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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Has anyone been refused or decided against a homebirth because of a suspect ed whopper of a baby??

68 replies

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 14:30

MW appt this morning and I'm measuring 39 weeks at 35+6.

She said although I'm on the cusp (sp??) of it being risky for a HB this a baby is "a real chunk" at this stage.

TBH I;m not really bothered where it's born, but with 2 of my 3 prev labours being quick I'm not sure how it would work with a planned HB being suddenly changed to a hosp birth when I;m atually in labour.
Would I get there in time?? (althoygh thats the $64,000,000 question I suppose!!)
If he does get stuck how risky would it be being at home and trying to getto hosp?

would it be better to change to a hosp birth now and avoid the possible risky HB?

OP posts:

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Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 15:29

I'll take that as a No then.....

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DoesntChristmasDragOn · 11/12/2006 15:35

Yes and no... I wasn't allowed a routinely booked HB because DS1 was 10lb 1oz. DS2 was 8lb 4oz and I conveniently omitted to point out that he was 2 weeks early (not quite true, I did say it at my booking in appointment but the MW wrote 40w down)

Anyway, got one eventually - consultant at hosp said this one was big "but not a monster". I also had a growh scan at 38 weeks which put her at 8lb or so but this didn't put them off letting me have my HB. She turned out to be 8lb 10oz so not huuuuge by my standards

how big were your other 3? I@m guessing you had no troble having them. What they're worried abut is the shoulders getting stuck and there's no way of knowing it that's going to happen until it's happened - if they can't get the baby out you have to transfer with it stuck part way out!! Having sais that, there are ways of turning them byt changing your position etc so it's not as doom and gloom as it sounds

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 15:40

Thats exactly what she said about the shoulders getting stuck.

The others weren't huge by a long shot (7.11, 8.5 and 8.4) but I am ALOT bigger this time and have never measured larger than my dates.

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MrsMillsletoe · 11/12/2006 15:41

Don't know if my story is relevant but DS2 was a homebirth and weighed in a 10lb 5oz. We guessed he was going to be a bit bigger that DS1 (7lb) but nobody seemed overly concerned. I am quite tall and relatively wide framed so that's probably why they weren't bothered. Anyway it all went quite well (until afterwards but that's another story)

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 15:42

I haven't got my heart set on a HB but this has got me a teeny bit worried.

I'm not sure if I should just go for a hosp birth with a 6hr discharge to save all the worry.....

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DoesntChristmasDragOn · 11/12/2006 15:43

Frmo your history though, what are the chances of you making it??

Have you been offered a growh scan? I know they're inaccurate but they're not any less accurate than measuring your bump with a tape measure/visual guesstimate.

tortoiseBells · 11/12/2006 15:46

My first one was 9lb 12, had hb with dd and ds2, they weighed 10lb and 10lb 2. Halfway through labour with ds2, mw said 'I should probably have sent you for a growth scan, or done a GTT shouldn't I! Oh well, consultants just get excited about these things and cause problems, better to keep quiet!'

tortoiseBells · 11/12/2006 15:46

They were both fine btw!

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 15:47

I did wonder why a growth scan wasn't suggested thsi morning actually....maybe I'll give them a call tomorrow.
Next appt is in 2 weeks so a bit late tp arrange one then.

Ds3s labour was 2hr 16mons from start to finish, Ds2s was about 3.5 hrs. The MW said this one may take longer as he's so big but, of course...who can tell??

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DoesntChristmasDragOn · 11/12/2006 15:51

I'm not convinced they can tell the size of the baby from looking at you/feeling the bump. no one realised DS1 was a whopper (which is kind of the opposite of what you want to hear but it shows they don't always know the size!).

Surely the amount of fluid/how you carry the baby affects how big your bump is.

Ceolas · 11/12/2006 15:54

I was persuaded to go to hospital despite booking a HB with DS (my 3rd). They thought he was going to be big and said there would be a risk of shoulder dystocia (ie getting stuck).

I deeply regret this decision and would have stuck to my guns if I'd done a bit more reading and a little less panicking.

From what I can gather, true SD is very rare and an experienced midwife can do a lot to help you cnahge position to deliver the baby if this is a possibility.

I think you have to think about what you really want to happen. If you're really not that bothered you might not have the feelings of regret I have.

He was 10lbs, by the way

JARMgotstuckupthechimney · 11/12/2006 15:59

no experience of HB here, but with regards to size....

