Huge baby!

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I had a growth scan today at 28+5 because there was some incorrect information on my file that could have caused growth restriction, so they wanted to check and tick it off their concern list.

So they scanned me and measured the fundal height. The fundal height was on the 90th centile, and the scan estimated weight is off the chart! I come from a family of big babies so they think it's probably just that, but I've to have a glucose tolerance test on Tuesday to rule out diabetes. I'm dreading it, I'm still recovering from HG and still have nausea in the morning, so it will be at its worst just as I'm made to drink the disgusting drink! I really hope I don't throw it up and have to do it again.

The consultant is also concerned because I had a fast labour with my daughter and she was almost born at home alone on the bathroom floor at exactly 37 weeks. She's suggested because it's a bigger baby and my history I may have to be induced between 37 and 38 weeks to avoid an unattended birth when he might get stuck. So that's my dream drug free water birth out the window!

Silly questions but anyone who has been induced, do you need a cannula when they start the pessaries? I really don't like needles so want to avoid if necessary. They said induction can be trickier when it's earlier so I think there's more chance of needing a drip ☹️

I'm anxious about being induced because of the increased intervention/lack of relaxation/lack of birthing parter until in established labour and I don't want to be in hospital for ages. My daughter has additional needs so I don't want to be away from her longer than I need to be. I was really hoping I would have a nice quick labour under 3 hours and be out 3 hours later.

If anyone has any experience of inductions around 37/38 weeks or the need for needles/monitoring and how restricting that is on movement etc I would appreciate any info. Thanks.

Hi op, inductions can vary for instance if you were dilated already they might just break your waters or if you weren't then you would need the pessary. From broken water it depends if they want to let you try to go on your own (within a time frame) or put you on the oxytocin then -probably the latter. You mentioned not liking needles, neither do I, but if you are put on the oxytocin I would recommend asking for an epidural at the same time. It is not a natural build up of contractions, they are pretty intense straight away. Everyone is different of course but I've had two spontaneous births and one induction and I'm hoping for another spontaneous one this time. I felt the spontaneous ones were more manageable (until transition haha) than the induction. Also, feel free to call your medical team and discuss the plans with them. Good luck!

If they're inducing 37/38 weeks it's less likely I'll be dilated enough to break my waters sadly. Hopefully the pessary will do the job.

I've heard the oxytocin can cause more painful contractions. It doesn't sound pleasant. There's no way I'll get an epidural though unless I need a section. My fear of needles means that's just not an option. My first labour was really fast so hopefully if it starts really intensely it won't last long.

My plan is to eat a lot of very hot curries and live on my birthing ball as soon as 37 weeks hits and try to encourage him out naturally before the induction date comes.

If it's your second then it could be possible to be dilated enough to break membranes. Try not to rule anything out though so you can just go with the flow on the day. 👍

I was induced with my first boy at 38 weeks and I was 2cm, they broke my waters and out me on the drip which I only had for an hour, he was out three hours later even though he was back to back, it was a brilliant labour...
My natural second labour was awful.... a day of slow contractions, went to the hospital at 4 am the next day, he was back to back, my waters didn't break until 2:30pm and he was born at 2:46.... I had gone from 6cm yo him being out in 16 minutes and because of the speed of it he was born not breathing...I was on the birth centre...there was nowhere to resuscitate him and had to run to labour ward with him after pulling the emergency bell and just sort of left me and my OH for twenty minutes, he was fine in the end and is a perfect almost 3 year old now. But honestly induction would always be my first choice, it was a dream!

Everyone I know who had growth scans because the baby was looking so enormous had a 7 pounder when it came to it and all was fine!

What did your first baby weigh?

@AJB3001 ooh that's a nice quick induction. If it's like that it wouldn't be too bad.

@Howshouldibehave I'm hoping they have it wrong. I've heard it happens quite often. My daughter was born at 6lb 3 at 37 weeks which is a decent weight but not huge, but she has Down's syndrome so they think that's likely reduced her weight a little.

Hi, this is by no means a post to push my pov on you or anything but I think it's worth considering ... The growth scans are often wildly inaccurate and you might well find baby is not that big at all and/or their weight evens out by your next scan anyway. Remember you don't have to be induced if you don't want to. Or you could say you want to go to 40w. Big babies are often said to be easier to birth too 🙂
Good luck! Hope you get the birth that's right for you xxxxxxxx

@Smilingdonkey i would really rather avoid an induction, and I'm hoping his size is measured again at the next scan and is seen to be more normal. I am likely to have another precipitate labour though, if it's really fast and I don't make it to the hospital in time there's a real risk of him getting stuck if he is a bit bigger or me tearing really badly again and bleeding heavily. My daughter was smaller and she got a large bump on her head from the trauma of being born so quickly, so it's not just about what I want from the birth for me. If it's not deemed safe for my baby to wait longer then I will respect that decision. It's just not something I wanted to have to consider, especially this early. Hopefully the next couple of scans will show it's a non issue, but I'm wanting to prepare myself for worst case scenarios, so I can gather information on what would likely happen etc so I can go into it more relaxed. It's more the unknown that I'm afraid of.

