What does a 10+ lb baby look like? - Page 3

[Vespertina]

Wow. It's cool to see all the size variations and how length can make baby not appear as big.

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

[Thandiwe]

My last baby was 11#2oz, 23.25 inches, had a head measurement of 15" and a chest measurement of 17". He was huge, squishy, and like a 3 mos old. Never fit newborn clothes. I remember one trait in particular stuck out; when he was on my chest for the first time, I tried moving him over and my hands were moving on his back. Turns out there was a thick fat layer on his back and the skin was moving back and forth w/o him moving! His face was so swollen and big, and his body was just huge!

Ironically, he's now my smallest, most petite child. Can eat anything/everything and looks like I don't feed him....

[Thandiwe]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

Personally for me, I felt huge as a house. But m/w kept guessing at 8/9 pound baby. It wasn't until last week of pg when another m/w measured me at 45 cm for 39 wks gest that I realized how huge I was and they started preparing me for a monstrous baby.

[ann_of_loxley]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Wow. It's cool to see all the size variations and how length can make baby not appear as big.

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

Nope. And they didn't either. It wasn't until after my waters broke and I was in labour that they also found out they didn't realise he was breech - once a scan confirmed he was 'complete breech' - the U/S Tech informed me he was 'big'.

[ishyfishie]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

Yes and no. Yes, we knew we'd have a big baby...the smallest baby I know of in my family was 7 lbs 14 oz and that was in the day of restricted weight gain during pregnancy, so the rest of the babies have been between like 8 lbs 12 oz and 10 lbs 1 oz (with my famed great-grandpa, who was 12 lbs). At 9 lbs 13 oz, my dd is the 5th biggest baby, with the top 4 in my generation (bro, BIL, my cousins).

Buuut...we were having extra sonos for GD (a vent on its own) and based on their weight estimates about 2.5 weeks before she was born and her growth patterns between sonos, she should have been just clearing 8 lbs at 38 weeks when she came. I didn't really trust it, but when the nurses kept saying, "WOW that is one big baby!" I just kept thinking, "Huh? She's probably only 8 lbs, that's not big!" I guess their estimates made an impression, but I wasn't REALLY expecting a baby under 9 lbs, lol.

[a-sorta-fairytale]

I knew my first would be big i am 60 inches tall and at 40 weeks i was 55 inches around. I looked ridiculous and even my mw kept saying "wow, if you hadnt had a u/s i would be sure you were having twins!"
I figured 10 lbs - i was VERY surprised when she was 12 pounds.

Ds, felt smaller because he barely moved at all - DD was a wild child and would move so much that you could identify the parts she was moving from the outside when i was only about 6 mths along. I actually had an extra U/S with ds because he was so mellow. I could shake my whole belly and he would just lay there.

I also had hyperemesis (sp?) with ds and so i thought he would be smaller then dd. But, even with only gaining 5 lbs he was 12lbs 2oz. And he was 10 days early then dd was.

[mama to 2 girls]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Wow. It's cool to see all the size variations and how length can make baby not appear as big.

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

Yeah, I am thinking ds was only 21" because he was pretty plump. ...and just for the heck of it...my niece was born at 8lbs. 6oz. which is not big by any means but not tiny either but she looked so teeny because she was in fact long, 23" at birth.

For me, kind of...for my m/w's I don't think so..... I could tell ds was going to be bigger than his sisters but I was expecting only a 9lber...my m/w's who I had to ask for a guess said around 8 1/2lbs..I tended to measure behind, I NEVER once measured ahead....although thinking back the student m/w I saw one time did tell me she thought he had a big head and it did end up being 15". My m/w I think was kind of shocked at how big he was. When he came out she said "Well! HELLO big boy!"

[BetsyS]

My first was 11 lb, 14 oz. I expected a 9 pounder, and my midwife later said that she was expecting a 10 pounder. I didn't even really need maternity clothes until 26 weeks. I'm really long waisted, though, so I can hide a lot of baby.

My second was SOOOOO much smaller. He was only 9 lb, 7 oz (I worked at it). I felt a lot better during that pregnancy, and I knew that he'd be a lot smaller than the first.

[emnic77]

Originally Posted by Semper Gumby

Wow. It's cool to see all the size variations and how length can make baby not appear as big.

Did you mamas think or suspect babe was going to be big?

I had an ultrasound a couple days before she was born to check fluid, as she was 10 days late...they estimated her at 9lbs and a few ounces.
The OB that was there when I delivered kept saying I was about to have a 6 pounder according to how she thought it "felt". She was wrong.

[Thandiwe]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

(I worked at it).

What do you mean? Interested because it wouldn't hurt my feelings to have a smaller baby this time. Since I wasn't properly stitched last time and things are just a wreck still (iykwim), I would think a smaller baby would sliiiiiiiiiide right out!

[bandgeek]

DD was 10 lbs 9 oz and had a small head, 13.25" I think. No shoulder measurement. In the NICU. At home at 11.5 lbs and 7 1/2 weeks.

[BetsyS]

Originally Posted by Thandiwe

What do you mean? Interested because it wouldn't hurt my feelings to have a smaller baby this time.

I read all I could get my hands on about baby size. For me, while I think that genetics play some role, I also think that I wasn't meant to always have 12 pound babies. A nice 9 or 10 pounder was more average in my family.

With my first (the big one), I didn't eat very well, I worked a stressful job in which I routinely was awake 24 hours, and I didn't have much energy for exercise. I also developed some up and down blood pressures the last 6 weeks or so, and I crazily upped my protein (trying to keep the pressures down).

So, with #2, I made sure that I slept better (easier to do, because I wasn't in that job anymore), I ate better (with #1, I probably ate fast food 3 times a week, so this wasn't that hard to do), I did eat protein, but I didn't go overboard, and the big thing... I exercised! Now, I'm not an exerciser by nature. I'm just not. I don't like any part of it. LOL. But, 5 days a week, in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, I exercised for 30 minutes.

I think that it made a big difference for me.

[a-sorta-fairytale]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

I read all I could get my hands on about baby size. For me, while I think that genetics play some role, I also think that I wasn't meant to always have 12 pound babies. A nice 9 or 10 pounder was more average in my family.

With my first (the big one), I didn't eat very well, I worked a stressful job in which I routinely was awake 24 hours, and I didn't have much energy for exercise. I also developed some up and down blood pressures the last 6 weeks or so, and I crazily upped my protein (trying to keep the pressures down).

So, with #2, I made sure that I slept better (easier to do, because I wasn't in that job anymore), I ate better (with #1, I probably ate fast food 3 times a week, so this wasn't that hard to do), I did eat protein, but I didn't go overboard, and the big thing... I exercised! Now, I'm not an exerciser by nature. I'm just not. I don't like any part of it. LOL. But, 5 days a week, in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters, I exercised for 30 minutes.

I think that it made a big difference for me.

Interesting. I was kinda hoping my first 12 pounder was a fluke ( as was my mother and midwife )
With her i was 10 days "overdue", ate super duper healthy, had zero stress, exercised, and gained 30 lbs. She was 12 lbs even - 24 inches
With #2 I was so sick that i barely ate anything, layed in bed when i could, had dd to chase after, had him on my due date, and gained 5 lbs. He was 12lbs 2oz - 23 inches

It was hard on my short 5ft body to carry 23 and 24 inch long babies that were 12 lbs+ and they both had 16inch heads. I just now know that barring something really really wrong that is what i will have. This plays a part in us only having the 2 kids.