Lulumama or any other m/ws - quick question re. size of baby!

[cupcakesgalore]

I had a couple of growth scans which indicate a large baby. My 1st two were 9lb10 and 9lbs11 (on due date for the biggest). Anyway, the baby's grown a lot bet. scans from 50th to 91st centile. I saw my m/w y'day and she had a feel and said if she had to guess then she'd say the baby was currently around the 8lb mark and I'm measuring 38 wks. Now, I'm exactly 36 wks - so add 4 more wks....am I right in thinking it's up to half a pound per wk. which could equate to over 10lbs..? Do you think my m/w would be accurate in guessing baby's size (she's a v. experienced m/w). She said she'd only be concenred re. a home birth if it was off the centile chart or i was measuring well over 40 wks. at this stage. She didn't seem perturbed by the fact it could be 8lbs at 36 wks, but that seems quite large to me - my last DD was only 8lb4 and that was 8 days late.

I'm not a midwife, but thought you might like to know that my dd (no3) was measured as being big (although on the growth charts, not a growth scan), and the midwives tended to agree with her being a bigger baby.(possibly 10lb at 40 weeks)
When I had her at 39 wks she ended up being 7lb7oz, but quite long. Maybe that is part of what you are experiencing, although all of your babies have been bigger than mine. Maybe you just have nice chubby babies, and I'm sure your body and your midwife can cope.

I'm no m/w either, but thought I'd share my experience as it might help.

I had two growth scans as they were worried about baby's size & was told to expect a 9.5-10lb baby - in the end DD was 8.5lbs at 39+4, not exactly small, but smaller than they were predicting.

The registrar I saw after my second growth scan was lovely & actually reassured me that baby's head was a normal size, she just had a bit of a chubby tummy, which is no bad thing & as for the birth it's the head size that counts as the rest "squashes" on the way out.

It's very rare for women to grow babies too big for them to birth

Also my m/w reckoned DD would be just under 9lbs from palpating & she was closr than the growth scan

cupcakes - you've given birth to big babies before, so if this one is as well then you will almost certainly be able to birth it normally. If the baby is big then you probably stand a better chance of delivering it easily by being at home where you are more likely to be mobile and upright which will help a lot.

But as you know neither m/ws nor scans are completely accurate at determining size. Scans can be way out in both directions. I've lost count fo the number of women I've heard of who have been told to expect a whopper and ended up with a normal-sized baby and I myself was told to expect a 7lb-er last time. Ended up being 10lb 13oz and was born at home easily and with a 3 minute second stage

Not m/w but have had big babies (and i'm tiny) you'll be fine having had two near 10lbers - you must have a lovely open pelvis!

They kept telling me how a measured small at 16 days over, she was 10lb6oz

Oh yeah, meant to mention I'm not a midwife either

My obstetrician scanned me twice towards the end of my pg with ds2 - 35 and 37w, IIRC - as she was concerned about his size because I had had some sugar in my urine. She only measured his abdomen, and wouldn't predict his birth weight, but said that the abdominal measurements were an accurate guied to whether the baby was going to be big. I think he was at the time measuring on the 90th centile, or thereabouts. She was reluctant to approve a planned home birth (was deliberately trying to scare me re shoulder dystocia) but the senior midwife persuaded her to sign me off for one.

Ds2 was born at 40+6, weighing 11lb, so I guess she was right about the size! But, OTOH, it was an easy birth and I didn't need any stitches afterwards. I'm sure having had two big babies before (8lb10oz and 9lb3oz) helped.

Lovely to hear sucj p[ositive stories so thankyou everyone. fortunately my cons. is apparently pro home birth and non-medical labours etc. so my m/w said that if she says she's concerned i should pay attention, but that she doesn't think she will be. I'm getting to the stage where it's fairly imminent but I can remember the pain of being in labour v.v.v. clearly!...and the thought of a large baby. Ouch! Delivering the third who was 8lb4 was a lot easier in the 2nd stage - or maybe the waterbirth made a diff. I'm just v. keen not to tear again, so good to hear some of you had large babies easily!

my first was average, the last 3 large and they were all easy no tears/stitches and I swear taking loads of arnica mad a difference too, no swelling/bruising etc the last one went from 8cm to delivered in 3 contractions and less than 2 minutes so very quick!