They often get these things wrong. I had 10lb and 9.11lb babies naturally with only gas and air

I was included just past 37 weeks, a few failed rounds of propess/gel & waters broken at 1cm dilated, if that (so v possible but not pleasant!). This was my second baby & she did not want to budge. Had the drip as contractions didn’t start within two hours. Once on the drip I gave birth in less than an hour from first contraction to placenta delivery. If I didn’t have complications (reason for induction) I imagine we could have gone home a few hours later.

This does not have to mean that your unmedicated, water birth is out the window. They are suggesting an induction but you don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to. I had numerous growth scans with both babies, and both estimated weights were wildly off the mark, DD was around 3lb lighter than her estimated weight. Hopefully they are less concerned at the next scan!

I was induced, not included - wish there was an edit button!

How far do you live from the hospital and how quickly can you get there?

I’d be inclined to think that there’s less chance of baby getting stuck if you let your body go into labour naturally, as your body will position baby best it can.

You could go for a more wait and see approach. Eg. If you get to 38 weeks see how you feel/how big babies looking then.

It's so hard isn't it? Such a lot to weigh up. Hopefully the baby will be measuring more consistently next scan (this happened to me twice where the baby was just having a spurt and went back on its curve the next time 🙂) and you won't have to worry 🙂 xxxxx

I was told ds would be huge. First baby nd family history of very fast births. Was measuring 99th centile and I went under consultant.
He was soooo skinny when born, massivly long but really skinny. If he'd been a chubby baby he would have been as predicted in weight but was actually only 8lbs. So the scans can be off abou this stuff.
On a side note though I'm. Glad I was under consultant as I had a fast but complex birth nd required surgery immediately and I was in the best place for that. If I'd had him at home both me and him probably would have died.
Good luck op, I'm. Sure baby will be okay x

I was told that both my sons were big babies and there were lots of glucose test etc. Both of them were completely average weight once they came out. With my second ds (third baby) they were worried enough to recommend induction as they have with you. I was reluctant, I couldn’t really put my finger on why, but I felt he l’e probably come out on his own if he was left to it. But in the end I was convinced it was the best thing to do. I had the pessary and went into labour quite quickly after that. Then I had this weird thing where I kept having lots of small contractions close together. But even though they were close together they weren’t the big intensive kind that really help the baby get moving. So they gave me the injection of something, I can’t even remember what, to calm that down. And then I basically went into what felt like a very natural labour. My waters broke partway through. And the whole thing from the pessary going in to him arriving was 7.5 hours. So it wasn’t a long drawn out thing. I was also worried about having to go onto the drip as I’ve also heard that’s really painful. Fortunately the pessary seem to do the job. I did have a cannula in but I didn’t feel totally restricted, I was able to get up and walk around a bit and go on different positions on the bed. So I was pleasantly surprised and wasn’t strapped down to a bed as I had imagined. In some ways it was my most ‘natural’ labour because the first was very interventionist, the second one was so quick that I barely knew what happened and this one I really got to experience all the big emotions and the process of it, despite it having started with an induction. Good luck with it all. I was getting quite frustrated by the end of that pregnancy that they seemed to be obsessing so much about this potentially big baby, despite me having had the exact same experience with measurements and ultimately having a completely average baby in a previous pregnancy. So I did feel a bit of pressure. But I had also been very ill during my pregnancy that I was also minded to listen to Doctors, so I went with it.

You don't "have" to do anything.

Put this in perspective: your family has a history of large babies. That means your family has a history of successfully birthing large babies.

The Glucose tolerance test is recognised as less reliable in pregnancy and past 20 weeks pregnant women tend to have a higher than normal (non pregnant) blood glucose level as that's the primary energy source for your baby.

The reason induction tends to be painful is that the drugs used (not the same as oxytocin but similar) can't cross the blood-brain barrier so don't trigger the release of your bodies natural painkillers/endorphins etc.

I'd recommend having a look at the Association for Improvements in Midwifery website
www.aims.org.uk/
And midwife thinking for a good article on diabetes and large babies
www.google.com/amp/s/midwifethinking.com/%3famp

You might also find Evidence based birth and Sara Whickham useful.
evidencebasedbirth.com/
www.sarawickham.com/

I appreciate that I don't "have" to do anything, and yes, my family have birthed big babies successfully before. My family have not birthed a big baby with a precipitate labour before though. I know I'm at increased risk of tears and bleeding from that, and my daughter was harmed by the labour being so fast when she was smaller. There are definitely more risks from having a larger baby. If, they don't reassess his weight and say they think it's fine, I will absolutely be following their advice. No matter how much I don't want to. I will definitely do anything that is deemed medically necessary to keep my baby boy safe.

I live 10 minutes away from the hospital, but with my fast labour history they wanted me to go in from my first contraction anyway because of the higher risks.

It's just been a lot to get my head around. I was expecting yesterday's appointment to be a technicality and I could go back to the normal low risk pathway and everything would be fine. I'm feeling better about it today.