[Pregnancy Filter]Did you/your partner deliver early? Baby measured big?
January 14, 2016 12:16 PM Subscribe
Help ease the mind of this mama. When I went to the maternal fetal specialist two weeks ago at 33 weeks, my baby was measuring four weeks ahead for the head and stomach - in the 99th percentile. I am 35 weeks and extremely large and uncomfortable. Your experience and anecdata appreciated - did you have a big baby and did you deliver early? How did you get through the last weeks of pregnancy with a large baby?
Fast forward two weeks and I'm now in my 35th week and extremely uncomfortable!! I guess I'm looking for some assurance that my body is not going to split into two/rupture. My OB hasn't given me much reassurance or information other than they will not deliver me early by induction on size alone, there will have to be another complication. I wouldn't want to jeopardize well being of baby for my comfort anyways, however I would appreciate hearing from others who have been in a similar position - carrying a very large baby, did you deliver early, and if yes, did the baby need to spend time in the NICU?
FWIW, my first was delivered early due to a complication - at 37 weeks - and she was 8 pounds! But still had to go to NICU for a few days due to a breathing problem. So I am familiar with the scariness of the NICU. TIA.
Fast forward two weeks and I'm now in my 35th week and extremely uncomfortable!! I guess I'm looking for some assurance that my body is not going to split into two/rupture. My OB hasn't given me much reassurance or information other than they will not deliver me early by induction on size alone, there will have to be another complication. I wouldn't want to jeopardize well being of baby for my comfort anyways, however I would appreciate hearing from others who have been in a similar position - carrying a very large baby, did you deliver early, and if yes, did the baby need to spend time in the NICU?
FWIW, my first was delivered early due to a complication - at 37 weeks - and she was 8 pounds! But still had to go to NICU for a few days due to a breathing problem. So I am familiar with the scariness of the NICU. TIA.
I had a relatively large baby -- I don't remember what things were in later pregnancy, but, well past 9lbs at birth -- I delivered at 42 weeks, kid was ridiculously robust; the other newborns in the hospital looked frail and fetal in comparison. (I am a small 5'4" person, for what that's worth. You won't split into two! However, in the last weeks, I would announce MAKE WAY FOR FETUS! while trying to get from A to B, swinging my enormous belly around; it felt like I was tiny in comparison to the bump.)
It was August -- I spent a lot of time in air conditioning or at the beach -- swimming is one good way to take the pressure off for a bit; buoyancy is pleasant -- and I remember eating out a lot; I had cravings-a-go-go, but cooking was a pain.
posted by kmennie at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2016
It was August -- I spent a lot of time in air conditioning or at the beach -- swimming is one good way to take the pressure off for a bit; buoyancy is pleasant -- and I remember eating out a lot; I had cravings-a-go-go, but cooking was a pain.
posted by kmennie at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2016
(Everything I read said that if all was well, inducing based on size alone is a terrible idea. I know it's common, but, lots of bad ideas have been common at various points in obstetrics. Your OB is on the right track in my {'IANAD'} view.)
posted by kmennie at 12:31 PM on January 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by kmennie at 12:31 PM on January 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
My 10lb 5oz son wasn't early—2 weeks late, in fact—but recovering from his birth was much easier than recovering from the forceps delivery of his 8lb 14oz older sister, whose birth was induced just 2 days past my due date after my doctor estimated her weight to be 10.5-11 lbs based on her head and chest measurements.
posted by she's not there at 12:40 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by she's not there at 12:40 PM on January 14, 2016
I was induced at 39 weeks with one baby. She was measuring off the charts - estimated well over ten pounds. She weighs 8lbs 13oz but was 22 inches long. I was large and uncomfortable and spent a lot of time in water.
My second came early - at 36 weeks. She was 6lbs 10oz. My water broke and I got a bit of piticin and all was fine. No time in the Nicu.
You won't split open. Your body is made for this. I swear that walking a mile plus every day with both kids, even that late, helped me deliver easily. I think the pressure of having the baby down helped stretch my vagina or something so there was no serious ripping even with their big heads.
