28 wk scan - big baby

[oinkyoink]

hi
i had a scan today as i had reduced fetal movements twice recently. all went ok but then when the sonographer did the measurements afterwards everything was on 97th percentile and she seemed a little concerned. now i am booked to have gestational diabetes test and see my consultant. baby is also breech...
could it just be a big baby? is it very likely it is GD? anyone else with similar experience?

some babys are big.

they scanned me every two days for the last 4 weeks or so because they were concerned that dd1 was mahoosive/ bp was elevated.

and then they told me i had to have elcs as i couldn't be allowed to labour normally as she was too big and i was too small.

she was 8lb 6oz.

with ds1 and dd2, i ignore scan size predictions and had vbac1 and 2 (heavier).

dh is 6ft2. there's a reason my babies have long femur length etc etc.

yes my dh is 6ft 3 but not bulky, i am 5ft 4 and size 8-10... i am hoping baby is taking after my dh and it's not GD!!!

Hi

I read your thread as I have Type 1 DM and am due for growth scan at 28 weeks so bascially interested in people's experiences and wondering how my own will be! (im 24 weeks now)

As a slim person you are much less likely to have GD than a larger person, but its not impossible for a slim person. with a tall hubby it could just be genetics!

Did they specify which aspect of growth he/or she is on the 97th centile for - is it abdomen?

try not to be worried about any of it (easier said than done i know!); plenty of time to turn on the breech front. if GD is a worry for you, try not to go crazy on carbs, go for wholegrains where you can and avoid high GI stuff...but please dont worry xxx

thanks kitty, baby is 97th for everything - abdomen, head, femur length etc is it normally just abdomen which is big with GD? i guess i just have to wait and see what the test results on monday are!!!! eek!

oinky, not sure exactly what they are looking for but definitely with babies of a diabetic its the abdomen which is likely to be enlarged, so i should imagine that would be the measurement of most interest....if everything is a little big and in proportion it sounds like genetics? which reminds me. they did this 'personalised growth chart' for mine, with the centiles etc biased for my weight and height. yet my husband's height and build were not factored in whatsoever - perhaps you are in a similar situation and your baby is being measured on the basis of half it's genes? (note they also used the wrong due date on my charts, to be honest by this point i had pretty much given up trying to talk sense with some of these people).

i'm betting it's just build. the sonographer sees a little woman and a bigger than average baby and ignores the father.

to be fair, with dd1, dh was away for most of my pg, so the hospital didn't ever clap eyes on him until i was about to burst. the stress of driving myself to my additional appointments didn't help my bp either...

madwoman yes hopefully it is genes.... and that they panicked because i am small! sounds like you are in a similar position (or were) :)

kitty i know what you mean about talking sense to 'these people' - honestly, i was in on monday with reduced movement and a doctor but a sonicaid on my belly for two seconds, said there you go all is fine and then wrote in my notes 'refer for scan SFD?' i then had a routine midwife appt on thursday and she measured fundal height which was spot on (i asked her what SFD stood for and she said small for dates), i honestly cannot trust any of them, the opinions seem all over the place!!!!!!!!!

meant to add: then i go for scan today and they discover everything in 97th percentile

I think some women just have big babies and it's not always relevant to their adult size/weight.

I was 4lb 4oz at birth, average as an adult. My Mum had all smallish babies. My exH was also 4lb 4oz at birth and although 6ft, very slim build, around 9 1/2st. Yet DS1 was 9lb at term, DS2 10lb at 38 weeks and DS3 just under 7lb at 37 weeks, so none of them tiny. No GD as they tested me when they realised how big DS2 was.

I am now remarried and my DH is 6ft, average build and he was also a tiny baby. DD was estimated to be around 5lb 10oz at my 33 week scan this week, which is on the large side. I do have GD this time, but as baby ismeasuring big all over and my other DC were large babies, it seems she is simply big because of genetics and not the GD. They do tend to look for AC larger than other measurements when looking for indicators of GD.

Incidentally, all of my DS's are right skinny minnies now and average height, so haven't grown into big children, (in fact, DS1 is 50th centile height and 17th centile weight) I just seem to have big babies.