Big baby or something more?

[Csang]

Hey, I'm nearly 31 weeks pregnant and felt some reduced movements so went to get checked. They said as it's the 2nd time, they wanted to do an extra scan. All other measurements are fine and hes moving around a lot so no concerns there but, his abdominal size is in the 97th percentile. I did a gestational diabetes test at week 28 which was fine, they are sending me for another and an extra scan in 4 weeks.
Can't help but feel a bit worried, has anyone else had a similar experience? Maybe hes just a big baby, she said they may offer induction or c section at 39 weeks if that's the case.

Hi! I had a similar thing. Negative GTT at 28 weeks, then 95th centile measurements at 36 week scan. For some reason nothing was flagged for me and they just let me go into labour naturally (4 days overdue) - I think often they will discuss early induction etc for a large baby. Think I fell through the cracks of hospital admin... Anyway, natural delivery went fine and he was just a healthy, large baby (9lb 11oz). Good luck with everything, I'm sure it will all be ok and it's good they're doing some extra monitoring to make sure!

Thanks so much for responding, really appreciated. Glad everything was all okay and you had a natural birth :) yeah if I hadn't gone in for reduced movements, this wouldn't have been picked up either so grateful for extra checks.

I have been measuring big since around 28 weeks (now at 37) and had several growth scans which show baby somewhere from 92-97 centile. Had two tests for GD but negative both times. Think he's just a big baby (I was!). I have discussed induction etc with my midwife and with a consultant, and read quite a lot about it online. If you don't have diabetes but just a big baby, there doesn't seem to be tons of evidence to support it being worthwhile (look up NICE guidance for fetal macrosomia/large for gestational age babies) so I have one last growth scan at 38 weeks and if he's still closer to 90 than 100 percentile will see if I can wait to go into labour naturally. If I go much past 40 weeks I might reconsider but we will see! (If you do have diabetes then I might calculate the risks a bit differently, not that it's anything to panic about but just changes things slightly.)

I've had something similar - I'm 37 weeks today, had a growth scan at 34 where baby's AC was measuring 98th percentile but everything else within range. I was referred for an OGTT which came back normal so looks like baby might just have a bit of a fat tummy! I was also referred to see a doctor - the midwife said they might want to discuss options to avoid me going past 41 weeks, but the appointment ended up being a complete waste of time, the doctor said she wasn't worried at all and I should just stay on my normal pathway and not make any changes to plans at the moment. She did say there might be a small increased risk of shoulder dystocia, but that can happen even with smaller babies so it's not something to worry too much about. She also said that they're only about 60% confident in the accuracy of baby measurements even from scans, so baby could very easily be bigger or smaller than they have estimated. I haven't even been referred for a follow-up scan so I'm just carrying on as planned, although like PP I might rethink what to do if I'm going well overdue.

Honestly centiles don’t mean anything, as you should be receiving a personalised growth chart which will take into account your age, ethnicity, own weight and size of any previously babies. You need to look at what the estimated weight of your baby would be at 40 weeks to know if your having an objectively big baby, or just a “big-for-you” baby