Any full term low birth weight mommies out there?

keregirl · October 2015

My daughter was two months yesterday. We had our two month pediatrician appointment today. At birth, my Ilona was 4#15 oz. Now she is 6#9 oz. When I was pregnant, I always measured several weeks behind, but she measured normal by US. She was not a preemie, was born at 39 weeks and 3 days; induced due to low amniotic fluid levels. There is a chance that she had a placental insufficiency, but she was a very active fetus and measured normal, so it was never diagnosed in utero. My problem is I feel judged on a regular basis for her small size. I struggle because I am acutely aware that in both pregnancy and infancy she is completely dependent upon me to meet her needs. She is happy and meets her developmental milestones, but she is in the 0 percentile. I perceive judgement in people's questions and statements and it hurts. We have struggled with severe reflux called Sandifer Syndrome. Initially, she spit up large volumes of each feed. Do any other mommies out there have very small full gestation LOs? I feel that if she was a preemie, people would be more understanding and less judgmental of her small size.

prhernandez09 · October 2015

With my daughter i went through this, i was 39 weeks and she was 5'7 born via c section. Everyone laughed at how big my belly was and how little the baby was. I felt horrible. In sure your baby is just fine and beautiful, my daughter is 3 now and doing just fine

kveeh84 · October 2015

I had a small placenta and my baby was born a week early and weighed 5lbs 13oz. Growing big and weighs almost 10 now at 2 months. I don't care about what people assume, they have no idea the scary experience we went through and my Dr said there was no reasoning behind my small placenta.

lovelylisa2191 · October 2015

No one ever mentioned anything about me having an placental issues or any reasons my son was small. Nor has anyone expressed any concerns about my los size however i feel like i fall into thia category. My son was born 6lb 3oz went home at 5lbs 8oz. He was born 39 and 1. He's 8 weeks and 5 days now and is 9lbs 2 oz. During my pregnancy at all of my ultrasounds they told me he was measuring right on time. Should I be more concerned?

brinbri · October 2015

This was my third small baby, but my smallest. Born 38 weeks at 4lbs9oz. He is 7 weeks and I am guessing 8-9 lbs. He finally fits into newborn clothes this week! I stayed really small with this pregnancy, and got a lot of comments about how small I was and how nice it must be even though I was still miserable and felt huge. I didn't like it especially since we were high risk, its stressful and there was nothing I could do about it. I feel bad for my babies as they come out all skin and bones with no fat and then immediately latch on and nurse and gain a ton of weight like they were starving but they are strong and healthy otherwise and I have no control over how my body grows them. People don't understand the whole situation so they comment without thinking about it. I would just keep on doing what you are doing and not worry about others!

Edited to say: they never caught it with my first he was born 5lbs13oz. But with my second she measured small at 20 wweek so we had extra monitoring throughout and she was 5llbs when she was born. With baby 3 we got extra monitoring just because of history sobwe knew all along he was going to be small.

laurenashleyy · October 2015

I was diagnosed with IUGR. My LO was born at 5 lbs 14 ounces at 39 weeks 3 days. They never seemed to find an issue with my placenta, however I had gastric bypass two years ago and the concensus of my docs was that my malabsorbition of nutrients was affecting him.
He's thriving now, surpassed his birth weight and is up to about 8 lbs at 5 weeks, but everyone comments on how small he is!! I hate taking him out in public because I feel like everyone thinks I'm a nut with a brand spanking new baby in the store.

princesslockness · October 2015

Induced at 39.4 for pre e. LO was 6lb 6oz. Went home at 5lb8oz. He was in the 5th percentile. At 18 days he still wasn't up to birth weight. Yesterday at 9 weeks he was 9lbs 10oz and is up to 80th percentile. It took awhile to catchup, but we made it and people still call him tiny whenever they see him.

klirwin82 · October 2015

Lurking from July...my LO was born via scheduled c-section at exactly 38 weeks, 5lbs 4oz. We were shocked because they estimated him at 7.5 lbs. He's gained 2 lbs/month so far and tomorrow at his 3 month checkup I hope he's 11lbs. Everyone remarks on how small he is but it doesn't bother me, he's just that much cuter! Never got an diagnosis of anything wrong with the placenta, I wish I knew why he came out so small though. Love my tiny baby!!

keregirl · October 2015

Thanks Ladies. You make me feel better. I know my baby is happy and healthy. I know I never intentionally did anything while pregnant to hurt her (ex. Dieting, smoking, etc.), but people come across as so judgmental and it hurts sometimes. One sister in law even revered to her as a "concentration camp baby." Yesterday, she had gained 14 oz. in 15 days at her two month pediatrician appointment but my joy was overshadowed by the realization that she is still in the 0 percentile and now is only just the size a newborn should be at two months. It just helps, I think knowing there are other women out there with small healthy LOs that understand the struggle I am going through.

squigles28 · October 2015

Me too! I had gestational diabetes so everyone kept saying she was going to be a big baby. And she was born at 5 pounds 7 oz. I had someone yell at me for taking my baby to the store on the way home from the hospital yesterday!
She's growing not sure of exact weight now, next checkup at end of the month.
My Dr actually forgets that she isn't a preemie and will make a comment about this or that in preemies.
All I know is my husband keeps telling me, someone has to be at the bottom of the growth chart. And she is growing beautifully

lilies4 · October 2015

My first born was born at 38w6d and his weight was 6 lbs. We later noticed that my placenta was small so we figured his low birth weight was to blame for that. He always measured normal during my pregnancy. Up till now he has always fallen into the low percentage for weight but I wasn't too concerned since he was eating, had regular wet diapers and would grow in height. I didn't let myself influence by the standards of the chart, since he doubled his birth weight by 5 months and tripled at 11 months. Totally within the norm of his first year growth expectations.

