11lb at 38 weeks! Advice please

[wtfisgoingon]

Hello all,

DS1 was 40+9 and weighed 8lb7. DS2 was 40+16 (i refused induction) and weighed in at 10lb 11oz. Both spontaneous, natural and, compared to most I would say quite easy births.

So....I am 38+4 with my third baby. I was referred for a growth scan last thurs (38+1), and apparently the baby already weighs 11lb . I honestly thought the sonographer was joking at first. Saw the consultant afterwards, all very serious: bring me in for induction the following day or book a c-section for the tail end of this week. I said I wasn't prepared to make a decision there and then and we left.

Plenty of googling that evening has led me to some conclusions:

1: they may be off with the weight (although margin of error seems to only be just over a pound, and I suppose could would in either direction)

2: shoulder dystocia (my main concern) could happen regardless of size, seems to be more of a positional thing. I haven't put on excessive weight, no sign of GD either.

I have since asked for more time. I had acupuncture on Friday, and a follow-up for Tuesday morning with reflexology booked for that afternoon.

I am mainlining raspberry leaf tea, and snorting clary sage fumes.

I just imagined this birth being as wonderful and as straightforward as the other two, and am trying to stay calm and positive, but I am thinking that if they are correct about the weight then I cant really delay past next weekend. I have confidence in my body but only up to a point!

I would really welcome thoughts and advice from anyone with similar stories to share.

TIA

My scan with DD was about 4lb out too, like other posters above. So your baby could be anywhere between 8 and 16lb going on scan accuracy!

Were the measurements roughly the same as before? If it's just the abdomen that is large then surely that won't make the birth as tricky as a large head, for example. That bit just slips out after the head and shoulders.

Hope it all goes well whatever you decide.

Late pregnancy growth scans for suspected big babies can be very inaccurate due to how cramped up in there the baby is. The measurements are hard to get. One consultant I saw said he didn't bother with them because of that.

That said they can be correct as well.

It's hard to make a decision when the people advising what to do are basing their advice on a tool that cannot give a definitve answer and is known to be inaccurate at times.

Would it help you with your decision to imagine how you'd feel if you went for the ELCS and the baby ended up around the same size as your last? Would you be upset?

My first 2 babies were around the 8lb mark. DC3 measured big from the beginning. Sent for growth scans which consistently showed 98th centile baby but I shrugged them off thinking they're not that accurate.

In the end I was induced at 40+14 (purely for overdue reasons, no one seemed really that concerned about his size). He was 11lb. Had the biggest shock when they told me his weight. Despite this (apart from his crappy back to back position) the birth was fairly straightforward. I did have a mild PPH after which the team jumped on due to his size though.

Fast forward to DC4. She's nearly 12wo now but was another measure big for dates baby. Never got a growth scan this time based upon the previous pregnancy. She was a small (in comparison!) 10lb 2oz. The consultant was very matter of fact and said you've shown you can give birth to big babies so he wasn't particularly worried. Just wanted things in place ready to prevent another PPH, rather than just wait and see. Induced again with this one (overdue again) and all absolutely fine. Lovely birth.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that knowing I had given birth to a big baby already I personally wouldn't have opted for early induction let alone ELCS if they had offered it to me. It's hard though if pressure is being put on you so I feel very lucky that I didn't have that.

Everyone's circumstances are different though and you can only go with what you feel is the right thing to do based upon the advice being given to you. Anyway, you might go into labour the next couple of days not have the stress of making that decision!

Good luck with it all :)

Oh and I second whoever said to make sure you update us! Then we can congratulate you on those lovely squidgey thighs :o

Thanks for the comments all, I fainted during a reflexology session on Friday, never fainted before! That prompted me to come in for a ELCS yesterday morning, and although I did have a panicky hour with tears before hand wondering if I was doing the right thing I went ahead...all fine although I lost a lot of bl

Congratulations!

So just how big was baby? And boy/girl! Name?

Oops

Blood, but that doesn't matter as we were presented with a bouncing baby boy weighing in at.....

11lb 12oz!

Absolutely thrilled, and a couple months carrying this big unit around will certainly banish the bingo wings.

So basically, the scans weren't far off at all, in fact the first one was spot on, despite me being convinced otherwise xxx

Wow so he is big! Congratulation on the arrival of your not so little baby boy :)

Enjoy those newborn snuggles xxx

Congratulations! That is a big chap :)

Wow! Congratulations! I'd had growth scans after measuring big but all the consultants and sonographers said I'd be fine. Went into labour, 8 hours later had emcs and dd was 9lb 11oz. Everyone had told me how inaccurate growth scans were and how they ended up with tiny babies!

Enjoy your (not so) little bundle :)

Congratulations! What a chunk

Congratulations!

Massive (pun intended) congratulations!! Hope you're both doing well :)

I was told I was having a huge baby. She was 9lb 5oz. I would go with the flow. Good luck.

Oh sorry. Congratulations :D

As a diabetic, I was scanned weekly. They always worry that child becomes too big. Both times they told me babies were 9lb'ers ++, . Both came out at 7lb.
I had a HUGE amount of amniotic fluid. It was commented on both times, when my waters broke. Partly explains the error.
I have spoken to many mAny people whose scans were not very accurate.
Please try not to worry.

Sorry, missed latest.
Congratulations.

Congratulations! Glad you went for the section

Congratulations! Hope you didn't buy too many newborn sized clothes!

I would be inclined to go with their advice re: getting the baby born asap. Maybe get another scan to make sure, but if baby is 11 lbs it is definitely big enough to be born, and they do worry about the risks involved with large babies.