The moment ...

katelynngould94

they tell you your baby is almost 8 pounds and you're not even at your due date yet. I know it could be kinda off but Lord help me if he keeps growing . Any help to mentally prepare myself for that one ladies?

mccall35

Growth scans are notoriously inaccurate. I know it's not too much comfort, but don't focus too much on numbers.

Good luck

karaelaine1991

I have no clue how big my baby is but big babies run in both my family and DH's family. To give a frame of reference, DH was 8lbs something, I was 9lbs10oz, one of my brothers was 10lbs12oz (I think) and my siblings who are twins were the second biggest twins in the history of the hospital at the time when they were born, weighing in at 6lbs something and 8lbs something... and that was at a delivery at 36 weeks because my brother had cut off my sister's food supply. So yeah, my LO is probably not so little haha.

As for how I'm coping with that possibility, I just remind myself that I am far from the first person to have a big baby and my body was made for this! It helps me to know that with the exception of the twins, my mom delivered all of her six kids vaginally and without an epidural, and her frame is much smaller than mine. If she could do it, I can (but I'm most likely taking the epidural haha). Is it going to be a pleasant experience? I'm thinking no. But I get a baby at the end, that's the important thing!

katelynngould94

Thank you ladies

mamameghan

I'm just going to put out there that pushing a baby out hurts. Like hell. Whether it's 6 pounds or 8....it just hurts. I truely don't mean to be a downer just want to let you know that it won't matter how big your baby is. It's just going to hurt!

But chubby babies are sooooo cute. Maybe you'll have a sweet little chubster who's cuddly and soft!

katelynngould94

I guess this being my first baby and the weight it scaring me haha . But yes he is super chubby you can see all his rolls on his ultrasound haha so I guess having a cuddly chubster will be worth it !

Mommaswizz

I can understand the feeling scared but everyone always says that big babies sleep better cause they can fill up more when they eat. Think positive and don't stress!

jessicarae0316

mamameghan said:

I'm just going to put out there that pushing a baby out hurts. Like hell. Whether it's 6 pounds or 8....it just hurts. I truely don't mean to be a downer just want to let you know that it won't matter how big your baby is. It's just going to hurt!

But chubby babies are sooooo cute. Maybe you'll have a sweet little chubster who's cuddly and soft!

Ummm....not to scare the OP, but having a bigger baby can hurt worse and it does matter.

lindsladle15

True, it probably can hurt more to have a bigger baby, but as with everything.... everyone, their bodies, and their babies are different. Perhaps some big babies can squish and mold better than even a tiny baby!
DD was 6lb exactly, and she gave me a heck of a tear! Must've had (still does!) quite a hard head

47923ang

jessicarae0316 said:

mamameghan said:

I'm just going to put out there that pushing a baby out hurts. Like hell. Whether it's 6 pounds or 8....it just hurts. I truely don't mean to be a downer just want to let you know that it won't matter how big your baby is. It's just going to hurt!

But chubby babies are sooooo cute. Maybe you'll have a sweet little chubster who's cuddly and soft!

Ummm....not to scare the OP, but having a bigger baby can hurt worse and it does matter.

Yeah, but as a FTM, she won't know the difference between a 6 pounder and an 8 pounder. Either one will hurt, but unless she's birthed a 6 pounder before, she'll have no frame of reference for comparison.

kailanick

I have heard that smaller babies are harder to push out, because there is less for the uterus to grab on to. I am measuring a small baby, so I hope it's not true, but maybe it will give you some comfort and hope that your uterus can work more effectively! Good luck!

HayesRN13

^^ no

MrsS728

I had my daughter at 40+2 and an ultrasound at 40+1. They estimated her birth weight to be 7 pounds 2 ounces. We laughed because both my husband and I were well over 8 pounds when we were born and both our families have big big babies (9+). She weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce.  

Westypet

Why is it that babies weighing 8 pounds or more are described as "huge" and make people gasp in surprise?

