Has anybody risked a vaginal birth after a huge baby?

[mumoftoby]

I am currently weighing up whether I want to stop at 2 children. My first weighed 8lbs 12ozs and my second 10lbs 14ozs. I am only 5'5" and have been told I am lucky to have had an uncomplicated natural birth with a baby that size. I have been told that with any subsequent pregnancies I would be safer to have a cs, possiby at 37 weeks.

I wouldn't trust scans to ascertain the size of future babes as with my second son I had scans at 35 weeks and 37 weeks and they never picked up that he was bigger than average. Would paying for a 4D scan in late pregnancy give me a more accurate idea of weight?

Has anybody got any experiences of this? I would really appreciate any feedback.

[debinaustria]

HI

ds1 was 8lb 13(gasn air and stitches), ds 2 , 8lb 3 oz(no stitches or pain relief), ds3 (3 weeks old) 10lb 1 oz - no pain relief or stitches, 4 hour labour.

As for accuracy of scans , on the day that I had ds3 I was sent from labour ward for a scan - they said he was about 8lb, 6 hours later all 10 lbs of him were born.

[crokky]

you could have a VB, induced at 37 weeks so hopefully baby will not reach 10 pounds. I've had 2 DCs at 37 weeks (induced) due to other complications.

[madmouse]

5'5 is perfectly average though, for a woman, I mean you are not small and obviously your pelvis is a good size.

When I was in hospital there was a woman on my ward who was induced early due to so called big baby and ended up with this 6lb scrap of a baby who had clearly still been in the middle of putting on some fat!

[sabire]

My second was 10lbs 12oz, delivered vaginally.

During my third pregnancy I stayed off the carbs and gave birth to a 9lbs 3oz baby vaginally.

I'm 5ft 6 by the way, and usually a size 10.

[4madboys]

well ds1 was 8lb 7oz, ds2 was 9lb 3oz, ds3 wsa 9lb 5oz and ds4 was 10lb and 13oz, i am only 5 2 and a size ten, with size 3 feet. i had four natural deliveries, the last three with just gas and air and ds4 was born in a birth pool

with ds1 and ds2 they thought i was having a small baby and i had scans that estimated them as small

with ds3 they again said i was having a small baby and wanted to scan to check his size, i told them to get lost, i knew he was an ok size.#

with ds4 they said to expect a 9lb baby, but we were all shocked at how big he was, he came out VERY easily, veyr quick labour only just over an hour, no stiches or anything.

i odnt think your size has much to do with it and if you have delivered a big baby naturally then i would say your body is designed to do that and will probably do it again next time

[mumoftoby]

Thanks everyone. Lulu I only had consultant led care last time due to a retroverted uterus causing issues at 15 weeks and leading to me being rushed to hospital to have a catheter inserted - that was resolved by 18 weeks.I then had a lack of fetal movement quite a few times from 35 weeks onwards causing me to see my consultant again.

To be honest ds2's birth was easier than ds1's. I was only in hospital for an hour and a half prior to the birth of each, but needed lots of stitches after my first.

I am also usually a size 12 and have size 4 feet! But I do put on lots of weight during pregnancy, so maybe cutting back on carbs with any future pregnancy could be helpful.