Any hope for me?

nlvaden · February 2011

I know I am crazy for thinking this, so humor me. I was in labor (induced on pit) for 48 hours that ended in a c/s with my daughter. Born 9lbs 5 ounces. Doc said that no wonder she couldn't come out on her own being that my pelvis would only fit a 7 1/2lb MAX sized baby out.

Any stories of you all having a big baby the first time and a smaller one the second time?

MAprincess · February 2011

DS was 10 lbs, 2 oz and DD (my VBAC) was 8 lbs, 5 oz.

That said, there is NO way your doctor can guess what size baby you can fit out. Even if you did have a smaller pelvis, there is still a big difference between a baby that is 7 lbs and 22 inches long and one who is 18 inches long, or small head/large head. I try not to side-eye any doctor that presumes to guess the size of a baby that a woman can have when our bodies are built for it. Now, if he diagnoses you with some sort of abnormality that precludes you from giving birth vaginally then that is another matter.

papagena · February 2011

Ditto pp - it's incredibly hard to truly diagnose if someone's pelvis can fit a certain sized baby or not - measurements taken from internals, etc have been found not to really be enough to accurately predict that. Often, babies that 'don't fit' also have a non-ideal presentation that makes it more difficult for them to get out. There are so many factors - women diagnosed with CPD (pelvis being too small for their baby to get out) go on to have about a 60% or so VBAC rate, often with larger babies. There is plenty of hope!

babyike · February 2011

8/2008 DD was 7 lbs, 1 oz delivered via c/s (my OB said she was malpositioned and that my pelvis was too small)

12/2010 DS was 8 lbs, 2 oz born vaginally - guess my OB was wrong Smile

An OB cannot tell you if your pelvis is too small without diagnostic imaging (x-ray, MRI etc). And honestly the condition of having a smaller than average size pelvis is exceptionally rare. It seems to be a "catch-all" when babies don't descend on the OB's preferred timeline IMO.

nlvaden · February 2011

Thank you for posting! It makes me feel better. I have hope now!

userdeleted · February 2011

MAprincess:
DS was 10 lbs, 2 oz and DD (my VBAC) was 8 lbs, 5 oz.

That said, there is NO way your doctor can guess what size baby you can fit out. Even if you did have a smaller pelvis, there is still a big difference between a baby that is 7 lbs and 22 inches long and one who is 18 inches long, or small head/large head. I try not to side-eye any doctor that presumes to guess the size of a baby that a woman can have when our bodies are built for it. Now, if he diagnoses you with some sort of abnormality that precludes you from giving birth vaginally then that is another matter.

This, except I do side eye a doctor that say something like that. Big time. I think there is no reason to believe you don't have hope, but if you do want to try for a VBAC I would definitely be looking for a different provider. Best of luck!

nlvaden · February 2011

Rach03k:
MAprincess:

DS was 10 lbs, 2 oz and DD (my VBAC) was 8 lbs, 5 oz.

That said, there is NO way your doctor can guess what size baby you can fit out. Even if you did have a smaller pelvis, there is still a big difference between a baby that is 7 lbs and 22 inches long and one who is 18 inches long, or small head/large head. I try not to side-eye any doctor that presumes to guess the size of a baby that a woman can have when our bodies are built for it. Now, if he diagnoses you with some sort of abnormality that precludes you from giving birth vaginally then that is another matter.

This, except I do side eye a doctor that say something like that. Big time. I think there is no reason to believe you don't have hope, but if you do want to try for a VBAC I would definitely be looking for a different provider. Best of luck!

My doctor will let me try for a vbac, providing I go into labor on my own. She is having me set my c/s date on my due date to give me a chance. She also laughed when I said that I hoped to have a smaller child so it might be a posibility.

akbride25 · February 2011

DS was 8 lbs 1 oz, but DD was 6 lbs. 1 oz. They were both born right by their due dates. I was able to have DS vaginally, but DD was born by c/s for FTP. The thing I have learned is that doctors will never know for sure until delivery. If DD had come first, I'm sure they would have told me that I could never deliver an 8 lb. baby.

lorryfach · February 2011

nlvaden:

My doctor will let me try for a vbac, providing I go into labor on my own. She is having me set my c/s date on my due date to give me a chance. She also laughed when I said that I hoped to have a smaller child so it might be a posibility.

That is not giving you much of a chance. Most women go past their due date. Is there any reason to think that you will go before your due date? More importantly, is there any reason to think going past your due date would be risky? Or did your doctor pull that date out of the air (the same place it seems she got your small pelvis diagnosis)? Why is she laughing at you?

It's not too late to find someone else.

mrsaortiz · February 2011

My first baby was 9lbs 5 oz and ended up being delivered via c-section. My second was only 7 lbs 12 oz, born C-section (but only because I chickened out and scheduled it.) I know many people that had big babies first and then average size or smaller next. Unfortunately, you can't really predict it. Doctors never seem to be accurate on the predicted size. I was told my first baby was no more than 7 lbs and that was off by over 2 lbs. Many other friends were told 9 lbs plus and had babies 7lbs or less. Good luck:)

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