My growth scan for VBAC

[Danielle]

Okie dokie, well today I went for my growth scan at the hospital, the OB was concerned about the babies size, as my last was 10 lbs 2 oz, (4.6kgs) and that was the reason labour didnt happen with her - she wouldnt fit (but mind you she was posterior too). Her head wouldnt engage or wouldnt fit being so big and posterior, her head circumference was 37 cms and she was 54cms long.

Soooo... this ultrasound I had... Give or take 1/2 kilo either side apparently they say... he measured 8.8 Pounds at 34 weeks. I dont know the measurements of his head or anything yet taken cause I havnt seen the OB, but the lady doing the ultrasound said he definitely wont be lacking height, and kept re-measuring his head cause she couldnt beleive how big it was for a 34 week baby.

She told me he measures the size of a 39 week baby at 34 weeks.

He is also upside down his head is 4/5 engaged, and he is anterior facing my back the way he should be and I am bloody petrified! (my 1st was upside down but didnt turn around the right way).

I have been getting cramping and strong braxton hicks, which I never got with my 1st, Ive also had bloody mucous come out a week ago... I am petrified of going into labour and trying to have him and not being able to get him out from his head being too big! But if he is the right way around (facing my bum) then maybe I might have a chance? But then again if he is 8.8 pound now or even worse plus another 1/2 kilo then He will be over 10 pound well and truly by term and I am worried I wont have a hope in hell what if he's 12 pounds? And his head is bigger than my 1st?

I want to do whatever is safest for my baby and me, if I go into labour in the next few weeks I definitely will try naturally.

But if I decide to book in a c section at my 36 week appointment, and he is the right way around now and ready to go... and I go into labour before that knowing he is going to be a relatively large baby, even taking off that half a kilo for inaccuracy of the ultrasound he will still be a huge baby!

What would you do?

If I go into labour maybe I should just have a c section if its booked already after 36 weeks, cause he will be even bigger by then!

And if before 36 weeks try to get him out naturally?

I am pretty worried about it all.... can someone help or offer some advice...

thanks

[Trish]

Me personally, I would be going natural. It's very rare for your body to grow a baby too big for you to birth. I dare say that there were other contributing factors to you not being able to vaginally birth your first baby.

Scans are notorious for being wrong. Get it out of your head that this baby is big. Don't let this put fear into you.

You would have been having BH's in your first preg, they just prob weren't as noticable. Come the second time around we are more in tune with our bodies and the uterus is more stretched so you feel the contractions moreso.

My SIL is 4 foot 9 (approx) and birthed an almost 9 pound baby, with a very large head. She did a great job and not even a tear. The Dr's were all presuring her into having a c section, telling her that the baby was huge and she'd never get him out. Well, she did. Her strength and determination got her through it. Along with some support from her fav SIL

[mrs baj]

I can't really offer you any advise as my last was only 6lb 12oz. But I think you are on the right track iykwim. They can't give you an accurate weight or size really from an ultrasound as you said and although it's heaps eazier said than done try and think posative and try do things the old fashioned way if at all possible I'd say. I mean you never know what your body is capable of until you test it and if it's really not able to happen then they can take you in for a cs. I'm sure than any pain you might go through will very soon be forgotten once you have your little boy
P.S. I noticed your edd and thought I'd invite you over to join the April 16th-30th thread. There's some really lovely ladies in there (myself included haha) and it's great to be able to chat to others going through similar stuff at the same time.

[christy]

I'd agree with Trish, great advice. Its a big mindset the "big baby" thing. Have a read on the main site, I'll send you some links.

Personally, I had a scan 2 days before my VBAC at 41 + 2 weeks and my baby measured 10lbs 11oz. She was born 2 days later at 8lb 13oz, so no where near the weight they expected. AND she weighed less than my first baby. The OB phoned me after the scan to say I should have a c/s due to the babies size. Thank goodness I didn't listen to her and knew that the scans are inaccurate. They get the weights by measuring the length of the femur, which is a leg bone. So I have no idea how an ultrasonographer could gather the weight by the femur length but it must be an average calculation.

You can do it!

[Katstribe]

Danielle all i can say is DON'T take theri scan for granted!!!! A gf of mine had one done and they told her bub was going to be a min of 9lb! She birthed a bub just under 6lb! So they can and do get it quite wrong a lot of the time. As for bub needing to spin around to face his head the other way, you can try getting on all fours for 5 mins twice a day and rocking your pelvcis from side to side slowly! This was recommended to my GF who's bub was around the wrong way and it worked for her.
Good luck and don't stress or take them for granted your body will do what it needs to!
Good Luck with the upcoming birth of your bub

Cheers
Kat

[Rouge]

Big babies mean diddly squat. I was told I would never birth Seth (not by my ob but a previous ob) because Paris was a HUGE (their words) 9lb1oz. Seth ended up being 9lb12oz and he came out fine not even a tear. So please don't get caught up in the big baby syndrome its a load of hogswash!

Your body knows how to birth your baby, and you will be fine. Trust in yourself.

[Tobily]

I second (and third and fourth lol) what everyone has said.
Scans are often - very often - wrong. And even if the scan isn't wrong no one can tell you that you can't birth your baby before labour begins, not even with all the technology in the world. Because your body and your baby move and shift and stretch in ways that can't be measured by scans or any other guesswork before labour starts.
We can say all of this but unless you internalise it, and really believe it and believe in your body's ability to birth it's going to be hard.