Hang in there. You got this.
posted by dpx.mfx at 1:10 PM on January 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
My second came early - at 36 weeks. She was 6lbs 10oz. My water broke and I got a bit of piticin and all was fine. No time in the Nicu.
You won't split open. Your body is made for this. I swear that walking a mile plus every day with both kids, even that late, helped me deliver easily. I think the pressure of having the baby down helped stretch my vagina or something so there was no serious ripping even with their big heads.
Hang in there. You got this.
posted by dpx.mfx at 1:10 PM on January 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
I am narrow-hipped and small-framed and when I went two weeks past my due date (I pretty much knew the day I conceived, so...), with my son measuring in the 99th percentile, I was induced. He ended up being juuuuust about 10 lbs and 22 inches long and after many hours of labor, was a C-section delivery. Turns out my hips were just *too* narrow: I had true cephalopelvic disproportion, which did NOT result in a repeat C-section with my second (she was teeeeeny: 7 lb, 2 oz, 19 in. and I wasn't overdue or induced). Yes, he did need to spend time in the NICU because he aspirated meconium. I actually didn't get to see him while he was in the NICU (I was OUT from the surgery and he wasn't there terribly long; just a few hours) but my husband said he looked like a giant, weirdo baby compared to all the teeny-tiny NICU preemies.
Moral of the story: EVEN IF the baby ends up being too big, it's okay! You WILL NOT rip in two, you'll be super uncomfortable but you will feel SO GOOD after it's all over. I felt like I could walk on air, regardless of the C-section recovery! If you can find anywhere to swim, I would highly recommend it. I went to the YMCA almost every day near the end, just to get in the water and float. It felt so good to not support my giant belly.
Last note: I was absolutely determined not to go past my due date with my second. I went into the hospital two days before my due date with false labor and got sent home. That wasn't going to work, by god. So I spent the next day on my feet as much as I possibly could. Took the toddler to the Children's Museum and didn't sit down much. Took a long walk before and after dinner. Walked up and down the stairs as much as I could. At midnight, I went into labor. Labored at home for about seven hours, went to the hospital, got the epidural, and my daughter was born about 20 minutes and four pushes later (no episiotomy, either). I have recommended the "stay on your feet" method to many pregnant women and a lot of them have had success in bringing on labor.
You got this!
posted by cooker girl at 1:15 PM on January 14, 2016
Moral of the story: EVEN IF the baby ends up being too big, it's okay! You WILL NOT rip in two, you'll be super uncomfortable but you will feel SO GOOD after it's all over. I felt like I could walk on air, regardless of the C-section recovery! If you can find anywhere to swim, I would highly recommend it. I went to the YMCA almost every day near the end, just to get in the water and float. It felt so good to not support my giant belly.
Last note: I was absolutely determined not to go past my due date with my second. I went into the hospital two days before my due date with false labor and got sent home. That wasn't going to work, by god. So I spent the next day on my feet as much as I possibly could. Took the toddler to the Children's Museum and didn't sit down much. Took a long walk before and after dinner. Walked up and down the stairs as much as I could. At midnight, I went into labor. Labored at home for about seven hours, went to the hospital, got the epidural, and my daughter was born about 20 minutes and four pushes later (no episiotomy, either). I have recommended the "stay on your feet" method to many pregnant women and a lot of them have had success in bringing on labor.
You got this!
posted by cooker girl at 1:15 PM on January 14, 2016
9.5 lbs on my girl and she was 10 days late. I started measuring 3 weeks ahead around 33w (fundal height), so we had some inkling that she'd be above average but she still took her sweet time actually getting there (she was born the day I would have had to be induced, after 34 hours of labor that started on its own). I was enormous that last trimester, all in my belly, and it didn't help that she was transverse breach for the longest time so she wrapped all the way around my midsection.
She was huge because she was also rather short so she came out looking like a 3 month old. Only complication for her was the five blood glucose tests they had to do on her before they'd let me take her home. (Complications for me involved horrendous tearing because she came out with her fist on her face, but that's neither here nor there and no amount of exercise or positioning would have helped me with that).
