Ladies: Who's delivered a big baby?

[addicted_to_WDW]

DS was a porker at 11 pounds, 7 ounces and 22.5" long. I had an easy pregnancy until the last couple of weeks when I couldn't stand for 30 seconds without very painful sciatica. I was induced on my due date but after 10 hours of little progression had a c-section.

He's 17 years old now...6'5" and a really skinny 155 pounds.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Large babies in our family:
A boy at 16 pounds. Unfortunately, he died by the time he was 32. He was clinically obese all his life.

A girl at 11 lbs, 2 1/4 ounces. She weighs about 110 today (and is about 5"5').

The boy was the second to last child born to that mother, and the girl was the first born to her mother who went on to have a 10 pound baby and a wee 9 pound baby. Gestational diabetes was not a factor in any of the births.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

I'm 5'2 and my husband is 6'2 - and he was a 10 lb baby.

My daughter was 8 lbs 1 oz, born at 40 weeks and 4 days. I had an all-natural birth (no induction, no drugs), and no episiotomy, but I did have a tiny tear. I never had any sort of ultrasound to try to guess the weight.

My son was 8 lbs 15 oz, born at 41 weeks 5 days. Again, no induction, no drugs, no episiotomy, and I didn't not tear at all. I had a biophysical profile 2 days before he was born, and the radiologist guessed he would be 10 lbs 5 oz! But no, he was *only* 8 lbs 15, and my midwife said he looked like a 40 weeker, not nearly 42. BTW, no gestational diabetes with either one.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I'm 5', and was slim back in the day.

My son (firstborn) was 9 lbs, 4 oz, and daughter was 8 lbs 10 oz.

I found that getting plenty of rest, and being prepared helped a lot. I had natural childbirth both times. I didn't get an epidural because I was too afraid to get that shot. I survived.

I started to type the details when the oldest was born, but they sound a lot worse than reality. He was born healthy, and I was glad to do it naturally.

Kids are 23 & 22. I'm glad it's a dim memory. lol

 

[RachaelA]

A girl on my pregnancy message board had an almost 11 lb baby ******lly (10 lbs 15 oz). Crazy!

Lots of ultrasounds are usually off (even by more than a 1 lb less), but mine was surprisingly correct when you figure they gain about 1/2 lb a week at the end. DD measured 7 lbs at 38 weeks and was 7 lbs 15 oz when she was born at 40 weeks 2 days (I was induced).

GL with whatever you decide. If your cervix is favorable, you could have a perfectly fine induction even if he is a big baby! I would be more worried if you were completely closed and long and about to be induced.

 

[1Princess1Prince2006]

DD was 9 lbs, 15 oz and DS was 10 lbs, 8.5 oz and both were 21.5" long.

I was induced with DD at 38.5 weeks, my doctor wouldn't do anything before that, and I was scheduled to be induced with DS, but my water broke the day before I was to go into the hospital for the induction. I was 38.5 or 39 weeks at the time.

Both were also delivered naturally and I had really, really, really good epidurals with both.

I did have an episiotomy with DD, and I think just a small tear with DS.

DD did get stuck and I had a hard time pushing her out, I think it was like 2 hours and almost had to have a c-section. DS was a quick delivery even though he was bigger than DD.

DD is 8 (almost 9) and she is your averaged sized 8 year old. DS is 6 and is nothing but skin and bones. I worried that when they got older they would have weight issues, but nope, they are fine and very healthy kiddos.

 

[YodaGirl]

DD measured 9-10 lbs at her 36 wk scan. She was born via c/s due to her anticipated size. My doctor thought that the risk was too great (big baby and narrow pelvis = greater chance for complications). She was 8lbs 1.4oz. Turns out a c/s was a good thing due to wide shoulders. He said it's possible that her collar bone could have been broken or a shoulder dislocated. My scar even showed where he cut, she was still too wide, and he had to make the incision bigger.

My fluid lever was high, which makes determining weight to be less reliable.

DS was supposed to weigh about 7lbs or so. He was 8 lbs 12 oz. He was also born via c/s. With him, however, my fluid was low. Not sure how that relates to determining pre-birth weight.

If your doctor thinks that you can have a "regular" delivery, go for it! It's been done countless times, and it is sure to be done countless more. I go to church with a woman who has babies that generally weigh 9-10+ lbs. She's had all 7 thus far via a ******l delivery.

 

[bethy]

You can do it!

I've had three babies over 9 pounds. All were healthy ******l births. My easiest birth was with my 9 pound 12 ouncer. All were over 40 weeks gestation and none were induced due to size.

Fat is squishy. What matters most is head circumference.

 

[wilma-bride]

My DS was 9lbs 9ozs when he was born (10 days late). We were having scans every fortnight from 30 weeks because I was measuring so big. They suspected shoulder dystocia aswell so I wasn't allowed to have him at the midwifery unit. However, apart from being a long and painful birth (due to having to be induced), all went well and I delivered him naturally, albeit with the aid of an epidural to deal with the pain.

Having had 2 induced labours and 1 natural, I would always hope for a natural labour whenever possible. The problem with induction is your body doesn't have time to build up defences and it feels far more painful. I'm not sure what the procedure is in the US but, here, they put you on a drug to speed up the contractions and that always makes me sick too

Even though we were told at 39 weeks that DS was going to be big, I chose to wait and hope to go into labour naturally, rather than opt to be induced. It wasn't to be though - he was far too comfortable I think he would have stayed in there 'cooking' for a couple of weeks longer if he could have.

