and 10.

DS2 was 8lb 1oz. Labour was 8 hours from first twinge to baby in arms. 34.8cm head. Small internal tear. Apgars 8 and 10.

Neither labour was particularly painful - strong, yes, but not unbearable. DS1 was a waterbirth, DS2 was going to be, but he arrived too quickly.

ds - 8lb 8oz 7hrs from waters breaking. 30mins of pushing but he got his shoulders stuck (cant remember what they called it) so 2 mw and a doc pulling on his head etc. Just gas and air!!

My DS was 8lb 7oz and was in labour for 6 hours from waters breaking to him popping out. Only had gas and air for pain relief has I had high blood pressusre and had to wait for blood test results before they could give me anything else -not that I needed it had the speed he came!! I need a few stitches after the birth but was home the following home.
He was a really healthy baby and now is a very active healthy toddler.

Ds was 7lb 8oz, 5hour labour from first contraction to meeting him. And had my waters broken for me. Had a cut followed by stitches, not too bad. Natural birth.

2nd ds was born at 17weeks, had every kind of pain relief, morphine etc, hurt like hell. Nothing like the first!

Will tell you how the third one goes.....

DS was 7lbs 5, 12 hours, no tearing, no pain relief - apart from tens machine.

DD was 8lbs 1.5, 8 hours, no tearing, tried gas and air, promptly threw up so then started thumping it against the bed instead.

dd1- 8lbs 6 1/2 oz, 21 hours, g&a, pethidine, epidural, episiotomy,ventouse, forceps

dd2- 7lb 13oz , 4 hours, no pain relief or tears

dd3- 8lbs 6 ozs, g&a, and pool for 1hour no tears etc

7lb 10
1st stage about 6-7 hrs (fully dilated when got into hospital)
2nd stage 1 hr in when ended up with episiotomy and ventouse
Gas and air only
And it was bloody bloody hard-but soon forgotten. (well within a few weeks)

soz dd3 - 3 1/2 hours forgot to put it

One and only child: 6.13 oz

17 days early (NOT preterm)

Labour: 18 hours from the time waters broke - but only 8 hours of proper contractions to birth

8 hours in water - gave birth outside water

Very minor tearing which did not require stiches

I would say the main reason I did not tear or require intervention was that I spent 3 weeks prior to birth standing up so that baby was in a good position - I was upright even when working in office

I remained upright throughout labour

I massaged perinium with olive oil for 3 weeks prior to birth - helps prevent tearing

Forgot to add he has always been incredibly healthy - has only ever had minor colds and nothing else -

though I would say the healthy aspect has nothing to do with his initial weight but to do with excl. bf for 1st 6 months plus still being bf at 21 months.

Dd - 8lb 10oz, laboured in water with G&A, 14 hours from first twinge, no stitches, v healthy baby.
Ds - 8lb 15oz, home water birth, 6 hours all told, no tearing, another very healthy baby.

I had heard that bigger babies can be easier to deliver because gravity is such a factor.

DD1 - 8lbs - 46 hour labour, 5 hours pushing - 3 rd degree tear (ow ow ow ow ow) - Very healthy little baby. I was 4 days late.

DD2 - Induced 4 weeks early due to pre-term rupture of membranes. Induced by drip. 5lb 2oz. Had to go to SCBU for a week, jandice and slow to feed. No stiches, hurrah! (Well there had to be one good thing about it!!) Oh and labour was 1 hr 46 mins from start to finish!!

DD1 15 days early 4h 20 mins start to finish G&A only, second degree tear due to her being born with both hands by her face nothing could have prevented it, 6lbs 3ozs, jaundiced but healthy.

DD2 12 days late 2h 30 mins G&A at home, slight graze, very painful but quick pushing stage, could have been quicker but MW had to break waters to get her head down. 9lbs 3ozs big healthy girl.

dd, 6lb 14oz, long labour, epidural, 2nd degree tear.

ds, 8lb, home birth, shortish labour, small tear.

Oh and dd had a very small head, ds's head was HUGE!

DS1 - 9lb 11oz, 9 days late, 27 hours from first contraction to delievery, long second stage as baby back to back. 91st centile for weight and height, no stitches, very healthy baby.

DS2 - 9lb 12oz, 1 day early, 12 hours from first twinge to delivery, very easy labour and delivery, 98th centile for weight and length, no stiches, very healthy baby.

My midwife told me not to worry about big babies as they are less liekly to get stuck and have less chance of their hands dropping down by their faces as all the room is taken up and that they engage better as they are heavier and gravity gets them going.

I didn't gain a lot of weight with the first and only with the second as I was practically house boubd with SPD, my boys weren't fat, just big and in porportion and I believe that's the size they were supposed to grow to, they are both still big now. In my experience, bigger was fine with no problems.

dd 14 hours from first contraction. 7lb 3 1/2oz
g+a and pethidene to start. had to have spinal at the end with ventouse