no mean answers needed, just want advice.?

Question

Doc did sono at 34+ weeks and baby is measuring almost 39 he was inhaling and exhaling and doing great. I am now about 36 weeks measuring about 40 is it wrong to try and induce, doc say's if born than he will be fine.

for people who dont read, doc did sono and baby is ready. Also the sono showed baby was measuring that big and it wasn't my placenta or me.

Answer 1

I say do the induction. You don't want to risk the chance of waiting and things ending on a sour note. Good luck with the baby. He'll be fine ..... anytime after 36 weeks is considered full term anyways.

Answer 2

I wouldn't advise it. It's not really a question of how big the baby is, it's how developed the lungs are. A sono won't tell you that, and even if the baby is inhaling and exhaling in the womb it doesn't mean the lungs are fully developed. Your doctor could do a special test to see whether the lungs are ready. Even then, the baby has a much larger chance of winding up in the natal intensive care if it's born early. Even babies born only a week early have wound up sick. Yes, the baby would most likely live, and wind up OK in the long run, but It's just not a chance worth taking, in my opinion. Why give the baby a difficult start?

Answer 3

Sorry to burst your bubble hun, but no matter how good the baby looks on a sonso, you can not tell wether or not their lungs are developed yet. Also contrary to common belief, baby weight, does not have anything to do with if the baby is ready either. Nine pound babies are born with underdevloped lungs if it is too early. Since you are 36 weeks, you only need to wait one or two more weeks to be mostly out of danger. I've had to be induced twice, and gave birth naturally once. Being induced is MUCH more difficult. However, it is also dangerouse to let the baby get too big, that is why my last one was induced, two weeks early. My advice is to wait till you are 38, or 39 weeks, then induce, if you just can't hang on any longer. Best of luck to both you and the little one!

Answer 4

Yes, it is wrong. A doctor can not adequately assess the babies readiness through a sonogram, sure the baby is "big enough" and breathing but that isn't the only thing the baby needs. Also sonogram weight estimates are notoriously wrong (2lbs either way)

Please, respect your baby enough to give them all the time in the womb that they need. Your baby will come when he/she is ready.

Ask yourself what can happens if you induce? The baby isn't ready and at the least you are in for a long hospital stay. Which I assure you will be awful for both of you. After awhile the hospital will send you home without your baby. This is on of the worst feelings in the world. I had to do it. It is really hard on mom and baby in the hospital. Not enough contact, the stress can stop your milk coming in. At worst if you baby isn't ready they may need serious intervention such as a ventilator, they may have a weak suck reflex. They may have other long term problems because babies do not develop outside the way they do inside. Also every treatment has potential side effects, the more treatments a baby needs the more chance something can go wrong.

In addition induction, particularly before term: before your cervix is ripe and your body is ready is more likely to fail... a failed induction more often than not leads to a c-section. I, personally, would really like to avoid major surgery. C-sections also have a higher chance of complications for mom and baby than a vaginal birth.

Now for the flip side: What cab happen if you wait for to go into labour on your own:
-You are pregnant for another 4-6 weeks... which *may* be slightly uncomfortable. Hmmm nope that is all I can come up with.

Make your own pro/con list for each and then really ask yourself what is best for you and your baby.

Answer 5

I, too, measured large, and was 3cm dilated at 37 weeks. The doc wanted to induce, I said no. They'd done a sonogram at 32 weeks for weight estimates, and, based off of that, calculated her 37 week weight, blah blah blah. The doctor told me the baby was ready, and I was getting "too big" (she meant measuring too big, I believe, as I only gained 20 pounds TOTAL during my pregnancy). I still said no. 4 weeks passed (seriously). The baby put me into labor at 41 weeks, 1 day. She came out in 8 hours, no problems, weighing 7lb 15oz, and very healthy. Since a baby puts on 2-3 pounds in the last month, had I been induced, my baby might have come out weighing less than 5 pounds - not a good option.
As long as the baby is not in distress, wait it out. The baby knows when he's ready to be born, no matter what science tries to tell us.

Answer 6

Sonograms are notoriously WRONG. If your dates were wrong it would have shown up by the time you were 20 - 22 weeks pregnant. It is way too late for a sono to give an accurate gestational age of baby, and breathing movements mean nothing as far as if lungs are sufficiently mature.

The US ranks 32nd in developed counties in infant mortality and our rates of both prematurity and low birth weight is skyrocketing. Much of this is due to inducing babies whos sonos and doctors said were ready. Did your doctor tell you all the risks of induction? You can read more here:

http://www.midwiferyservices.org/infoforparents.htm#induction

The safest time for a baby to be born is when the baby is ready. When the baby is ready his lungs produce hormones which trigger the placenta and mother's body to produce the hormones which trigger labor. Trust your baby and your body. Not the sono.

Claudine Crews CPM, LM

Answer 7

You might be measuring bigger that what you really are but that does not mean the baby is that big, you might just have a lot of fluid or a bigger placenta and still a small baby, have they told you how much your baby weighs right now? I had a friend whose baby was induced at 36 weeks and it took the baby about 2 weeks to be able to eat on his own so, I'd wait, let it happen naturally, what's the rush? you will have your baby with you for a long long time!!

Answer 8

I measured big with my last baby too.. I was induced 3 weeks prior to my due date and had a happy healthy 7+lbs baby. The doctors are the pros at this stuff, so I would tend to agree with him. Besides they say now that it is a "due month" rather than "date" now because it is hard to know for sure. Also, my personal experiences were that it was no more painful to be induced. Actually, it was better for me because the fear of the unknown was gone. Plus, why risk harm to you or the baby if it becomes too big to deliver. Trust your doc, that's what he is there for!


*~*~Congrats!*~*~ Good Luck!~*~*

Answer 9

If the doctor says the baby seems ready, then why not induce...It can be a long wait for the baby to come on it's own...both of mine were 10 and 11 days late! You just get anxious at the end. So if the doctor is giving you the go ahead, then do it!

Answer 10

A big baby does not mean a healthy baby. I understand how you feel. Boy, do I? My first son was born at 35 weeks. So with my second child I felt overdue at 36 weeks. My first child didn't know how to suck, though (we saw him sucking his thumb in the sonogram, but he did not have the reflex or instinct to suck to eat). Their brain is still developing at this stage. I'm not going to lie, once I hit 36 weeks, not a day sooner, I was willing to do whatever necessary to get that baby out. Walking, sex, whatever! But, I wouldn't recommend that to others. You never know what one more day in the womb can do for that little one. Chances are, baby is fine to come out, but you never know until they're here. I'm with you, I kept saying, "I'm ready to have THIS baby!" and everyone told me I needed to be patient. The baby will come when he's ready. Sme times they just don't that's why we induce :) Just do what you and your doctor are comfortable with. In the mean time, don't sit at home just waiting! Go do stuff every day! Maybe the extra activities will speed things along naturally. Best of Luck!