Does what you eat whilst pregnant affect the size of your baby at birth??

[BotBotticelli]

This might be a stupid question...but does it??

My ever charming mother this weekend said she thought the reason ds1 was 'enormous' at birth (9lb4oz) was because - and I quote - "you ate so many cherry bakewells"....!

I am now pregnant with number 2 and she kindly warned me to watch what I eat this time to prevent myself from having another ginormo-baby.

A charmer she is, no doubt.

But is there any truth in this??

Ok, I certainly enjoyed my food during last pregnancy. Once the first trimester was over and I stopped feeling sick, everything I ate tasted delicious! I craved avocado and smoked salmon so ate loads of that, along with firey chillis, Mexican food, loads of jalapeños. Basically I loved anything with lots of flavour.

Ok, ok, I also ate one nice treat (a slice of cake or similar) per day cos I really fancied it.

Did this make ds1 fat??

I mean yes, he was chubby when he came out and was 91st centile for weight. But his head circumference was 98th centile and he was 91 centile for length as well. He was big all over!...I mean, eating cakes can't affect the size of a baby's skull Or the length of it's femur, can it??

Anyone know the answer to this??

Thank you x

it can't be.

on due date with our youngest I was 3 lbs below pre pg weight as i had morning sickness the entire time.
3 days later he was born 9lb 14oz

Were you not seriously underweight after the birth then (loss of say 2+ Stone of baby and placenta)?
If i went down from my 8st 7 to 8st
4 at term i would have been 6st 7 after the birth.
I gained about 2.5 st up to like 11st but was back to 8st 10 2weeks after birth - first time i weighed myself. I did have very swollen legs though.

naty

ha! I wish! I was 2 stones lighter soon after birth but even then I was overweight!

I survived pregnancy by eating real chips, mcdonalds breakfast wraps, butter, cheese and white bread. I weighed less at delivery than at conception and DD was 7lb.
Basically your mother is just being obnoxious!

I reckon it's the dad's that determine baby size. My dc have weighed in at 9lb, 10.9 lb and 9.14lb. My identical twin sisters dc have weighed in at 7.8lb, 6lb and 6.5lb, she incidentally put on exactly the same amount of weight as me, and ate very similarly.

cathpip

I don't think that is the case with mine - my ex and his siblings (8 of them) were all between 5 + 6lb each.

Nothing like my monsters!

I'm going with mother's birthweight.

I was 8lb at birth, my younger brother 9lb

My kids were 8lb 2oz and 9lb.

We will see this time though!

I doubt it.

My first was 2wk over and I ate like a pig I put on 4st, he was born 6ib 11 and 46cm long and on 6th centile.

My second I lost 1 and half stone by time I had my 12 week scan as I could barely stomach anything, my bmi was between 16-17 (cant remember correctly) and at term I was only about 4-5ibs over my pre preg weight baby was 9ib and 55cm long and on 81st centile.

Ds3 I put on 1st 6ib all together, was abit nauseous at first but then generally ate what I wanted, he was born 2wk early weighing 6ib 13 and 49cm long and on the 33rd centile.

My 3 have been completely different sizes 1st and 3rd seem similar but there was a 4wk gestation difference between the 2. No idea why ds2 was much bigger then my 1st and second. My first is still small at 6, hes growing on the 9th centile. Ds2 is following over the 70th centile (theres a 2ib difference in the 2 with a 2.5yr age gap) and ds3 is still following around same at birth.
I was 9ib 2 at birth, 2 week early. However ive always been on the small side of weight but im an average height of 5'6 now. Younger I was below average for height and weight.

My first I ate everything in sight and she was 8lb 1oz, 2nd I ate very little, lost 3 stone in pregnancy due to sickness and she was 8lb 11oz.

I hardly ate during my twin pregnancy because of awful morning sickness. I went right off food. Except coke! I drank it by the bucket load, everyday! I put in 3.5 stone and my babies were 5lb4 & 5lb8 at 34 weeks. Big for twins of that gestation but tiny and skinny despite their mother living off coke!

Your dm is talking shit.

number

can't be mother's birthweight.
I was barely 6lbs

my kids were 9lb 2, 9lb 1, 9lb 6, 8lb 8, 9lb14, 8lb 3 & 9lb 14
all the boys 55cm long, DD (smallest weight) was 53 cms!

DH was over 9lb and now he is a big bloke, also tall.
must be dad.
thanks DH!

*must be the dad