Ginormous baby

[tertle]

My due date is today but so far nothing. Have just been to have CTG monitoring and then had an appointment with my obstetrician who says that the baby will be at least 4 kilos! He tells me that even though it's impossible to tell exactly how much the baby weighs, there is no doubt about it, it's a whopper.

He has therefore given me the choice to be induced tonight or on Sunday. I've gone for Sunday as I feel like a need a bit of time to get my head around it, even though I clearly know that the baby is coming sooner rather than later. Also, tomorrow is the anniversary of my mother's funeral and I would prefer it if the baby isn't born on that date (if I can avoid it).

I am now feeling really worried about my decision of being induced on Sunday as I am concerned that the baby will get even bigger in the next few days. Maybe I should have just gone for tonight to get it over and done with? My husband tells me to relax but I'm finding it hard. Oh and my obstetrician isn't hopeful of me going into natural labour either, apparently the baby is showing no signs of appearing on its own.

Anyone have any stories to share of having an induction due to a big baby? How was it? Was it very slow? Extra painful? Argh !

Thanks in advance.

You'll be fine both of mine were big and back to back.
DS 9lb7 (4.2kg) I had my water broken after 20 hours of gentle contractions I was ready to push 30mins later and pushed for 20 minutes and got a small tear.
DD 9lb6.5 (just under 4.2kg) started after 1st pessary strong contractions for 9hrs but little progress water broken at 1:15 midwife chaneged shifts at 1:30 new one came in to introduce herself I said I need to push, before she had even got her gloves on DD was on the bed (2 pushes) no stitches needed.

Thanks hoot, that's very reassuring. I just hope I'll be able to relax until Sunday now!

Ds was a 10lber . Vaginal birth no complications no stitches . If they are concerned they may induce you a week or two early but I wouldn't worry

FWIW, size estimates by sonogram are notoriously unreliable and can be off by at least a point or even two, in either direction!!

You don't have to have an induction because of a bigger size estimate of baby, the choice always remains with you.

My friend's 13 pounder (3rd baby) was, according to her, her easiest birth.

Not a point, a pound!

DC1 was 9lb 5. No tear, no stiches, good quick recovery.

Good luck

Sorry didn't even register you are getting induced on Sunday

They can't tell the size before it's born, no matter why they say...
Bigger babies are actually easier to deliver, believe it or not. 4 kilos is far from ginormous anyway

Are you particularly small OP? Because if not, I wonder why they think you should be induced just because the baby is big? 4 kilos isn't huge anyway, and he's not going to get much,if at all bigger now. And generally induced labours seem to be more painful and more prone to intervention.

So, unless there are other issues, if I were you I would hold my nerve and go for a natural start to labour.

I had a scan the day I went into labour and they had told me DS was a pound heavier then he actually was in the end. Good luck :)

My 9-10 er was much easier to birth than my 8-13 er. Good luck!

I know that it's quite impossible to predict an exact weight, my obstetrician was quite clear with me on that. However, he has said that by all methods of calculation the baby is definitely bigger than average.

Molly, you're right of course, 4 kilos isn't that big but at my last appointment 4 weeks ago I was told the baby was on route for 3.4 kilos so this morning's news came as a bit of a shock to me!

Well, I am feeling reassured that bigger babies are seemingly easier to deliver, hopefully that will be the case for me.

Well your doctor just filled you with confidence didn't they?

If they had said 'baby is fine, looks strong and healthy, exactly in range of normal weight for a 40 week baby, you've done a great job so far, home stretch now hang on in there, growth slows now and it's all about waiting for the baby to get into a nice position ready to start the process of being born. No reason to expect any issue, just a nice healthy newborn ready for the world'

Wouldn't that have been nicer? 4kg is well in normal range. Dd was 3850g, popped out fine, utterly normal, unremarkable size of newborn who was still too little for newborn stuff. Induction for suspected big baby is not evidence based afaik and you can't even prove big baby! Chances are whatever you choose everything will be fine, but a choice between induction now or Sunday is not a choice, it's an inevitability, and if the way you say here is how it was presented to you, then that is wrong in and of itself IMO.