My new OB will do a sizing and positioning ultrasound at 35/36w to get a better idea of what you might be dealing with. Maybe ask for a repeat ultrasound before you start worrying too much? Baby might just have had a growth spurt early and now be closer to average size.
posted by lydhre at 1:16 PM on January 14, 2016
She was huge because she was also rather short so she came out looking like a 3 month old. Only complication for her was the five blood glucose tests they had to do on her before they'd let me take her home. (Complications for me involved horrendous tearing because she came out with her fist on her face, but that's neither here nor there and no amount of exercise or positioning would have helped me with that).
My new OB will do a sizing and positioning ultrasound at 35/36w to get a better idea of what you might be dealing with. Maybe ask for a repeat ultrasound before you start worrying too much? Baby might just have had a growth spurt early and now be closer to average size.
posted by lydhre at 1:16 PM on January 14, 2016
I measured big from about 30 weeks until the end; big enough that they did an extra ultrasound to confirm it was baby and not fluid, and at ~34 weeks the ultrasound tech hadn't looked at the notes and thought I was overdue. I was uncomfortable but not as uncomfortable as many women complain of; the day he was born I walked a mile each way for breakfast, which wasn't an unusual activity level for me. He was 9.5 pounds and a week early with no significant health issues, and at 5 is still around the 95% for height and weight. His dad and I are smaller than average so family pictures are going to look strange in a few years! (He was delivered via C-section, though I think there are too many variables to say why.)
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:16 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:16 PM on January 14, 2016
Oh, and the annoyance factor of having to deal with every nurse that walked into my hospital room, looked at my chart, and asked if I'd had untreated gestational diabetes. Nope, just a big baby!
posted by lydhre at 1:19 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by lydhre at 1:19 PM on January 14, 2016
I delivered a 9lbs 11oz baby a week late. It was my first and only one. Long labor, vaginal delivery didn't progress, and ended up having an emergency c-section. Everything was fine. I did not split in two. The baby didn't have any issues.
How did I get through the last few weeks? I was tired and sore. Yes, my husband and I did perineum stretching exercises with almond oil just in case. (There were lots of Baby Mama movie quotes about just spraying Pam down there.) And I did the cat-cow yoga stretches. And I sat on the yoga ball. (Was I a yoga person before being pregnant? No. Did I become a yoga person during? No.) I painted my stomach to look like a pumpkin. (It was around Halloween.) I drank a lot of water and stayed in the air conditioning.
In retrospect, I wish I walked more in the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I thought by not exerting myself I was conserving energy. I wish I worked on building endurance instead.
posted by msladygrey at 1:19 PM on January 14, 2016
How did I get through the last few weeks? I was tired and sore. Yes, my husband and I did perineum stretching exercises with almond oil just in case. (There were lots of Baby Mama movie quotes about just spraying Pam down there.) And I did the cat-cow yoga stretches. And I sat on the yoga ball. (Was I a yoga person before being pregnant? No. Did I become a yoga person during? No.) I painted my stomach to look like a pumpkin. (It was around Halloween.) I drank a lot of water and stayed in the air conditioning.
In retrospect, I wish I walked more in the last few weeks of my pregnancy. I thought by not exerting myself I was conserving energy. I wish I worked on building endurance instead.
posted by msladygrey at 1:19 PM on January 14, 2016
The measurements are often wrong. And your body can handle it - even more so if given the chance to go into labor without induction. I had a long labor that did not progress until I had some induction, but letting my body work through the process for a while first was useful, I think, in avoiding a c-section. Everyone is different, of course. Good luck!
posted by judith at 1:22 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by judith at 1:22 PM on January 14, 2016
My best friend did a midwife-assisted home birth with her second, a healthy 12 pounder (he was over but I can't remember by how many ounces). She was a model, so, tall but thin, and she did not have any complications in the delivery (no tearing, either). She was big at the end of pregnancy and glad to have him out. For the first couple of yeRs he was noticeably larger than his peers. He is a normal teenager now, slightly under the normal height for his peers. She did end up choosing to have a hysterectomy in her forties, and felt the trauma of his birth (physical trauma, not emotional) was a factor.