What is the average-sized newborn anyway?? Doesn't it depend on family history and randomness?

People tell me "oh, don't worry, he's measuring 5.5lbs now, and he won't be bigger than 7 by the time he's born! He'll be a normal baby."

I hate that. If I have a 8.5lb baby or a 9lb baby, it isn't normal??

karaelaine1991

Westypet said:

Why is it that babies weighing 8 pounds or more are described as "huge" and make people gasp in surprise? What is the average-sized newborn anyway?? Doesn't it depend on family history and randomness? People tell me "oh, don't worry, he's measuring 5.5lbs now, and he won't be bigger than 7 by the time he's born! He'll be a normal baby." I hate that. If I have a 8.5lb baby or a 9lb baby, it isn't normal??

Apparently by "normal" standards, the majority of babies in my family were destined to be giants... interesting, considering how my 10lb12oz baby brother grew up to be around 5'11", 170lbs - tall, but giant? I think not

house86

I pushed 2 almost 8 pounders out and it was nothing, didn't hurt at all

virginiaunicorn11

Really wish I hadn't clicked this thread...!!!!

mccall35

Just keep in mind that babies come in all shapes and sizes. DS was 8.5, but he was also 22inches long. A freaking string bean.

Now mind you, I ended up with an emergency csection (not size related), so I didn't have to push him out, but I would imagine that it wouldn't have been any worse than pushing out a 7lb 17inch porker.

Head and shoulder circumference Is what people should shutter at.

lovethatcolosun

I had an 8#13oz baby the first time. It hurt, but after his head came out the rest was a breeze. Fat is squishy, the head is the hard part (literally)! :-j

jessicarae0316

My first was 9.8 and my second was 7.10. There was a huge difference in experiences. The first I pushed for two hours, she was delivered with the help of forceps, a pretty nasty episiotomy, and hemmorrhaged after (all med free, because I wanted a "natural" birth). My second one I pushed for 7 minutes with no complications.

Anything under 9 lbs seems little after that though!

mamameghan

There's just no point in freaking put about the size of the baby. There's nothing you can do about it! It's going to hurt either way. It's worse if you have a sunny side up baby or breech baby. Just because you have a 6 pounder doesn't mean you'll push for less time or have less tearing. My first was 10.6 and I only pushed for 90 mins (perfectly normal for a first timer) and I had minimal tearing!

Labour doesn't last forever. Just focus on baby being out instead of worrying about the size

lwhrmomma

When I went for my 36 week ultrasound, our big guy was already measuring at 7 lbs 14 oz. I had him at exactly 38 weeks and he was 8 lbs 11 oz. I'm a FTM so I have no frame of reference, but it really wasn't so bad-- the epidural made everything painless.
I had very little tearing and at 6 days PP feel great.

Don't stress about the size- focus on the bundle of joy that you get to hold at the end of it all. Good luck!

laurendutch

I think I would be more concerned with head size than weight

gaylew5

Bigger babies run in my family too.  At my 36 week sono baby measured 6 lbs 13 0z.  I like chubby, healthy babies.  But I'm hoping mine ends up in the 7-8 lb range because i plan on going natural and today I saw 2 episiotomies and a few c-sections from "large for gestational age" babies... all of whom ended up only being 9 lbs.  (I'm rotating on NICU this month)

HayesRN13

Yea.. It's so funny that weight and "big babies" seems to be so important... What's the first question everyone asks? "How much does he weigh?!" .. I always love to stomp this because my hospital is baby friendly and babe doesn't leave moms chest for at least an hour and a half so when people ask I quickly remind them "we won't know for a while".. It really seems to bother family members for some reason.. plus over 4000gms they need to get poked for blood sugar monitoring, etc. the bigger the baby does not mean the healthier (I do love chubby 8 pounders, which is looking like this LO will be.. As long as he is under 8 13oz so he's not considered actually LGA (large for gestational age) and they have to follow a different protocol and has to be poked and monitored .. No thanks