Big for dates.

i have now been told by 2 different drs that i am big for my dates.

the first time was at my 12 week checkup. the dr just said you are more than 12 weeks. i told him that i wasnt, i had kept good records. i was exactly 12 weeks.

yesturday i had my 16 week checkup with a different dr. he also said i am big for my dates. he asked if i was sure it wasnt twins!!! :eek: i told him there was only 1 bubba on my ultrasound.

anyway this is making me feel a bit worried. i did have a bit of a belly to start with so im not sure if that makes any difference. i told both drs this.

also, the sonographer didnt say anything about the baby being big. wouldnt they say something? my fundal height at 15wks, 6dys measured 17cms. i read up on this and technically im only 1 cm ahead. (16wks should be 16cms) i have only put on 2kgs.

so by what im reading and my weight - it doesnt really make sence that im big for my dates. any ideas? should i be concerned? what questions do i need to be asking?

Hmmm I'm not sure... I wouldn't worry about it too much, especially if it's only 1cm difference. At my 16 w check up I was measuring 18w but my dr wasn't worried and in my 1st p/g by the time I was 37w I only measured 32w. So who really knows??? As long as bubs is healthy and everythings going along well I wouldn't worry too much!
I think the only concert with a big bubba is diabetes but you'll get a test done I think at around 28w for that. I'm sure everything is fine!

Nothing to stress about. You can't tell how big a baby is just by looking at how big your tummy is and fundal height isn't overly accurate. Fundal height also still relies on the person measuring to get the tape measure in exactly the right spot and can also depend on how the baby is lying etc. At 21w my fundal height was 23cm and the midwife wasn't worried at all. It can vary quite a bit and be nothing to be concerned about. Grrr @ the doctors for getting you worried about it! From the sounds of it your bubba is doing fine and growing as it should be. The sonographer would have said something if there was anything wrong.

hmm i just assumed they were going by fundal height.

maybe my belly itself is too big? ahhh. wish they would tell you what they really mean!

i think i will check with the sonographer just to be sure. hurry up 3 weeks. :confused:

I have always measured big for dates. It freaked me out in my first pregnancy I went for my 30 week check up and I measured 36 weeks (before that I'd been about 2-3 weeks ahead). The Dr was worried so we went for a scan but she was just a big bubba. She weighed 8 pounds when she was born at 37 weeks.
This time I went for an appointment at 19 weeks and measured 22 weeks but the scan I had a couple of days before said he was right on for dates.
Your baby may just be a good size. What weight were you when you were born that is often indicative of what your baby will weigh. I was 9 pound at 38 weeks.
HTH
Tracy

Through all my previous pregnancies I have been told I am "big for dates" except for this one... where my fundal height measurements are always bigger, but no ones says anything because it is not an exact science anyway.
I was told with Madeleine that she was going to be bigger than her 9lb 7oz brother... I was told to expect a baby around 11lbs... she was 7lb 9oz born!!! A bit of a difference there.

I had doc thinking I was approx. 2 wks ahead of what I am when he did fundal height. When I had u/s 3 wks later it showed that I am spot on with dates that I had...fundal height is only an indication as far as I'm aware. I wouldn't worry about it too much as bubs may have had a growth spurt just before these times or something.

When I went to my appointment at 20 weeks, they told me the fundal height was just a guide. I was measuring 21cm, and they said its close enough.

Speaking as someone who's just been told her baby is "too small", fundal heights are stupid and shouldn't be done at all!

On the up-side, you may get an extra scan out of it. Another chance to see your baby and how beautiful and perfect it is can't be sneezed at!

When i wwent to my 24 week app the said charlie was big but he was only 7p1 - try not to let it stress you too much

With my first pregnancy the fundal height always measured larger than my dates. Hendrix also was huge at the 18 week scan - so big in fact that he was off the charts! I panicked and even had a further scan at 26 weeks which again showed him to be large. Im only slight and wanted a natural birth and was terrified that he wouldnt fit through my pelvis (as happene to my mother in law who is very short and had two 11 pound babies via c-section). Anyway to cut a long story short hendrix was born naturally and only weighed 6lbs 14!!! So quite a small little bub! I think you should take what they say with a grain of salt so to speak.
Relax and enjoy and trust your motherly instinct!

Sometimes I swear that the docs tell us things without thinking of what or how they're saying it and it just worries us to death!! When Joshua was born they went on about his head being big for his measurements or some crap (his dad has a big head) and had me so worried there was something wrong with him for the first 6 weeks!! So, I guess what I'm trying to say is don't worry too much cos sometimes IMO they say things without really thinking properly!!

LOL I heard it all through this last pregnancy. From the GP's & the midwives. My fundal height was often 4cm bigger!! So I would measure 34 weeks at 30 weeks. At my u/s at 19 weeks Jovie was measured at 22 weeks. Heaps different to my dates. At my u/s at 41+2weeks Jovie measured 10lbs 10oz. She came out 2 days later at 8lbs 13oz. Don't trust measurements!!! Trust your body & your knowledge. Both my babies have come out closer to 42 weeks gestation, it just seems to be the way my body works. Both are very healthy.

All my measurements have ben normal but I tell ya, if I had a dollar for every person that says I am HUGE for how pregnant I am or that it must be twins or a HUGE baby. I think I muight just be rich!!!
I have stopped listening as on emotional days I dont handle the fat/huge/whale waddling jokes very well... people are so insensitve!

HI Girls,
I also had this fundal height measurement problem with my second child. Due to gdd and other complications they did several fundus measurements and scans and told me to expect a ten pound baby at 36 weeks. They induced me at that point, she was 6pound 7. They kinda buggered that idea. But she was fine and healthy;but you have to wonder about their technology!!Its a bit inaccurate.

Pauline