posted by saucysault at 1:35 PM on January 14, 2016
posted by saucysault at 1:35 PM on January 14, 2016
Mine measured around 75th/80th centile at 32 weeks, and was born at 42+2. I am 5'2" and was having a miserable pregnancy anyway, and was pretty much a giant furious sphere for the last month or so. The sixteen days past her due date felt like sixteen years. (She was fine, just comes from a long line of 42-week pregnancies.)
But! I did not explode (as I feared), and while it was rough and frustrating it was more manageable than I feared. I napped when possible and spent a lot of time on the birth ball thing. Growing out of my maternity clothes was fairly maddening, though.
My daughter was born fine and healthy and 75th centile, so not even as big as I feared.
posted by Catseye at 1:50 PM on January 14, 2016
But! I did not explode (as I feared), and while it was rough and frustrating it was more manageable than I feared. I napped when possible and spent a lot of time on the birth ball thing. Growing out of my maternity clothes was fairly maddening, though.
My daughter was born fine and healthy and 75th centile, so not even as big as I feared.
posted by Catseye at 1:50 PM on January 14, 2016
My first measured big, like really big, according to those scans. She was born about a week before my due date at a perfectly reasonable 7 lbs, 12 oz, even though the scan a week before put her at almost 10 lbs or something. She WAS however, super tall (long, I guess they call it) at 22.5 inches. My second baby they kept telling me he was measuring really large and I sort of scoffed at them. Well, he weighed in at 9 lbs, 4 oz at birth (and 20.5 inches) -- and that was two weeks early. I had c-sections with both for other reasons, so I can't speak to labor much, sorry.
My main point is, those scans are a bit of a crapshoot. To speak even more to your question, it's hard to say what would have happened had I not had to have the larger one early for other reasons, but he was 2 weeks early and totally fine, though had some blood sugar issues in his first 24 hours which necessitated (according to my hospital) some formula supplementation.
posted by freezer cake at 1:54 PM on January 14, 2016
My main point is, those scans are a bit of a crapshoot. To speak even more to your question, it's hard to say what would have happened had I not had to have the larger one early for other reasons, but he was 2 weeks early and totally fine, though had some blood sugar issues in his first 24 hours which necessitated (according to my hospital) some formula supplementation.
posted by freezer cake at 1:54 PM on January 14, 2016
Hm... mine was two weeks late and 9lbs, but yeah - it was about 35 weeks when I started feeling *huge* and began contemplating going on mat leave early. Early labour wasn't progressing so they broke my water, and then gave me a touch of Pitocin, and he popped right out. This article was in the NYTimes yesterday (High Birth Weight Predictions are often Inaccurate)!
Haha, on preview, I also outgrew my maternity clothes!
posted by jrobin276 at 2:03 PM on January 14, 2016
Haha, on preview, I also outgrew my maternity clothes!
posted by jrobin276 at 2:03 PM on January 14, 2016
The measurements are often wrong. And your body can handle it
Yeah, the baby could be even bigger than the docs have guessed. Ultrasound weight estimates can be wrong in both directions. My daughter's estimated weight was significantly lower than her true weight. And no, not everyone's body can "handle" it. If "it" is defined as "safely pushing a giant baby from your vagina".
My baby was on the edge of too big for me. Her weight was ~9lbs, and her height percentile was listed as "Percentile: 99.83" on her records. I "achieved" the magic of vaginally birthing a big baby - complete with shoulder dystocia and nerve damage to my daughter's arm. My daughter spent no time in the NICU, but the NICU team were waiting for her when she was born. They did great with her immediate post-birth care; maybe that's one reason she never was in the NICU itself.
