Big baby!

[hibaby20]

Hi all- been on Mumsnet for a while but first time I've ever posted!

So I went for my 36 week growth scan this morning (although im 37 weeks)

First thing the lady said was wow what a big baby 😳 I literally couldn't see anything but her head and a quick flash of her spine.
She didn't seemed concerned at all though which is great. She said baby is weighing about 7lb 8oz currently and on the 86th centile.

Sooo Does this mean I'm going to have a whopper of a baby when she makes her entrance in 3weeks?? (I'm having a elective c section at 39+6) and can someone explain the centile thing to me as I don't get it at all 🤣🤣

I've brought all these tiny baby grows and I don't think she'll get a wear out of any of it now 😂 but a happy healthy baby is all the matters 😁

@hibaby20 Same happened to me 😳 Baby estimated 7lb 4oz at 36 weeks and measuring on 95th centile 🙈 They’ve booked me in for a scan at 38 weeks to check size again. Sonographer told me they’d more than likely book me in for a 39 week induction if baby was still following the same growth pattern.

My understanding of the centiles is that all babies measure within 0-100 centile. So if yours is on the 84th centile then 16% of babies at that gestation measure bigger than yours and the rest all measure smaller.

Ah thank you for the reply the centile thing makes so much sense now!!!

I was sure I was carrying a little tiddler in there as my bump is so small, but she must be sat right at the back which is why could explain why I've been suffering awful back pain 😑 these next few weeks can't go quick enough 😂

I was on the 95th centile with my DS anticipated to be 9lb and then some. He came out at 7lb 12oz.
Whilst there is some sort of idea given in size it's never perfect and most of the time quite a bit off!
A friend of mine was told 6lb 1oz, DD popped out 7lb 7oz.
Someone else I know was told around 8lb mark and her baby popped out nearly 10lb!
All guess work OP! That's my opinion anyway!
Good luck! 💐💐

@lockdownpregnancy Do you mind me asking if they pushed you for an induction or anything when they estimated your baby as being on the 95th centile? The sonographer I seen was pretty certain that they’d push me to induce at 39 weeks 🤔
Estimated around 9lb 7oz at 40weeks if we continue on this scale.

Hi

At my 36 week growth scan my baby was estimated to be 9lb4oz. I delivered her at 37 weeks and she was 10lb. She was very long so went straight in to 0-3 month clothes.

I've had growth scans with all my babies and they've all been pretty spot on

I was told my DS would be 9lb+, he came out a dinky 7lb3oz... they're not always right...

The centile thing (as far as I understand) means if 100 babies were born, and yours is 80th centile, then she would be bigger than 80 of that 100.

Scan at 36 weeks measured dd2 very large, and placenta very close to cervix do was offered an ELCS.

Had her at 38 weeks exactly 9lbs 8oz and was bloody glad i had as a midwife told me they put on a pound a week in the final few weeks.

@YouBringLightInToADarkPlace Did they push you for induction or anything based on the estimated size of your baby? I have an appointment today to talk about a “plan of action” 🤔 I was plus size to begin with but so far I’ve had no real health issues - BP has been fine the full way through and no GD. Last lot of bloods a couple of weeks ago came JUST under the threshold for acceptable iron levels so I’ve been given supplements for this last couple of weeks but that’s all 🤷🏻‍♀️
I’m just not sure what to do if they offer early induction? I’m not sure that size alone is enough to justify it 🤷🏻‍♀️

I was told at one point that my baby was on 98th and nobody seemed bothered. Induction wasn’t mentioned.

The NICE guidelines state that size alone is not a reason to induce so don’t feel railroaded into it if you don’t want to.

@FizzingWhizzbee123 Thank you 😊 that’s my feelings too really! Obviously if there were other medical reasons and it was justified then I’d happily do what was recommended 🤷🏻‍♀️ But I’ll wait and see what they say today then take some time to make a decision!

@RWK29 My baby has been measuring big on scans all pregnancy - 90-97th centile for head, tummy & femur. Consultant was not concerned at all and said natural delivery was fine. I too have a small bump which mesasures a few weeks behind.

However, at my last scan (36+5) baby's head and femur were still 95th centile but tummy circumference had significantly risen... Well off the chart 😂 his weight was estimated at 8lb5oz on this day and my consultant then said to choose between induction or elective section between 39-40 weeks. This is due to shoulder dystocia.

I think if they were concerned and thought a plan was needed they would say so 😊

I was told at my 30 week scan that my baby is estimated to be weighing 4lb 6oz! The sonographer didn't say anything about percentiles, I'm not even really sure what that means.

I've another scan in 4/5 weeks and have told my mum to hold off buying newborn stuff for the time being. If my baby continues to grow at this rate I can't imagine they'll be in newborn clothes for very long!

@hibaby20 To help you with the centile thing OP:

If you lined up 100 growing babies who are exactly the same gestation (eg 37+1) in size order from smallest to biggest. 0.4th centile is right at the bottom. 50th centile is the 50th baby in the line. 95th is the 95th in the line, the bigger end etc. Thats how its based. Someone is always going to have to be the smallest and someone always the biggest, what they like is for baby (or child as it grows) to maintain around the same centile they were born on.

