What's wrong with having a big baby?

Question

I am around 37.5 weeks pregnant and my doctor keeps telling me not to gain anymore weight because I am measuring big and am probably going to have a big baby. She will probably be between 8-9 lbs when she is born. My son was 9lbs. 1oz when he was born. I had a c-section with my son and will be having another one with this baby. My doctor keeps telling me not to let the baby gain anymore weight or she won't be healthy. What are the health risks involved with having an 8 or 9 pound baby? In the beginning she said I should be trying to have a 6 pound baby but that seems too small to me.

I came up clear on the gestational diabetes screening. My entire family has had big babies. I am am not having a c-section simply because I am too lazy to eat right. I had a c-section with my first baby and my doctor said my birth canal is too tight to have the baby vaginally.

Answer 1

I had an 11 pounder and a c-section. Because he was a section fluid in his lungs did not get squeezed out as it would have in a vaginal birth. So he had to breath very fast to breath over the fluid, he had to breath so fast so was put in the NICU for 2 weeks until it slowed down. Doctors were afraid he'd choke on his food because of the breathing so he got a feeding tube as well.

I didn't have gestational I just grow them big, #2 was a week early nad nearly 10 lbs. He didn't have the breathing problem but went to te NICU for a few days for jaundice and low blood sugars. We were discharged the same day.

Answer 2

My smallest was 8 and 1/2 my largest was 11 pounds even. Some people just have large babies, and no they won't 'rip you a new one', I've had all but one vaginally (and the csection was the nine pounder). None of them have had diabetes or even low blood sugar, and neither have I. My husband is 6'2", and one of the smallest guys in his family, so I'd say genetics was on our side for this one.

At 38 weeks, you won't be gaining a lot of weight anyway, you should be planning to eat healthy, not planning to gain or lose weight...kwim?

Six pounds is smallish, way below average, and if you've already had a nine pounder, I'd say not very likely for you. the lady sounds like a nut, and if you get pg again, I'd look around for another one. Too bad it's too late to transfer now.

Answer 3

My children were 9 lbs 7 ounces, 9 lbs 5 ounces and 8 lbs 2 ounces. They were all vaginal births. All were very healthy and never had any problems. All are doing wonderful now. None of them are overwieght, underweight or anything else. My husbands family all seem to have big babies. I think it's more about genetics for some woman. I never had gestational diabetes.

Answer 4

I was 8 pounds when I was born and I am very healthy. There is nothing wrong with have a 8 or 9 pound baby. My daughter was 6 pounds when she was born and I was worried, but she is doing just fine now.

Answer 5

When I gave birth, another woman gave birth naturally to an 11 lb baby!! God bless that woman!!

I don't get this doctor. I don't think you can help whether or not the baby gains. A baby's in there to grow and grow they do.

Your doctor is nuts. A 6 lb baby is rather small. I heard ideal is 7 to 8 lbs.

Your baby will be fine. Many MANY babies are in the 8-10 lb range when they are born and perfectly healthy. If you plan to have any more babies, find another doctor.

Answer 6

Big babies are sometimes due to gestational diabetes.

There is also some research having to due with what mom eats when pregnant developing tastes in their babies.

But c-section or v-birth, the baby still has to get out. So I would imagine, the bigger the incision for the c-section, the more pain you might be in also.

Answer 7

Gaining too much weight during pregnancy puts you at risk for developing gestational diabetes, which can then lead to developing type 2 diabetes later in life. As for your baby, being born bigger puts them at risk for developing diabetes in childhood. Not to mention the unstable blood sugar they often have at birth, which results in repeated glucose testing on their poor little feet. We think big babies mean healthy babies, but the opposite can be true. I also had two healthy nine pounders. So far, they are healthy, but the risk factors are still there. Good luck.

Answer 8

This seems odd to me too because I too carry large babies and as far as I'm concerned, there is nothing "unhealthy" about a large baby as long as their sugar and other tests are fine. Some babies are just bigger than others, just like people, it is in their genetics and the genetics of the moms that carry them. I too am expected to have another large baby next month, but what does size matter?
Sorry about your frustration.

Answer 9

8lbs is about the 50th percentile for baby boys. You should take this CDC growth chart, print it out and shove it in your OBs face.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/growthcharts/set1clinical/cj41l017.pdf

I, too, am sick of it. My son was 8lbs 2oz at birth. I kept hearing that he was a big baby. He is an average sized baby. Just over the 50th percentile, maybe te 60th (it's a small chart).

Doctors apparently can't even read the dumb@ss charts they record weights on at every visit to make sure your baby is "growing right".

Now there is a danger if you have a macrosomic baby, not the same level of risk as having a small for gestational age (less than 5th percentile for gestational age), or low birth weight baby (under 5.5lbs regardless of actual gestational age). Macrosomia for a full term baby is defined as over the 95th percentile, which is over 9.5 lbs.

How can macrosomia affect my baby's health after delivery?
If your baby had shoulder dystocia, he may have sustained a broken collarbone, or clavicle, during delivery. This should heal with no problems. Other than that, there are generally no significant problems associated with large birth size.
http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/childbirth/1152319.html

"However, for a birth weight of 4500-5000 g, the fetal death rate is fewer than 2 deaths per 1000 births for nondiabetic women and is approximately 8 deaths per 1000 births for diabetic women. For a birth weight of 5000-5500 g, this rate is 5-18 deaths per 1000 births for nondiabetic women and is approximately 40 deaths per 1000 births for diabetic women (Mondestin, 2002)."
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic3279.htm

Answer 10

Large babies are more susceptible to juvy diabetes. My daughter was 9lbs.3 ozs. they had to check her blood sugar every 2 hours for the first 24 hours. Her poor little feet were black and blue from all the needle sticks. She wouldn't let us even touch her feet for 2 weeks. They were so sore, she'd scream at the slightly touch.
Oh and be thankful for the c-section. 9 lbs of baby literally can rip you a new one.