With that being said, you're both going to be just fine. I bet your doctors are probably pretty sure you're good to go with a big baby, because you did it before. Your first was 8lbs - that's a good-sized baby, even if baby wasn't gigantic. If you get a c-section, you'll also both be okay. It's going to be all good for both of you. You know ahead of time that your baby might be on the big side, it's going to be on your doctors' minds, and it's going to go fine. My baby just didn't look that big on ultrasound, but she was. I would have liked to have had the knowledge that you have.
And you aren't going to split, really! HOWEVER: After I had my baby, my abdominal muscles were so distended, that I was short of breath. My muscles didn't support my lungs so well at first - per my GP, at least. That's one possible thing about carrying a big baby, that I rarely see mentioned.
If your doctors get very worried about the size of your baby and suggest a course of action, take their advice. Please don't take internet people's advice in that situation. It's not worth risking possible damage to your child and yourself. I'd say "ask me how I know", but see above.
Congratulations on your upcoming best-thing-ever.
posted by Coatlicue at 3:30 PM on January 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Yeah, the baby could be even bigger than the docs have guessed. Ultrasound weight estimates can be wrong in both directions. My daughter's estimated weight was significantly lower than her true weight. And no, not everyone's body can "handle" it. If "it" is defined as "safely pushing a giant baby from your vagina".
My baby was on the edge of too big for me. Her weight was ~9lbs, and her height percentile was listed as "Percentile: 99.83" on her records. I "achieved" the magic of vaginally birthing a big baby - complete with shoulder dystocia and nerve damage to my daughter's arm. My daughter spent no time in the NICU, but the NICU team were waiting for her when she was born. They did great with her immediate post-birth care; maybe that's one reason she never was in the NICU itself.
With that being said, you're both going to be just fine. I bet your doctors are probably pretty sure you're good to go with a big baby, because you did it before. Your first was 8lbs - that's a good-sized baby, even if baby wasn't gigantic. If you get a c-section, you'll also both be okay. It's going to be all good for both of you. You know ahead of time that your baby might be on the big side, it's going to be on your doctors' minds, and it's going to go fine. My baby just didn't look that big on ultrasound, but she was. I would have liked to have had the knowledge that you have.
And you aren't going to split, really! HOWEVER: After I had my baby, my abdominal muscles were so distended, that I was short of breath. My muscles didn't support my lungs so well at first - per my GP, at least. That's one possible thing about carrying a big baby, that I rarely see mentioned.
If your doctors get very worried about the size of your baby and suggest a course of action, take their advice. Please don't take internet people's advice in that situation. It's not worth risking possible damage to your child and yourself. I'd say "ask me how I know", but see above.
Congratulations on your upcoming best-thing-ever.
posted by Coatlicue at 3:30 PM on January 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
I also have to say that I hate the "your body can handle it!" platitude. Some bodies can and some bodies can't, it's not automatic. Luckily, we live in an age where medical help and intervention is available and most often pretty awesome, so my best advice would be to find a doctor (or more practically, a practice) you trust and follow their advice.
I'm 32w pregnant and if my baby boy looks like he's anything close to his sister in size they're not going to let me go 10 days over my due date, which I appreciate. I would like to avoid going through a repeat of my first labor experience if at all possible and so would my vulva.
posted by lydhre at 3:38 PM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm 32w pregnant and if my baby boy looks like he's anything close to his sister in size they're not going to let me go 10 days over my due date, which I appreciate. I would like to avoid going through a repeat of my first labor experience if at all possible and so would my vulva.
posted by lydhre at 3:38 PM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
I'm going to be the voice of dissent. And I don't say this to scare you, I say this to educate you on possible outcomes. Yes, maybe your body could cope with it. But maybe, you'll be like my five foot tall sister, who argued after ten hours of labour with her doctor, that no, she wasn't haven't the c section he recommended, she'd do it herself. And she did, she had a ten pound baby, but she tore right the way through and had to have reconstructive surgery and nine months of rehabilitation (I didn't ask what that entailed- tmi).
