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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

39 weeks plus and midwife etc keeps telling me I have HUGE baby on the way. Any experience?

39 replies

LiliAnjelika · 26/09/2007 15:38

I'm measuring 44 weeks plus at 39 weeks and was due to give birth at a local midwifery unit but I'm now being advised to give birth at hospital because my baby is potentially huge. Agree it's probably a good idea to be on safe side but I'm now officially terrified! My first baby was 8lb10oz so not tiny...but this is something else. Any experience?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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ComeOVeneer · 26/09/2007 15:43

I was the opposite, measuring average to slightly small and ds came out at 10lbs. It wasn't the easiest of labours but nothing horrific, and it was only when he was actually born and weighed that his size became apparent, so they could be wrong.

ComeOVeneer · 26/09/2007 15:44

BTW dd (my eldest) was 7lb 6oz and a much longer/harder labour, so you never know.

peskipixie · 26/09/2007 15:44

ds2 was going to be huge, was going to be way bigger than ds1 (9lb13) so was induced 2 weeks early. he was 8lb7oz was offered a growth scan with ds4 cos he was also going to be massive. i refused becuase they are so inaccurate, mw had to agree that unless he showed up as over 13lb they couldnt say for def he was more than 10lb. he was 9lb11, which is big but about right for me. dont panic!

Original poster

LiliAnjelika · 26/09/2007 15:45

I suppose there could be a lot of water or otherwise...glad to hear that 10lbs wasn't horrific though!!

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Original poster

LiliAnjelika · 26/09/2007 15:46

reassuring so far...

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peskipixie · 26/09/2007 15:46

oh yes, i would actually say that my smallest (ds2) was worse than the others (not particularly bad, but def the worst).

fryalot · 26/09/2007 15:51

No personal experience, but I knew someone who had an 11 pounder (with two teeth) and she said that it was without a doubt her easiest labour - her words were "he climbed out himself"

Good luck

ThomasTankEngine · 26/09/2007 15:53

A huge no of people told me my baby was small for dates (radiographer, obstetrician, midwife, many random people who thought I couldn't poss be 40 weeks, but looked 30 weeks).

DS born a normal 7 lb 10 oz.

Actually this happened with all 3 babies.

My advice is take no notice, its all guess work.

And enjoy the gasnair. Like being drunk, which is great after so many months without alcohol

3andnomore · 26/09/2007 15:56

Tbh, there is no need to be on the safe side...or, indeed it is probably safer to give Birth to a big Baby in a less inventative environment, where m/w's are willing to let the woman get on with it and they don't pull and tug and get all to stressed out, etc...just my personal opinion though
and for what it's worth, with es they told me he would be going to be huge...scared the living daylights out of me...he was 7 1/2 Ibs ish...
with ms, I actually had a grothscan, because I had gd...well...it was around 38 weeks, they told me on the wednesday that he was about 5Ibs at that time...he was born that Saturday 7Ibs14...again fine anyway....and my bump was way smaller then with es...
with ys, my bump was mahusive (think I have pictures on my profile from about 32 weeks of pg...and I looked fullterm from 24 weeks onwards (well, I must have been, because people kept saying things like...oh soon then...hm...another 14 weeks really, lol)
he was 8Ibs7 1/2 oz...so, by no means huge...
and they were on and on about how big he would be, yaddayaddayadda....and how I measured to big
must have been lots of water I suppose...

BonyM · 26/09/2007 15:58

Friend of a friend had a planned section recently because she'd been told baby would be huge. He was 7lb 6oz!

My brother was born at home in the late 1960's - he was 10lb 4oz and my mother only had gas and air and no stitches!

3andnomore · 26/09/2007 15:59

purely anecdotal here...SIl's first Baby was a 5Ibs Baby and her 2. Baby was a 10Ibs Baby, and she told me that it was much easier to give Birth to her big Baby, as she was able to help her better...whereas Baby 1 was a bit weak...iykwim....

oh and a friend of mine has given Birth to, I believe a 12Ibs baby iirc, by Homebirth and on national TV...albeit it wasn't her first by a long shot, but still...

Original poster

LiliAnjelika · 26/09/2007 16:00

I suppose big babies benefit more from gravity when you think of it.

Latest is that I'm still going to a midwifery led unit expect that this one is right next door to a general hospital. Like 3andmore points out, I don't want to be strapped down to monitors if I can possibly help it...

OP posts:

curiouscat · 26/09/2007 16:07

Big babies are great because they eat well and sleep well. My 3 were all well over 9lb and really easy to take care of.

Original poster

LiliAnjelika · 26/09/2007 16:13

One of the main things I'm worried about is shoulders getting stuck but then I suppose it's pretty rare?

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casbie · 26/09/2007 16:46

big babies are more robust, but can understand your worry!

all my children have been between 9-10lb and i coped without pain reflief. one was ventouse delievry, others were 'natural'.

one mother i know had a 14lb baby!!

that made my eyes water, although the mother was over 6ft!

casbie · 26/09/2007 16:52

oh, and don't worry about the shoulders it's the head that is usually the biggest part to pass. head comes out first and then body comes out like a corck-outta bottle.

are you being pressured to have a c-section?

i personnally avoided at all costs. i had a few doctors persistantly waving the forms in my face and hubby had to show them the door!

3andnomore · 26/09/2007 17:13

shoulder getting stuck..as far as I am aware, it's more of a problem when there are interventions, rather then letting mum take postions which are more favourable to childbirth, etc....
thing is, if it happens there are only a limited thing they can do, and I don't think then it would make sucha difference where you were...

FioFio · 26/09/2007 17:15

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

coppertop · 26/09/2007 17:17

I had a similar experience. Ds1 was 9lbs 8oz. Ds2 was 9lbs (2 weeks early). the growth scans predicted that dd would be massive, and off the charts for abdomen size too. I was induced at 40wks and out she came - 8lbs 4oz and very thin.

bluejelly · 26/09/2007 17:21

They kept on telling me my first was going to be massive, really freaked me out.
She was a health 8 pounds 6, nothing to worry about!
There is a wide margin of error with sizing unborn babies, I think it's up to a pound

lulumama · 26/09/2007 17:23

if you are worried about shoulder dystocia. ie shoulders getting stuck, which is not more likely just because baby is larger, then try to adopt birth positions that open up the pelvis that bit more, like all fours.. and avoid sitting and lying positions as can make the pelvis smaller....

palpation as a way to assess the baby;s size is subjective and not set in stone, you might have more fluid for example

have you been measured by the same MW each time

VeronicaMars · 26/09/2007 17:30

I was told I was having a huge baby and she was only 7,2. Not big at all.

Ettenna · 26/09/2007 19:26

DS was just over 10lbs and I honestly found the whole thing manageable. I was fully induced and had an epidural after 5 hours of labour. It was fine - painful but fine. I've heard other mothers say that bigger babies are actually easier to birth.
You'll be fine! Good luck.

Littlefish · 26/09/2007 19:37

From my fundal height measurements I was told dd would be at least 9 lbs and I would have a long hard labour

She turned out to be 6lbs 13, born in a pool with only gas and air!

I think that scans are the only way they can be really sure. Ask to have one before you are forced to make a decision about where you have your baby.

maxbear · 26/09/2007 20:24

Palpations are notoriously inaccurate, scans are slightly better but the fact is you can't weigh a baby until it is out. I had dd at 6lb 10 and ds at 8lb 10, hurt a bit more but I coped with it and did not have any probs. In fact he was born at home. My mw (who is a good friend and was my mw both times) had told me that she thought he would be the same size as dd, but I knew that he would be bigger. Just hope they don't get any bigger if I have any more!

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