Hope that helps a bit!

Myself and 5 mums I know all told big baby ... all had v average sized babies

They need to stop doing this as it dies scare mums

I just had a look at my chart and they've marked the 97th percentile.

To be honest I am not worried at all, I'm just happy my baby is growing nicely 😃

@nitsandwormsdodger

Myself and 5 mums I know all told big baby ... all had v average sized babies

They need to stop doing this as it dies scare mums

Yeah I agree with this it deffo scared me a bit!!!!

I remember this happening to me! I went for a scan at 38 weeks and she told me this baby is going to be 10lbs! I'm not tiny by any means but I've got a small frame and I was like no thank you mam! She said shes going advice my MW that I dont go past my due date and I be induced. My daughter came on her due date and was 8.10 so not as big as I feared Haha. She was just really long! Really long legs, arms and feet, she wasnt chubby at all. But yeah she wasnt in newborn stuff at all, her toes were all scrunched up in the ends Haha but everything was so baggy around her middle, it still is!
This time I'm measuring on the 50 something percentile but I'm feeling massive so bracing myself for another biggen! No new born stuff for me!

@RWK29 they only pushed me for an induction because I had hypertension and then my waters broke so they were waters were leaking for 2 days which is why they induced me. It was nothing to do with baby's size. Despite being a FTM they weren't remotely concerned about babies size.
I think as long as you and baby are healthy they will let nature take its course. Or at least that's what they said to me!

@lockdownpregnancy Ahh ok, that’s fair enough given there were other things that needed keeping an eye on 😊
Had a 38 week scan appointment today and they want to see me next week to meet with a consultant to discuss the risks of having a large baby and discuss possible interventions. BP still absolutely fine, and no issues with sugars etc so everything looks perfectly healthy, just measuring big 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had a growth scan with DS at 36 weeks and he was measuring 99+ percentile. There was no mention of induction or ELCS. He arrived at 40+4 weighing 10lbs10. He was straight into 0-3 clothes, which he was only in for a couple of weeks. All the newborn/first size/up to 1 month options I had were useless!

I don't think the scans are always very accurate. That said, with the benefit of hindsight, I should have pushed for an early induction or ELCS. DS arrived safely and healthy which is the most important thing, but I did have a pretty severe injury which still causes me issues nearly 2 years down the line. When I asked the doctor how bad the tear was, his response was "well you're not going to deliver a 5kg baby without a bad tear" - this was contrary to a lot of the previous talk from midwives saying "it's not about how big the baby is, it's the positioning" etc.

@RWK29 they messed with me with unnecessary sweeps which triggered my waters breaking. DS wasn't quite in the right position and I still believe that if they would have left me alone and just put me on BP medication to sort my hypertension, he would have moved into the right position and I could of had him naturally. In the end my body wouldn't dilate as he was back to back so I ended up having a C Section.
From personal experience try not let them interfere with you too much, unless you and/or baby is at risk, then that's obviously different

@lockdownpregnancy Thanks for sharing your experience 😊 I completely agree about not letting them interfere too much unless there is medical need for it! I do believe that if your body is ready for labour and goes naturally then hopefully there’s less chance of needing interventions. I’ll see what the consultant says next week 😊 Hoping baby will decide to appear just before the appointment 🤞🏼😂

I have a quick question ladies, do you feel you get judgement for having a big baby? Everyone always winced when I told them about my daughter.. it made me feel really embarrassed. My friend had a 10.10 baby recently (section) and I remember not mentioning it until she made jokes and we called him a little bowling ball. I just remember people being like oh shes going to be massive, oh shes so big. Like yeah I'm aware. My MIL keeps telling me my baby this time will be 10. I'm like how is that supposed to make me feel? Excited? Because it honestly frightens me a bit :( happy my baby is healthy but I hate the comments.

Hi @micc I have had 3 large babies and and due number 4 very soon.
My smallest was 9lb 14oz and biggest 11lbs 4oz
I didn't know he would be that big so totally relaxed about labour and everything went perfectly. You asked about the comments made. I really felt this after my son was born. He was really tall and not chubby at all but everyone would comment on his size. I got really annoyed by it and very upset in the few days after birth. I decided when my 3rd was born just not to tell anyone her size. I didn't put it in the message when announcing her birth either. I will do the same this time with number 4

@happymama24 I feel the same. It really annoyed me. I certainly wont be announcing it. People who I know keep saying how big I am now, I've put on a lot of weight this time round, I'm going to blame lock down but I have just been a bit more stressed so comfort eating. I'm measuring on the 50th percentile so when people say how big I look I'm like well it's not the bump so thanks Haha. Cant people just say look at the lovely bump or when it's about the baby, look at his chubby cheeks or he looks really healthy.
I get it! I'm large and in charge and so are my babies haha