A mum I worked with recently having her first baby weighed 52kg pre pregnancy and is the tiniest, slightest whisp of a girl you would ever meet. She birthed her 9lb4oz baby in six hours. Had her OB even had an inkling her baby was that weight - she thought it was smaller - she would have been dealing with exactly the same doubts, and pressure for a c/section that you are now. Yet she did it - safely, beautifully...and under her own steam. You can too

[paradise lost]

They cannot tell if your baby will not fit until you are fully dilated and have been pushing for a little while. At that point the head will have descended if it will fit (the fact that bubs is so engaged indicates that it at least fits IN to your pelvis) or will not descend if it won't fit.

IF YOUR BABY WON'T FIT c-section is the safest option. Until you know that (in late labour) vaginal birth is safest. Do not worry about the "big baby" thing. A woman at my toddler group had a section at 37weeks for her "giant" (10.5lbs on the scan) baby. He was 5.5lbs (though very long) and had to spend 2 weeks in SCBU.

Have faith, you're doing great. There's a video here that might help you.

Bx

[Trillian]

Please try to remove any doubts you have out of your head about the size of bubs. Get yourself a copy of the pink kit - it will give you the confidence and the knowledge you need to birth your baby. And the other thing is how much do you WANT your VBAC? No one is going to hold it against you if you choose to have another c/s, but make sure you are doing it for the right reasons because if you listen to them and have a c/s and bubs turns out to be a long and skinny 8lb baby, you will be devastated and feel mightily ripped off that you COULD have had an amazing vaginal birth and they took it from you because they scared you.

From a personal perspective, my last baby was over 10lb and 59cm long at birth - now imagine how big they would have *estimated* his size based on his femur length when he was that long already? I would have been doubting myself too but I didn't have that 'knowledge', only knew that I could expect a big baby because I'd already had to large ones (over 4kg) and I birthed him vaginally in a posterior postion.

[Holly84]

I wouldnt rely on what the scans say either. I had a baby boy that was 10 pnd 6 and I attempted to have him naturally but he decided to put his hand up to his head and got wedged, not stuck coming out cause he never got to that stage as he was stressing so they took me in for an emergency c-section. My scans never said that i was having a big baby, however my body did as i put on 30 kg during my pregnancy! After I had the c-section the doctor told me that it wasnt the fact he was so big that prevented me from having him naturally but the fact he had his hand up to his face and got stuck before coming out. She said that if he was in the right position he would of come out naturally. Everyone is different, but just try and stay positive and dont think that it is going to be a big baby just because the scans said so. Dont opt to have a c section because the scans said the bub is big as you might regret it once the bub comes out and more than likely wont be that big.

[neekyv]

hi- i'm in a similar situation...
I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant. I'm 5 ft 2 but quite overweight- and hubby isnt tiny either! I had a sizing scan at 32 weeks and baby was dating at 34 weeks according to measurements- and 2.6 kgs alreadly- estimated.
My ob wants we to go naturally- in his experience most babies who are larger will decide to do things on their own. A c-section hasnt been mentioned at all to me- which i find encouraging being that i'm going private and had heard that most hospital births, esp private tend to go for c-sections.
I have been told however that if i go into labour on my own anytime after 34 weeks that they will do nothing to stop the baby from coming!

I never thought i'd be having a small baby anyway- but it has scared me a little about the size. But it wouldnt be the first time a doctor has got it wrong with me- so I'm just willing to let nature take its course and see what happens...

[Trish]

Neekyv, My 3rd son was approx the same size at 34 weeks. He was born 9 days early weighing 3.7kgs. Or just over 8 pound. So not too big at all

[Danielle]

Thanks for the advice ...

I sort of have a plan.... if I go into labour before 40 weeks Ill try, but I will book a c section for 40 weeks and go with it if nothing happens. I know ultrasounds can be very inaccurate for babies size, but my 1st was 10 lbs 2 oz, big head and quiet long, so thats whats just telling me he will be a giant too.

I guess if I didnt know that info I wouldnt be as scared and literally pooing myself!

But there is a huge possibility he will be a very big heavy bubba, his daddy's not small, although I dont know how I manage to cook such big babies I am 165cms and before pregannt only 56kgs... so who knows!

But then again my brothers girlfriend had a 9lbs 8oz baby too so maybe its from my side hehe. I am not expecting anything under 10 lbs.

But my body is doing the rigth thing so far so Im going to go with it... he's been upside down since 27 weeks, he has been facing my back since about 32 weeks. I cant beleive he is facing my back he is the right way! so somethings got to be going right, I hope he stays that way now.

I am a little worried about going into labour near my due date - the further I get along the bigger he is going to be, and trying to get him out and somethin goin wrong and bein rushed off to emergency, I so didnt want an emergency c section would prefer it planned. And I am concerned the doctors knowing he is going to be a relatively large baby that they wont give me as much of a fair chance.

Just another question.... Raspberry leaf tea.... where do you get it from... couldnt find it in my supermarket... and the Evening primrose oil.... how are you meant to use that properly... is there a limit on how many mg's we can have.. or how many capsuels per day? And if you do insert it instead of orally, do you have to lay down until it dissolves?

thanks for your help...

the doctor did say to me theres nothing they can do to stop the labour anyhow even knowing he will be a big baby and there could be problems in the birth, because they like to leave them in there as long as possible, even the big ones hehe. so If I go into labour I may as well try I just pray to god nuthin goes wrong coz I am not a big girl myself. My mum tried to birth a 9lbs 2 baby and ended up in emergency. Everyones having bets that he will be much bigger than what Lily was like more like 11 lbs - 12 lbs... which honestly wouldnt surprise me Im not mortal hehe I bake HUGE babies... lol.

Oh well thanks again! Help much much appreciated girls