Belly height?

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

Hey ladies! Has your OB been measuring your bellies(fundal height) ? I am suppose to be almost 38 weeks and whenever he measures, he says my measurements look fine, but my husband measured me last night, and I was barely at 35 centimeters. My DS was a week late, so I am sure my DD will be as well. Just wondering what your numbers looked like, I am 5'3 and weight 150 now, so I feel and look HUGE! It seems strange I would be measuring on the small side, and they did an u/s at 7 weeks and 20 weeks and they still all agree with a march 4 EDD...thoughts?

karacakes98 · February 2014

My thoughts? Your doctor knows more than you.

AriaAmante143 · February 2014

I've never understood fundal height measurements. My Dr doesn't even do them. Your dating ultrasound is much more accurate.

rockopera · February 2014

5'3" and 150? Holy crap. You ARE huge.

I'm too speechless at finding that out, the first time we meet, to add any other advice. Except, yeah...good thing your husband is better trained with a measuring tape than your OB. Thank god for that.

aLsMay24 · February 2014

If your doctor isn't concerned why did you have your husband measure? Are you sure he was measuring at the proper spots? I would not worry and since you are so far along you will have another appt. this week and you can ask your doctor this then.

amdecker1016 · February 2014

sebullows · February 2014

I bet your husband could give you a more accurate cervical check too.

laurenann89 · February 2014

From what I've been told by my doctor, if you measure more than 2 cm off the week you are supposed to be at, they will have an ultrasound done to measure your baby's size. I actually had to have one because my fundal height was just under 2 cm from where it should be. This being said, your doctor does know best, so if he's not concerned, I wouldn't be either. Fundal height measurements are tentative at best, and not very accurate. They're more for flagging extreme cases. Of course, size ultrasounds aren't always accurate either. It's a tricky business.

I should add, even though my fundal height was measuring small, my baby boy is measuring 8 days larger than where I'm 'supposed' to be via the size ultrasound. Some people carry their babies differently and how the baby is positioned can make a difference too. How good of a job the doctor does measuring can also change the outcome of your fundal height measurements. They're supposed to locate the top of your uterus and measure from your pubic bone to there. I've noticed no doctor or midwife has wanted to really poke around to find exactly where my pubic bone is located, so that has probably altered my measurements. Perhaps your husband, who is not a doctor I'm assuming, didn't measure correctly since locating the top of your uterus is usually a learned skill. Ask your doctor next time if you're concerned, but don't worry too much.

Edit: for clarity

sebullows · February 2014

My dr doesn't measure.. Bc it's just not accurate.. So for funsies I measured myself. At 30 weeks the tape measure said 41cm. I chuckled to myself and went to the kitchen to make dinner.

amholley1 · February 2014

I can't even.

CMheart1011 · February 2014

If your OB says you're fine, then you're fine.

amdecker1016 · February 2014

kirotea said:

amholley1 · February 2014

@amymheidecker you have been on a ROLL with the gifs today. I want to give you 5 gold stars. I mobile bump and so I have no gold stars to post.

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

Here is a pic, from just now! I think my post got a little misunderstood, mostly I just wondered what your measurements looked like so I could compare...I had my husband measure, out of curiosity, because someone asked, and I never asked my OB what the number was, just that I was measuring on track.

peachy0709 · February 2014

My head hurts.

AriaAmante143 · February 2014

kirotea said:

Lauraluv12 said:

Here is a pic, from just now! I think my post got a little misunderstood, mostly I just wondered what your measurements looked like so I could compare...I had my husband measure, out of curiosity, because someone asked, and I never asked my OB what the number was, just that I was measuring on track.

I think Louis C.K should interpret all of our emotions, all the time.

legallyginger · February 2014

FarmBoysWife said:

rockopera said:
5'3" and 150? Holy crap. You ARE huge.

I'm too speechless at finding that out, the first time we meet, to add any other advice. Except, yeah...good thing your husband is better trained with a measuring tape than your OB. Thank god for that.
I miss being 150. And I'm 5'3" does that mean in extra huge?

I'm 5'3" and I haven't seen 150 in a long, long time. I'm like ten categories up from huge.

Does this mean I should stop going to my OB and see my husband for all my doctor appointments instead?

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

Ok.....I seem to have upset a few ladies here, sorry for the misunderstanding!

saisongbird · February 2014

BINGO!!!!!

But only if we can do multi-thread bingo.

rockopera · February 2014

I am also 5'3". Maybe my problem is that I'm carrying 150 lb baby. I am measuring ahead, you know.

amdecker1016 · February 2014

We have officially hit bingo pizza time!