I measured 2 weeks over consistently throughout both of my pg. Jessica was 6lbs 6oz and Rebecca was 7lbs 3oz

My MW with Rebecca said that I was having a whopper - estimated 8.5-9lbs - how wrong could she be! Even when she did a post-natal visit, she was so suprised Rebecca was as small as she was.

MY feeling is that you are just hoarding more water!!!

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 11/12/2006 16:00

Oh, a friend had shoulder distocia in a HB and had to transfer to hospital but she says she did not regret her decision to have a HB at all.

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 16:04

I've nver had alot of water with any of them so I'm assuming this one will be the same.

I would like another HB but mostly because it saves all the faff of getting to hosp, childcare for the Dsses and having to pack a bloody bag to take. If the hosp was next door and I didn't need to pack a bag I'd just do it there anyway....save all that mess in my house

Bloody hell....will you all please remind NEVER to have sex again once this child decides to appear.

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lulumama · 11/12/2006 16:04

growth scans and palpation to determine the size of the baby can be inaccurate.......might be down to how much fluid you are carrying too.......

as has been pointed out there are positions you can adopt in the second stage to open up the pelvis that bit more to get the baby out if he/she is on the larger side.

lulumama · 11/12/2006 16:12

radmid article re shoulder dystocia

according to the Royal College of Obs & Gynae....the McRoberts manouvre is the single most effective intervention when there is a shoulder dystocia......ie legs up and back , sort of legs over your head!! or on all fours !

Laidbackinamanger · 11/12/2006 16:13

Hi.

DS 1 8lb 4 , DS 2 10lb 4 (born at home with mild shoulder dystocia) booked for home birth with DS3 due early March.

Midwife has been supportive about further home birth despite last DS being a biggun . As someone else said, if they are going to have SD, a good midwife will be able to reposition you as well at home as she/he would in hospital.

My advice would be to labour at home and anticipate a home birth, but retain the option of going in to hospital should you need to. Are you fairly close to your local one ?

FioFio · 11/12/2006 16:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

katierocket · 11/12/2006 16:17

LTH, can't really advise you on the HB issue although I'd probably say go for a HB but I do know that these days it's not 'officially' considered big unless it's over 9.15. I know that because DS1 was 9.13 and I was a bit worried that this one might be huge as a result but mw said it's only if your previous child is over 9.15 that they worry. Agree that measurements etc are notoriously inaccurate (my mw said she hates doing the measuring the bump bit as it's a load of rubbish!) but it is odd that you've not measured big with the others. COuld it just be the way it's laying?

katierocket · 11/12/2006 16:18

".....it's only if your previous child is over 9.15 that they worry"

sorry - not that they "worry" but that they will actively try and find out size i.e. via scan or whatever

merrylissiemas · 11/12/2006 16:22

i think it depends on your frame. ds was 9lb2 and had a head the same size as a 5 week old. i'm 5"2 and a very small size 8 with size 2 feet. so i had to have an ecs, 9lb2 wouldf have been manageable if i'd been bigger

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 16:26

He's lying back to back with me ATM (well more alomg my side if I go by the kicks IYSWIM) and has been for ages (MW said he was at my 32 wk check too) so I suppose it would be difficlut to measure correctly.

I'll give them a call tomorrow to see if they can do a growth scan and the I'll ponder the descision a bit more.

But...anyway...like I said will you ALL please remind to NEVER have sex again. 20 minutes of fun for 9 months of aches and pains ending in alot of bloody pain is a not my idea of a good deal

OP posts:

FioFio · 11/12/2006 16:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

LadyTophamHatt · 11/12/2006 16:29

sometimes even 25 mins....

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elliott · 11/12/2006 16:30

I had ds2 at home - he was 9lb 2oz - I was really surprised at his size (ds1 was 7lb 1oz). To be honest, if I'd known he was going to be that big, it would have got me really worried about the homebirth (and I probably wouldn't have gone through with it, I was never dead set on it), but as it was, it was absolutely fine - I gave birth kneeling which is one of the best positions for big babies - not even a tiny tear.
The ironic thing is that I even went to the lengths of persuading mw to arrange for a 36 week scan to check for undiagnosed breech - seemed a sensible precaution for a hb - and ds2 was estimated to be 50th centile for weight!! So it just goes to show that scans are inaccurate (but measurement is even more inaccurate). In your position, havign had the anxiety raised I would demand a scan (irresponsible imo for the mw to threaten you with hospital birth simply on the basis of fundal height measurement). And probably bottle on the homebirth front even if the scan was reassuring!
How big were your previous babies?

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