It's not all doom and gloom though - in my experience (3 kids), bigger babies are generally more content and all 3 of mine have slept through the night by the age of 12 weeks (DS was sleeping 7 hours a night at the age of 3 weeks)

 

[JoanGirardi]

My 3 children weighed 7lb11oz, 9lb8oz, and 5lb14oz, in that order. I gained the same amount of weight for each pregnancy. All natural deliveries, and my easiest and shortest labor by far was my middle child, the heaviest one--and the one with the biggest head, for that matter! I did take a bit longer to recover from having him, but no complications other than having to exchange some newborn diapers because they wouldn't fit.

 

[Lisa_M]

My mom had three unmedicated
me: 9lbs 3 oz.
middle sister: 9 lbs 1 oz.
youngest sister: 10 lbs 12 oz. She was born at 43 weeks. The doctor was going to induce her that day if she didn't go into labor on her own. She was huge pregnant with her, but not diabetic.

My mom is a bigger built woman at about 5'8" I'm the same, but my daughter was 7lbs 8 oz.

 

[ReneeA]

My first was well over 10 pounds and 23" long. He came out looking like a 3 month old (in fact, couldn't fit into any of the clothes from my shower). Had him naturally, he did take awhile to push out, but didn't have any problems.

I am also of a bigger build - 5'8" with wide shoulders, wide hips, big feet. My ob told me at about 36 weeks that the baby was "really big" but he wasn't worried about delivery due to the size of my frame. He said, "You keep yourself thin, but you don't fool me...you are not a small girl." Good thing I loved him or I'd have fired him for that comment alone.

 

[shalom]

A lot depends on how you're built too.

This. And also how the baby is built; my brother wasn't the largest one my mom delivered, but he was the hardest because he had such broad shoulders.

My first was 9lbs 3 oz, my largest (a middle child) topped the midwife's scale out at 11 lbs so we don't know how big he was , and the only one who was under 8 lbs (7 lbs 14 oz) didn't survive his first day. I had an epidural with the first one, no meds with the rest, and all were ******l delivery.

The mom's position makes a big difference, in my experience. Regular labor when lying down is very uncomfortable for me whether I'm on my back or side,, and the one time I delivered lying down (with my first) I ended up with strained muscles in my upper back and shoulders. I was much more comfortable upright, either standing or sitting on a birthing stool (although my midwife's birthing stool looked like a torture device and I wouldn't have wanted to sit there very long ). Back labor when lying down is horrible, but even with back labor, if I could stand up and have hubby press on my lower back, it wasn't so bad.

 

[DeniseinNS]

The ultrasound can definatly be off on weight. I had an ultrasound at 38 weeks with my son and they said he was almost 9 pounds then, when we was born 2 weeks later he was 8lbs 1oz.

 

[Mama Who]

My vag delivery baby was only 9 lbs. 1 oz. but he was more than 1/3 my height. Figures it'd be the little one (8 lbs. 12 oz and much shorter) who came c-section!

 

[klmall]

I can't compete since my only came in at 8 lbs. 15 oz and then peed away 1 oz on the scales as they weighed him. But my aunt broke every record in the Schenectady, NY hospital where she delivered her first three children having babies over 11 pounds in the 1950s, 60s. She was diabetic though the family claims they didn't know it until she was in her 50s.

My 8 lb. 14 oz. baby was induced on my due date because I had gestational diabetes and was advanced maternal age (37) so I ended up with a c-section. He was also 23 inches long and never did fit any newborn size stuff. Yes, he was very cute and pudgy but he also nursed every 2 hours for 45 minutes at a time so I got no rest the first three weeks even when we used a bottle twice a day!

And he ended up in the isolation nursery also because I got very sick after delivery so there he was, the 'sleeping buddha' next to all the preemies! The nurses did love to hold him and I couldn't until my fever went down at day 5!

Oh, I am 5' 8" and DH is 6'1" and today DS is 6'2" and over 200 lbs so as my OB used to say, "You're not going to have a shrimp!"

 

[paintnolish]

Wow! There are a lot of mommies to big babies on here! I think what I'm most afraid of is laboring, pushing, having him get stuck, and then having an emergency c-section. I've also never had any sort of surgery, so that freaks me out, too. Plus, dd and ds were pretty easy birthes but much smaller than this little guy is predicted to be.
Like I said, no GD here, plus I was an average weight for my build before and have gained 27 lbs. so far, so nothing crazy.
I guess we'll see how it plays out! I'll definitely update with pics, hopefully sooner rather than later!
Just waiting and home from work today with a sick ds (stomach flu). T and P that I don't end up with it!!!

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Wow! There are a lot of mommies to big babies on here! I think what I'm most afraid of is laboring, pushing, having him get stuck, and then having an emergency c-section. I've also never had any sort of surgery, so that freaks me out, too. Plus, dd and ds were pretty easy birthes but much smaller than this little guy is predicted to be.
Like I said, no GD here, plus I was an average weight for my build before and have gained 27 lbs. so far, so nothing crazy.
I guess we'll see how it plays out! I'll definitely update with pics, hopefully sooner rather than later!
Just waiting and home from work today with a sick ds (stomach flu). T and P that I don't end up with it!!!

I don't know what your labor plan is, but one way to avoid a baby getting "stuck" is to labor in different positions rather than on your back. Hands and knees is very good, squatting, etc.

 

[Nik's Mom]

My 2nd baby was just under 9lbs and I'm only 5' tall. DH is 6'3".The epidural was shut off because they knew he was going to be big and wanted me to be able to push. Their plan worked, because I didn't need a c-section.

 

[DVCJones]

My first was 10lbs 5oz. Regular birth, quick 10 minutes of pushing and no complications. My Dr. did not tell me to expect a large baby. So it was a bit of a surprise. My second was an emergency Csec 5 1/2 weeks early and weighed 5lbs 10oz. So she probably would have been on the big side too if she went full term.

I think you will be fine with this being your third. Good luck!