So I'm 5'3 and was measuring large but the doctor couldn't realistically say how large. (Eventually, my baby was ten pounds as well.) I took the above story about my sister to my doctor and told him this was the outcome I wanted to avoid and I'd follow whatever advice he gave as long as we were both healthy at the end.
As it turns out, my body *could not* handle it. According to my obstetrician, better diet and health these days mean women are having larger babies than ever and evolution takes a much longer time for our bodies to adapt to this. So the idea that your hips are automatically the right size to give birth to your child is not always true. If I'd insisted on a natural birth, we would probably both have died as his head was just too big for my pelvis and he was never going to come out that way.
Anyway, I was induced on my due date because my doctor had plans on the weekend!! (given another two weeks, who knows how large is monster child would become. Even now he's huge and always wears a year above in clothing). After ten hours of labour, I'd only dilated 3cm. Then the baby went into distress and my OB, said, right, emergency C section. When they pulled him out the whole room gasped, no one believed a baby that big could come out of me. My doctor kept shaking his head, saying, thank god he decided on a c section as the baby would have made a mess of me and I'd be dealing with years of issues down the road.
I don't say this to scare you, I tell you this to say, listen to your doctor. Have an idea of how you'd like things to go (my plan was, we would give it ten hours of labour and as soon as it turned into a drama, I was happy to have a c section if necessary. Your plan may vary) It will be one of those things that you have to play by ear.
You may have a text book natural birth. I hope that you do. Just be open to the idea that you may not, so you're not devastated if it doesn't all go to plan and you have a c section. Ultimately if you're both happy and healthy, that's all that matters. I have no regrets about the way mine went, considering the alternative.
* oh, and my baby's head, the one that wouldn't come out? It was in the 110 percentile. I didn't even know these things went above 100!
posted by Jubey at 4:35 PM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
So I'm 5'3 and was measuring large but the doctor couldn't realistically say how large. (Eventually, my baby was ten pounds as well.) I took the above story about my sister to my doctor and told him this was the outcome I wanted to avoid and I'd follow whatever advice he gave as long as we were both healthy at the end.
As it turns out, my body *could not* handle it. According to my obstetrician, better diet and health these days mean women are having larger babies than ever and evolution takes a much longer time for our bodies to adapt to this. So the idea that your hips are automatically the right size to give birth to your child is not always true. If I'd insisted on a natural birth, we would probably both have died as his head was just too big for my pelvis and he was never going to come out that way.
Anyway, I was induced on my due date because my doctor had plans on the weekend!! (given another two weeks, who knows how large is monster child would become. Even now he's huge and always wears a year above in clothing). After ten hours of labour, I'd only dilated 3cm. Then the baby went into distress and my OB, said, right, emergency C section. When they pulled him out the whole room gasped, no one believed a baby that big could come out of me. My doctor kept shaking his head, saying, thank god he decided on a c section as the baby would have made a mess of me and I'd be dealing with years of issues down the road.
I don't say this to scare you, I tell you this to say, listen to your doctor. Have an idea of how you'd like things to go (my plan was, we would give it ten hours of labour and as soon as it turned into a drama, I was happy to have a c section if necessary. Your plan may vary) It will be one of those things that you have to play by ear.
You may have a text book natural birth. I hope that you do. Just be open to the idea that you may not, so you're not devastated if it doesn't all go to plan and you have a c section. Ultimately if you're both happy and healthy, that's all that matters. I have no regrets about the way mine went, considering the alternative.
* oh, and my baby's head, the one that wouldn't come out? It was in the 110 percentile. I didn't even know these things went above 100!
posted by Jubey at 4:35 PM on January 14, 2016 [3 favorites]
ultrasound measurements of size get notoriously inaccurate in late pregnancy. My kids both measured right at the 50th percentile the whole way through. Then they were 8 lbs 14 oz and 10 lbs 4 oz (!) respectively. It was OK. I needed an episiotomy but no complications whatsoever. My kids were both late and totally healthy, although due to their size they had to have their blood glucose measured every few hours for the first day or so just in case I had been an undiagnosed diabetic (I was not).