Ooh - interesting with the arnica. When did you start taking it and how much??

I had planned inductions as agreed to be induced at T+14 I got the highest strength stuff and started taking more than recommended amount about 48 hours before hand?????? I think????? Just popped away, once they started the induction I carried on popping them every couple of hours until I was in too much pain to remember!

not a midwife...! and what everyone else said !

having birthed two bigger babies before, your body has shown that it is more than capable, so this time should not present a problem

being at home, being able to move freely and adopt the best position for you will help facilitate a good birth !

not sure what advice I can give but ime my mw's and consultants were not concerned with big babies..more with small ones as apparently they could potentially die Didn't help me when dd was on due date weighing 9lb 4oz and im 4ft 11in..DS was a week over and weighed 9lb 13 oz..
I felt like noone listened to my concerns over ds's size and just kept saying "well you coped with dd's birth".

TBH, it has put me off future babies we may have (wanted 5) and I would only consider more if a cs was an option. Wrongly or rightly.....I wouldn't want to experience that again .

shhh-

so sorry that you are struggling like this

so sad that this has put you off more babies.

i am sure that you could elect a c.s if your last two births have left you so traumatised that you won;t have more babies

have you been debriefed on the births?

big hugs for you xxx

there is a thread in childbirth called @@@ birth trauma @@@ got some useful links

IIRC, was there not some issue with your pelvis causing problems with the birth or am i confused?

. BIG hugs to you..!!!

Well I have written to our chief whatever at the hospital and have been told the letter is being dealt with..a reply to be received by the end of this month. I have noted my cincerns and the fact that I want them to agree to a cs and to put it in my notes just incase im not living here at a future date.

Well with dd I don;'t remember any concerns although weeks before ds was born they told me I struggled delivering dd's shoulders, which I wasn't or dh aware of...
I felt I coped with dd BUT tore and that worried me with ds birth. I know they say that once you have birthed a big baby then you can cope with BIG babies BUT tbh thats not reasurring when you are about to drop iykwim..!!

Will wait to see what they say about ds's birth. I know ds is only 17 weeks and has/is quite ill BUT I have told dh that I honestly can't and won't say im done with having babies..I think as a woman you know "when you time is done" and mine isn't.

Will let you know what they say.

BTW, as a fellow crocs lover...are you after a new pair and what size are you..? Just got x2 pairs to sell....!!!

great you are taking this in hand....that is really positive ! sorry that ds has been poorly......do tell me what repsonse you get

yes, love crocs. take a size 5, not sure what size croc that is, will have to look at them ! was after a new pair !

thanks lm, well given what ds has/is going through I know some people would put the birth to the back of the list BUT suppose its taking my mind off things..I also don't want to get a year down the line and possibly be at the stage when I would like more AND THEN write and complain..Its also still quite fresh in my mind.
Will let you know outcome.

The crocs I have are a size 4 (m4 w6) so think they will be too small for you..Hey ho.. Will shout if I have any more to sell...

no worries, take care.

I'm nearly a midwife and think its VERY hard to estimate a baby's weight from palpation. Even scans can be way out.

And rememeber that the 91st percentile is within normal range.

On a personal level I had a scan at 38weeks that said at that point dd was 7.5lbs. She was born at 40weeks weighing 6lbs9oz.

Second babies are normally a bit bigger than first babies, but not by a lot. How do you think you feel compared to last time? Do you feel larger?

Have confidence in yourself that you can birth this baby. You've done it before and can do it again. Second births are normally easier.

My m/w kept saying head down small baby. She was actually feeling the bottom of a 9lb breech....
I know a couple of people who have been frightened by estimates of the birth size then on the day it was a smaller baby.
I say to anyone whose midwife is trying to estimate the size of a baby that is still in there - tell em you'll have it weighed when you come out thanks.

sorry that should be 'when baby comes out thanks'

My experience is that growth scans are correct, i had a scan at 32 weeks, and the measured the baby at 7.6lb then, i was having a section though so wasnt really an issue.

Ds was born 2 weeks early (38 weeks) weighing 9lb 6oz, so i would have thought he would have been 10lb+ if born on EDD.