Well, my son James was 9lbs 7ozs (approx 4.2kgs) born and I thought I had put on huge amounts of weight... it turned out that it was all baby. I had actually lost weight during my pregnancy and it was noticable after he was born.
I had no idea he was going to be so big... I think it came as a shock to many people including the midwives.
Charlie was 4.1kg(9lb) and i had put on 10kgs but as soon as he was born i had lost all that plus more. So i was all baby and fluid. But i didn't put on anything at all until around 30 weeks.
First of all and I say this well meaningly A big baby does NOT make any difference! My Ob told me its one of the biggest urban myths, and something other Obs use as a scare tactic!
He said quite frankly he's seen a woman give birth to an 11lber with ease and a woman struggle to push a 5lber out! The size of the baby is not what you focus on but the effectiveness of the birth... and you can do things to help that You can't change what size your baby is But I'll also tell you this I gave birth to Seth and he was nearly 10lbs and I had barely a scratch... yet I was told that I wouldn't be able to do it because I *had* an emergency c/sec because my body couldn't birth a 9lber... which was bollocks but anyway... it just goes to show that size doesn't *really* matter its what your body can do that does. And you won't know till you are doing it...
And Danni I acutally read here somewhere that bigger babies are actually easier to birth believe it or not.. quite a few ladies were in agreement on this
Danni, nobody had any idea that my baby was big. I didn't have any of those scans they use to guess at the weight either. My doctor never mentioned it. And no, I didn't put on much weight while pg.
The girls are right ... there is not much point worrying about the size of the baby because you can't really control that. Even if they do try and guess the weight beforehand it can very often be wrong.
I am one of those woman who say it is easier to birth a big baby. Dion was 4625 gms ( 10 pd 4) and he was easier to push out than the twins 2110, 2115 ( 4 pd 10, 4 pd 11) as the contractions are the uterus squeezing, its hard for it to squeeze a little parcel, whereas the pushing sensation was definite with Dion,as the uterus had something to contract around, KWIM?? I was 10 pd 5 and my mum delivered me in 2 hrs, no tearing etc.
Danni, the fact of that matter is, once they are in there they have to come out, one way or another, regardless of their size. You honestly don't think of it at the time how big that baby is going to be - you just have to focus on getting them out, for all you know you could have a 5 pound baby with a big head or huge rugby player shoulders - it really doesn't matter and you will surprise yourself at what you can do. For the record I put on the least amount with my biggest baby (4.32kg) and the most weight with my smallest (3.85)
Danni, I know you can do this, and you will be great at it.
From what I've heard and read, how well you relax into the 2nd stage of the labour has more to do with it than the size of the baby. My friend had a 2nd degree tear when birthing her preemie at 26 weeks because she was totally in denial that she was already in active labour yet my cousin pushed out an 11½ pounder and needed only 3 stitches because she was mentally in a much better place. My mum (a tiny, little woman!) grunted out my 10+ pound brother and was getting on with life as normal 2 days later.
I'm sure you (and I) will do fine.
BTW, to answer your question, I've put on 12 kgs in 6½ months and plan to not put on more than another 3 kgs for the rest of the pregnancy if I can avoid it!
Danni i took encouragement from a thread similar to this a little while ago. Majority seemed to agree that a bigger bub can be easier to birth as they 'help' during the transition whereas small bubs can tire quickly and mum has to do all the work. BUt ikwym and also worry about a big bub...i think that's just a natural fear. You'll be fine babe - no matter what size Junior is...you're a fighter!!!
I put on 20kg with my first pregnancy and baby weighed 8lb 13oz yet with my next 2 pregnancies I only gained 10-12kg and baby 2 was 9lb 14oz and 3rd was 8lb 9oz.
Ok, with my first baby I put on 14kg (easy) and he was an average 7lb 3oz, with my second I put on 7kg and he weighed 9lb 2oz, I didn't tear with either of them but "grazed" more with the smallest. I have to agree with everyone else and say that a big baby doesn't mean a more painful delivery because once the head is out the rest just slips on out easily, but I know that it is just a fear of the "unknown" for everyone who is getting ready to deliver their 1st baby, you will be fine
Ah Danni it can be scary!!! With Jovie 2 days before labour I had a scan which showed an 11lb baby!! Luckily it was completely wrong. Jovie was born 2 days later at 8lb 13... so no where near as big. She was very long & had a large head. BUT the only reason I had grazing & a tear at all was because she came out with her hand on her ear... and honestly who cared by that point
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For those of you who had big babies...
A big baby does NOT make any difference! My Ob told me its one of the biggest urban myths, and something other Obs use as a scare tactic!
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