So anyway, everyone regardless of baby size thinks that they are gigantic and unwieldy and uncomfortable. They are! But you'll get through it. Hoping for an easy and uncomplicated birth for you.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 5:18 PM on January 14, 2016
So anyway, everyone regardless of baby size thinks that they are gigantic and unwieldy and uncomfortable. They are! But you'll get through it. Hoping for an easy and uncomplicated birth for you.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 5:18 PM on January 14, 2016
I had a very similar experience to Jubey; in my case we made the call to go to emergency c-section quite soon, which I think helped me to have a fairly swift recovery.
I measured big from about 28 weeks, I think, and was sent for growth scans and glucose tolerance tests. I didn't have gestational diabetes and while I had been overweight when I got pregnant, it wasn't a huge factor going through pregnancy and my midwife wasn't concerned. But the baby just got bigger and bigger.
Here in the UK it's not standard to induce just because of fetal size (the measurements aren't accurate enough to be sure that the benefits of delivering early outweigh the risks) so I went to 41+5 and was induced then. The last few weeks were HARD. I was enormous and stayed pretty active because walking several miles a day is just what I do.
I too am enraged by the platitudes "oh, your body is designed for this" and "you wouldn't have a baby that was bigger than your body can cope with". Some women might be able to deliver a 10lb14oz baby "naturally" but I couldn't. I think I had on some level come to terms with this before induction started, so wasn't really surprised when, after 7 hours of contractions that had only got me to 5cm, we opted to go for a cesarean. The decision was not made because of failure to progress but because there was suspected fetal distress (my waters had gone and there was meconium in them) but in fact the baby was absolutely fine, and remains so 2.5 years later.
Tl;dr: the baby may or may not be enormous; if it is, you may or may not be able to deliver vaginally; the discomfort doesn't last forever! I remember as soon as I was up and about the evening after delivery, I was *so relieved* not to be pregnant any more. And a couple of night later I was *so relieved* that I could actually sleep when I had the opportunity, which I found very difficult in pregnancy.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:25 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
I measured big from about 28 weeks, I think, and was sent for growth scans and glucose tolerance tests. I didn't have gestational diabetes and while I had been overweight when I got pregnant, it wasn't a huge factor going through pregnancy and my midwife wasn't concerned. But the baby just got bigger and bigger.
Here in the UK it's not standard to induce just because of fetal size (the measurements aren't accurate enough to be sure that the benefits of delivering early outweigh the risks) so I went to 41+5 and was induced then. The last few weeks were HARD. I was enormous and stayed pretty active because walking several miles a day is just what I do.
I too am enraged by the platitudes "oh, your body is designed for this" and "you wouldn't have a baby that was bigger than your body can cope with". Some women might be able to deliver a 10lb14oz baby "naturally" but I couldn't. I think I had on some level come to terms with this before induction started, so wasn't really surprised when, after 7 hours of contractions that had only got me to 5cm, we opted to go for a cesarean. The decision was not made because of failure to progress but because there was suspected fetal distress (my waters had gone and there was meconium in them) but in fact the baby was absolutely fine, and remains so 2.5 years later.
Tl;dr: the baby may or may not be enormous; if it is, you may or may not be able to deliver vaginally; the discomfort doesn't last forever! I remember as soon as I was up and about the evening after delivery, I was *so relieved* not to be pregnant any more. And a couple of night later I was *so relieved* that I could actually sleep when I had the opportunity, which I found very difficult in pregnancy.
posted by altolinguistic at 2:25 AM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
Anecdata: My ultrasound was saying 8+ pounds, but my OB's hands-on (literally) measurement said 7. Kiddo was 7 lb 6 oz.
posted by JawnBigboote at 6:48 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by JawnBigboote at 6:48 AM on January 15, 2016
As a holder of a Y chromosome, I do not have direct advice to give you, but I can tell you (both anecdotally and empirically) that estimations of birth weight have such a massive margin of error that they're functionally worthless as predictive data for C sections. My daughter was estimated as between 6 and 7 pounds during labor; she was 9 at birth. Friends of ours have similar stories in the other direction. That's 50% off. Determining weight and percentiles via ultrasound or (even worse) by hand is so error-prone that you should treat it like you would treat the advice of a phrenologist.