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

All I wanted to know was if, your OB measured your your belly height, and what your numbers looked like in correlation to your due date. I did not mean to cause such a stir, I thought this was the place to ask questions like this, but I guess not so much, haha.

htn1763 · February 2014

I'm pretty sure if my husband took my fundal height measurement it would be way off too. How about you stick with the one your OB did. They have been trained to do it.

I think that is the point your are missing here.

rockopera · February 2014

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=Fundal+height+chart

saisongbird · February 2014

Lauraluv12 said:

All I wanted to know was if, your OB measured your your belly height, and what your numbers looked like in correlation to your due date. I did not mean to cause such a stir, I thought this was the place to ask questions like this, but I guess not so much, haha.

I'll be nice for a moment and throw you a bone.

We aren't doctors. I've never had a fundal height measurement because my practice uses ultrasounds. And we have no clue who you are, and have had waaaaay too many drive-bys lately. We are not your personal google. Try becoming part of a community, and then maybe, just maybe, you might get questions answered. But we'd still say talk to your doctor, because we're not doctors. We're just pregnant.

Hdhtk4 · February 2014

I didn't understand the fundal height thing either as a FTM, so I asked my doctor. Just saying.

SurpriseAt39 · February 2014

Yup.
My doc measures it.
It measures 'just fine'.
Not always matching my weeks exactly, but close enough that there is no worry.

If it suddenly dropped a huge number or increased a huge number, there would be a concern.

Ask your doctor.

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

Well I suppose I walked right into that one, glad I could be your entertainment for the day. Sorry if I gave anyone a headache with my question, I had no idea these boards would be so harsh

saisongbird · February 2014

Lauraluv12 said:

Well I suppose I walked right into that one, glad I could be your entertainment for the day. Sorry if I gave anyone a headache with my question, I had no idea these boards would be so harsh

It's called lurking. Might want to try it.

saisongbird · February 2014

@bandteacher - it's why I called Bingo!

coreyeliz · February 2014

bandteacher said:

Lauraluv12 said:
Well I suppose I walked right into that one, glad I could be your entertainment for the day. Sorry if I gave anyone a headache with my question, I had no idea these boards would be so harsh
You'd be prepared for our response if you read anything on this board for the past week.

My thought exactly. It's all repeat, repeat, repeat and someone is surprised every time. Any March 2014 board you find right now will have been in existence for a while. Do some reading. See what it's like. At this point we're a community, not yahoo answers.

nickied143 · February 2014

Aw, did you really post a picture?! I wanna pat your head.

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

I suppose you girls are pretty tight, if you have been on here for a while, one of my friends told me about this, and said I should check it out. The picture was just so you could see my bump, not for measurements,my goodness i really did come across as a silly blonde! Again sorry for all the craziness this post ensued!

tsmith312 · February 2014

I can't .... Not anymore today ....

Zriseon3 · February 2014

Lauraluv12 said:
I suppose you girls are pretty tight, if you have been on here for a while, one of my friends told me about this, and said I should check it out. The picture was just so you could see my bump, not for measurements,my goodness i really did come across as a silly blonde! Again sorry for all the craziness this post ensued!

Here's the deal, I don't think your question was dumb at its core but when you come to the Internet asking strangers if your doctor is wrong then you have a problem. Ask your doctor next time. I mean if it was bothering you why not ask?
As for the actual question of fundal height, my doctor was checking until I hit 36 weeks. At this point she stopped and just started feeling the baby. According to my OB when I asked a while back she said fundal height should normally be 3cm more than the week you are on (example: 33weeks = 36cm). Make sense? But I would imagine once the baby drops that could change. Maybe that's why my OB doesn't measure anymore. I don't know. I don't really worry about these things unless my OB tells me to.

But in the future, ask your doctor first or head over to babyandbump. I think they like answering this crap over there.

Lauraluv12 · February 2014

I should have just simplified, and simply asked, does your OB measure your fundal height, and if so, did you measure small or large. I of course trust my doctor, just wondering if anyone here measured small or large

amandoza23 · February 2014

Lauraluv12 said:
I should have just simplified, and simply asked, does your OB measure your fundal height, and if so, did you measure small or large. I of course trust my doctor, just wondering if anyone here measured small or large

For me, I measured 34 cm at my appointment last Monday when I was 37 weeks. At 35 weeks I measured 36 cm. I had an u/s at 36+3 and baby was measuring a week ahead but only in the 27th percentile. According to my midwife everything is normal and our little girl is healthy which is all I care about.

[Deleted User] · February 2014

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KariB509 · February 2014

I don't understand why you'd trust your husband's measurements over your doctor's, who went to school for many years and did additional time to become a specialist in obstetrics.