DD2 was 4.6kg and it was just the same as giving birth to DD1 who was 2.02kg.
The size of DD2 was a bit of a suprise all round though, they had no idea she was going to be so big.

I would say I am normal size Martorana, 5'4", BMI 20 (pre pregnancy). However I am not in the UK and pregnancy / birth is much more medicalised here. My obstetrician was very strict that I either go in tonight or on Sunday; he stressed that he would not be happy waiting any longer. I do worry that the process will be longer and more painful but there are some reassuring comments above!

Did you ask for the evidence based reason for induction? Because you're not very overdue, 4kg isn't that big, and scans don't accurately predict birth weight anyway (some studies have shown at least 50% completely inaccurate ie as good as guessing). Anyway, big babies tend to be easier births because they can take the stress better and gravity helps more.

If you have no other issues with your pregnancy I'd wait tbh. Induction is not risk free.

My dd1 was a9lb12 back to back ventouse delivery - wasn't exactly my most pleasant experience but she was fine, as was I (with stitches!) and I had a drip for a bit but no epidural or episiotomy.

My subsequent 2 were 9lb3 (10 days early naturally) and 7lb15 (3 weeks early, induced for other reasons).

A baby around 10lb is certainly possible to deliver naturally. My petite (5'0") mum had my 10lb7 brother naturally!!

I was induced on my due date with DS2 as they said he was a whopper and he was 8 13 exactly the same as DS1, DS3 who I insisted was going to be a whopper but was pooh poohed by the midwife was induced because I went over and was just short of 10 pounds. I don't think it's an exact science .

You're going to have a baby soon, squeeeeee.

I was scanned with my DS the day before I went into labour - consultant told me he was going to be at least 8.5lb, he was born 24 hours later weighing only 6.4lb. I did look at him and think, wow, 8.5lb looks much smaller than I thought and when I told the midwives they all laughed.

Good luck for Sunday x

Yep Wales, there's no doubt about that, the baby will be here soon! Nervous but excited to meet him or her (can you tell it's my first?!).

Thanks all for your replies. I don't really mind being induced, despite worrying that it apparently leads to a slower, more painful labour. I think I was just a bit shocked this morning - the doc showed me a graph of how my baby has grown in the last four weeks (and mentioned how big my tummy is!) and it did indeed make me feel a bit stressed. Plus the urgency of it all left me feeling a bit overwhelmed. But all of the above replies about equally 'big' babies or inaccurate weight predictions have made me feel a lot more relaxed.

It's the best thing in the world, just go with the flow in labour and then like magic all the sore things stop like a switch has been flipped and they give you a perfect person you made all yourself. Good luck and have fun

With my first I was told (by a money grabbing private OB) that "my baby is going to be so big you won't be able to give birth naturally and will require an emcs so you should go for a cs...now!". Midwives were fuming. I did push for an induction at 39 weeks anyway, but she came on her own the night before the induction (weighing 8lb 4oz--big but not cs big!!). Is there any way they can sweep you before Sunday to give you a chance to go into labour naturally?

My OB said my DS would be 8lbs. I was induced when I was 7 days overdue. I had three lots of gel but failed to progress far enough to put me on the drip. He wanted to rupture my membranes but I refused.

Had an elective section. DS was 10lb 11oz.

I was told all the way through that my DS was really big - never given a predicted weight but the midwives went on and on about his measurements at every appointment and warned me to prepare myself for a really big baby. He was a tiddly 6lb 6oz and shot out like a cork from a bottle (so fast the midwife didn't catch him!) with absolutely no tearing at all.

Good luck for Sunday

You're not in Spain, are you, OP? My sil, who's Spanish still regularly tells me 12 years later that I should have sued the hospital for malpractice because I had ds vaginally when he was 10lb 6- despite the fact that he was was born complication free after a 3 hour labour!