posted by Mayor West at 9:54 AM on January 15, 2016
posted by Mayor West at 9:54 AM on January 15, 2016
Huge babies are near and dear to my heart, having one myself. I got the 39 week ultrasound and she was looking to be a ten pounder (and measuring huge), and I have narrow hips to boot, so my OB set me up for a c-section a few days later. (Baby had not yet dropped; cervix was high and tight and labor wasn't coming anytime soon). Woke up at 5 in the morning, got to the hospital at 6, got my lady parts shaved for our 7:30 appointment in the OR and Baby Bee was born at 7:36, a glorious 9 pounds 10 ounces. I still remember the OR staff exclaiming "BIG BABY" as they extracted her -- I guess they didn't know why I was having a c-section. She was by far the biggest baby on the maternity wing during our stay in the hospital.
So she was a few days early, perfectly healthy, no time in the NICU. The other babies looked so small next to her in the nursery. They did knick up her heel quite a bit taking blood to test for gestational diabetes -- she was fine, just naturally giant, but her poor little foot looked awful.
Those last weeks before birth were pretty much the worst. I spent a lot of time on the couch drinking cold water to ward off the sweats and getting up about 30 times a night to use the restroom. I survived, but I am firmly in the one-and-done child camp now because I do not want to go through that again. Everything is exhausting carrying around that much baby -- I feel for you!
I do not even want to think about how big she would have gotten if we hadn't gone ahead and done a c-section a few days before her due date. OB guessed she would have stayed up there another week at least, probably two -- and then it would have really been a big baby. Recovery wasn't fun, but it wasn't terrible. I was a c-section baby myself -- I guess I inherited the narrow hips.
Hang in there mama! Best wishes for an easy and uncomplicated birth!
posted by danielle the bee at 10:59 AM on January 15, 2016
So she was a few days early, perfectly healthy, no time in the NICU. The other babies looked so small next to her in the nursery. They did knick up her heel quite a bit taking blood to test for gestational diabetes -- she was fine, just naturally giant, but her poor little foot looked awful.
Those last weeks before birth were pretty much the worst. I spent a lot of time on the couch drinking cold water to ward off the sweats and getting up about 30 times a night to use the restroom. I survived, but I am firmly in the one-and-done child camp now because I do not want to go through that again. Everything is exhausting carrying around that much baby -- I feel for you!
I do not even want to think about how big she would have gotten if we hadn't gone ahead and done a c-section a few days before her due date. OB guessed she would have stayed up there another week at least, probably two -- and then it would have really been a big baby. Recovery wasn't fun, but it wasn't terrible. I was a c-section baby myself -- I guess I inherited the narrow hips.
Hang in there mama! Best wishes for an easy and uncomplicated birth!
posted by danielle the bee at 10:59 AM on January 15, 2016
For what it's worth, I was well over ten pounds at birth and broke my collarbone during. I've been led to understand that my mom was a casualty of the process as well. My younger brother was another ten pounder... born two weeks early, because my mother was just. not. doing it again. She cried at her OB every day until they induced, at which point she ended up having a c-section because he weren't in the right position. We all ended up fine, but from what I hear from doctors today, we would both have been auto c-sections today (this was 25 years ago). So, yes, babies can be too big (and my mother is not a petite person).
posted by MadamM at 2:26 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by MadamM at 2:26 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
My water ended up breaking at 38 weeks anyways. My son did not spend any time in NICU, and was perfectly healthy at nearly 10lbs. They tested him for diabetes a few times just to make sure all was well, and it was. Being that every experience is SO different, there is no way to really know. It's not uncommon to be induced or have a c-section due to the size of a baby, though. I wouldn't think it would be so common if there were any serious risks.
posted by Sara_NOT_Sarah at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2016 [1 favorite]