Nita13ugg · October 2015

My baby girl was born at 7 lbs 9 oz at 41 weeks. We just had her 2 month checkup on Wednesday and they said she was just over 9 lbs and is in the 5 percentile for her weight. But she's 22.25" long, so she's in the 30 percentile, but everyone still comments how small she is. She seems very happy, though. She smiles a lot & even giggles. Doc says we should feed her more at each feeding, but she normally stops and gets fussy if we go past 4 oz. Then doc said we should feed her more often, but she won't eat more often. Not sure what to do, but I don't really feel like she's too small. :-S

samathorn · October 2015

Our boy was 5lbs 6 oz born after an induction at 38 weeks. Doc wanted to take him because he was measuring so small but turned out that he was even smaller than they thought! First few weeks were tough with feedings-we can to supplement for a long time, but he's nearly 2 months now and I think pretty close to 10lbs! We will see in a week!! Ain't nothing wrong with a small kid

mlindon · October 2015

I run in to similar issues with people thinking LO is a new born at 8 wks. I also had gastric bypass but about five years ago. LO was early by 4 weeks and weighed 5lb 5 oz. people look at me like in crazy when I tell them she's two months but she's growing and gaining well now.

Sangeeta2015 · October 2015

My LO was born at 38.5 weighing 6 lbs. They had estimated he'd be 6.5-7 lbs at 40 weeks and my husband and I were both born on the smaller side so I was not super concerned. However, since then I have been driven crazy by people's comments about how small he is. At his 2 month check up he weighed almost 9 lbs. I have become super sensitive about his weight and am always worried that my breast milk is not providing him with the right nutrition. However he seems to be growing and meeting his developmental milestones so his ped is not concerned. Wish people would just shut up with their comments though.

kettlekitten · October 2015

You can't change what people say to you, but you can change how you respond. It actually does not matter what people say - It really doesn't. What matters is that you are doing your best by that baby. Try to let it wash over you. Often people don't realise what they say can be hurtful. If you think something is offensive, say 'well actually she had undiagnosed health issues in utero but thanks to all my hard work she's growing nicely now.' That should shut them up!

maisymouse87 · October 2015

I'm so glad someone has started this post. My baby was bang on time to due date 10 weeks ago but was 5 lb 3 ounces. We both had to stay in hospital for 3 days as she is considered small for gestational age in the UK. She was measuring fine all throughout pregnancy though so her size was a shock. I too suffer guilt as though I must have done something wrong... Noone in the hospital offered me any kind of explanation about her size, they just kept us in to make sure she feeds ok so I am left wondering what went wrong! Did I eat the wrong things? Did I not eat or drink enough? Did I not do enough exercise? All sorts of silly questions! Now I am worried that my placenta was failing and nobody knew... What if I almost lost my little girl and had no idea? Yikes. Anyway, I will no doubt worry throughout my next pregnancy!

roonarpia+1 · October 2015

My son was born 8 weeks ago and he was 6# 1oz, my smallest by far. He was my 5th and my second VBAC (both my vbacs were on the small size, not sure why) but now at 8 weeks he is almost 11 pounds. Please don't feel like it is anything you did, believe me, every pregnancy is different and every baby is different. It is nothing you did, just ignore everyone else!

I can tell you I was the most healthy this pregnancy and he was just small, only born a week early. I was very poor with my second and had horrible nutrition and she was biggest at almost 8 pounds, so clearly it can vary for no reason at all.

samathorn · October 2015

Yeah, don't sweat what people say. They have no idea how hurtful their words are. You know your baby is healthy and that's what matters! What killed me was the doctor scratching his head over DS's size and constantly asking me to confirm I had not been smoking. So frustrating!

jennsammut · October 2015

Lurking from September ... My daughter was born at 6 pounds by emergency c section. She is now a month old and 6 pounds 11 oz. I worry about her size but she's healthy and happy so far

myjohnsonboys · November 2015

My DS was born at 39 weeks and was 5lbs11oz. This was my first experience with a smaller baby as my other boys were between 7-8lbs at birth. At our one month visit he was up to 7lbs so I'm guessing he'll be at 9-10 lbs for his 2 month visit. He does seem so tiny compared to other babies especilly when you hear moms saying their babies were 14, 16, or even 20lbs at 2 months. I look at it this way babies are just little people who also come in various sizes. As long as baby is heathy and eating well I would not worry and try not to compare. He/she will eventually catch up or not and that's fine as well.

banfrog · November 2015

My LOs all were late preterm, so they weren't premature but weren't quite full term. They all were on the smallish side. They all stayed on the smallish side until they were 6 months and then they made gains. Now I get the opposite problem. My 20 month old is the size of a 4 year old, my 3 year old is the size of a 5 year old, and my 4 year old is the size of an 8 year old. My older two have sensory issues, so that makes it even harder. My kids get judged by adults and kids because they think they are severely developmentally delayed. I have been places where other kids refused to play with my kids because they thought my kids talk funny, or other parents not letting their kids play with mine because they thought they were older kids that were "slow". I try not to let it bother me, it's getting hard though, my kids are getting more aware of it and the social/emotional toll it takes on them is heartbreaking.

Maggies0670 · November 2015

My baby was born by c section at 39 weeks. She was 5 lbs 12 oz. They considered her small for gestational age. Nurses seemed a little concerned at first. They sent my placenta in for testing and it was completely normal. I was surprised cause we are not small I'm 5'10 and hubby is 6'2. We just had a tiny baby but she is perfectly healthy. She had low blood sugar and jaundice at birth but other than that she was fine. I think some people just have small babies. It worried me for a while though. By her 2 month appt she's no longer considered small.for gestational age. She was in the 3rd percentile now in the 10th.

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Any full term low birth weight mommies out there?

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