4D scan - Told i was having a BIG baby :-( ...thoughts/opinions please?

[Paddocks1]

Had a 4d Scan yesterday (29 weeks) and when she measured the baby she instantly said on what a big baby,he's already at 3lb 12oz and we don't expect that until 30 weeks.
Tbh it got to me a little bit and now i'm literally dreading birth/ having this massive baby come out of me.
When i go for my midwife appointments to be measured she has never mentioned to me that he will big, although i am on the higher scale (but then i was a size 14/16 before getting pregnant)
How accurate are these estimated weights realistically? I have really tried to eat carefully and healthy but is it just out of my control. I was 8lb 7 and my partner was 10lb 5!! Help!!

The scans are very inaccurate. I was told DS was 6lb 4 at 36 weeks and was born 2 weeks later 5lb11.

What bonzo said. I don't know anyone who got an accurate weight from a scan.

Try not to worry about it.

My MW swore my baby was 'no bigger than 8lb'. She delivered him 2 days later and he was 10lb 2!

Seriously, I don't think these things are very accurate, so hard as it is, I'd try not to worry. Also, she only said he was one week bigger than they expect - and with another 10 weeks to go, this may even out as growth curves don't always follow the average.

They can eaisly be 1-2lb wrong. Only a series of scans can be even slightly accurate, if the hospital was concerned about growth.

Plus, big babies are not always the hardest to give birth to - the position makes much more difference. I had a 6lb4 baby who got wedged, and know 11lb babies who flew out. Don't worry, honestly.

Scans are notoriously inaccurate. Don't stress about it.

Agreed! Also "...and we wouldn't expect that till 30 weeks". You're 29 weeks! You're hardly gestating a baby elephant in there!

Reckon it's as likely they've got your due date out by couple of days as anything. I wouldn't worry*.

*Actually of course if it were me I would worry myself stupid, as I do about every little thing, but I feel confident that it's not worrying in the abstract

I agree with moaning my dd was 8lb 4oz and pretty easy to push out with no tears but a lot of people I know who have had smaller babies had a tougher time getting them out.

And scans are often total rubbish try not to worry.

Agree about positioning being more important than size. I had a 2nd degree tear because teeny tiny dd was born superman style with her fist next to her face. I know others who've given birth to 10lbs-ers without so much as a graze.

I was told exactly the same at 29 weeks at a private 4D scan. The exact same weight too, with a predicted birth weight of 11lb 4oz. So I told my MW who got me a growth scan at the hospital. DD was then smaller than the 4D scan said she would be. She was 9lb 6oz when she was born.

So I wouldn't worry too much.

I also agree with Moaning DS1 was 7lb 2oz and he was much harder than 10lb 5oz DS2.

TBH, there is nothing you can do about the size of your LO save taking up smoking or starving yourself - neither of which are recommended .

As all the other poster said the scan may be inaccurate BUT even if it is not - this is a good thing. Your baby is growing well, feeding well and is healthy. You are going to have to give birth regardless so PLEASE try to see this as a good thing and not fret about it. Birth can be great or difficult regardless of size of the baby....and fingers crossed it all goes smoothly.

Try not to worry. Scans are notoriously inaccurate at determining overall size. Plus, I can't imagine it's a huge deal to be measuring at 29 weeks what is normally expected at 30!

I was bullied into an induction for my mahoosive 4th baby (3rd was 10lb 13 and natural) He was 7lb 8oz and by far my smallest and the whole thing was hideous where as my 10lb 13er was a dream labour and birth.

Agree with everyone - ignore. I was told my baby had a massive head and weird long legs. Result - perfectly normal size dd

I read something on here once about estimating weight from a scan, something about it being the equivalent of weighing a man by putting him in a bath in the next room and measuring the length of his legs.

Try not to worry, babies not only come in all different shapes and sizes and they also grow at different rates both before and after they are born, and others have said when it comes to childbirth position definitely trumps size.

My 'big' babies turned out to be 6lb 8oz and 7lb. Honestly don't know why they say these things.

Hmm. They're not always wrong. I was told at a 36 weeks scan that I was going to have a big baby. At 36 + 6 days my ds was born and he weighed 8lb 10oz. Having said that, it was a very easy birth.

Your body is designed to move and make passage for the baby it has grown. The widest part of the baby is the head and difference in the size of a big baby's head and a small one is not the entire difference in weight. Positioning can make a huge difference to the big experience as can the way labour progresses.

The best thing you can do, is repeat, 'my body can do this', ad infinitum. As a back up, remind yourself that the medical staff can come and get the baby out and you can get on with the rest of your lives, which will be awesome, the birth is but one day!!

My friend was told she was having a big baby after a growth scan. Her ds was born at term weighing 6lbs 12oz..

I was told I was having a big/"good size" baby. When I asked her what she meant she said she thought around 8 and a half to 9lb. My daughter was born 4 days over her due date at 7lb 2oz!

One off measurements notoriously inaccurate, I would only trust a series of growth scans, done by the same person that shows consistent measurements/growth. Also bit silly saying wouldn't expect that till
30 weeks, it's the difference between millimetres to a dumb thing to say to you really...

I got told dd was 7lbs9oz and she was a whole lb lighter when she was born the following week.

It doesn't make an awful lot of difference, IMO. My biggest baby (9lb 7) was also the easiest birth!