big baby birth stories

[sanguine_speed]

[micah_mae_]

Name: Corbin Micheal Anderson
Birth Date: November 25, 2008
Weight: 10 lbs, 6.5 oz
Length: 21 in


How it Began
When I woke up the morning of the 25th, I did not feel different. No contractions and no sign of Corbin coming any time soon. I was 5 days “overdue” and I wasn’t uncomfortable in the least! I had an appointment at the radiology building to have an ultrasound to measure amniotic fluid. While we were there they estimated Corbin to be 9 lbs 4 oz. “Wow”, I thought, “that’s a good sized baby!” I had no idea! After that we went to the birth center to do a NST to make sure Corbin was ok. He looked good so we went ahead for our appointment.
One of my midwives checked me and told me I was about 5 cm! I was in awe! How could I be that open and not in labor? My midwife offered to break my water since it seemed all my body needed was a kick-start. I was hesitant but anxious to meet my baby. My mom was pressuring me to do it since she could only stay for 2 weeks and she wanted to see the baby as long as possible. So I agreed.
We went home to get everything together. We had a bag with a change of clothes for Brandon and me, the diaper bag and a bag of snack food (which was not touched). We got back to the birth center at about 1:30 pm to break my water. Around 2:00 pm another one of the midwives broke my water and sent me out to walk. It only took until about 2:30 pm for me to be in full blown labor!
Early Labor
I labored alone in the shower for the first part of my labor. I don’t remember what those contractions felt like. I kept having the urge to pee and when I tried to it would bring on a contraction. I was hanging on the top of the shower and swaying back in forth with the water as hot as I could get it on my back. I was coping well, but I was restless with the back labor.
I started to get a bit anxious for my husband, but I didn’t want to appear weak so I waited until a contraction ended before I opened the door and said, “Brandon? Can you come here?” It was about 3:15 pm at that point. I got out of the shower and started walking around, leaning over the bed, stomping my feet, swaying, and rocking. I was just trying to get through each contraction. I started to get very anxious and scared because I felt like I couldn’t get on top of them. Brandon tried counter pressure with a hot rice sock, but it was too much for me.
My labor was flying by and I stopped getting any breaks between the contractions. It really felt like one 1.5 hour contraction. It was very intense and I was vocalizing a lot. I asked to get in the tub at this point but it hadn’t been sanitized from the last birth yet! That was so incredibly stressful! I finally got in the tub on my hands and knees at about 3:45 pm.
Brandon was great the whole time! He was pouring water over my back and encouraging me. I remember yelling at him because he was taking too long to refill the bucket between pouring them over me. He then started warning me when the water was about to run out and he refilled it fast. I was writhing and moaning/screaming with every contraction. I was looking for something to bite down on. I started biting his arm but went to a bath pillow when I realized that I could really hurt him.
Transition
Around 4:15 pm I was to my breaking point. I was crying between contractions because I just did not want to do this anymore. I was begging for drugs at this point, I started begging for something to take the edge off.
I was moaning “poison, poison, poison” between contractions. That was our codeword for when I was giving up and wanted drugs. Of course it didn’t really matter since they don’t offer drugs at the birth center but it made me feel better. Once I started saying that he asked the nurse if there was anything they could do for me. “No, there’s nothing that would help in time anyway. Why don’t we do a vaginal exam to see how far along you are?” I agreed.
The midwife checked me around 4:30 pm and told me I was 9.5 cm! I was still on my hands and knees. As the midwife was walking out of the room I yelled “I’m pushing!”
Pushing
I HATED pushing. I did not like the sensation of my body pushing without my consent! I was still not getting breaks between contractions and now I was having pressure, burning, back labor and contractions with no break!
I pushed on my hands and knees until around 5:30 pm. The nurse had been suggesting that I move to the toilet to push, but I politely ignored her. Since it had been an hour though, I agreed to turn over into a reclined/semi sitting position. I did not want to move, but I did anyway. Brandon started rubbing my shoulders and my chest at this point and the nurse was pouring water on my belly. I never thought of myself as that woman who screams in labor. But let me tell you, during pushing I was very loud. I couldn’t control it! I tried so hard not to push because it hurt so much. But I remember the nurse saying that I had some good “separation” happening so I felt a little more motivated to push.
At some point the nurse said that I could try to feel his head if I wanted to. So I put my hand down there and there he was. About an inch or two inside was this squishy little person, which gave me hope that the end was near. A little while later the nurse said that he had black hair! I was excited now that she could even see hair! I started pushing even harder at that point. I tried to get 3 pushes in each contraction. The first one I never felt him move much, the second I felt him moving a little and the third was when I always felt the most progress. It hurt so bad though that I often stopped before the contraction was over and just screamed through the rest.
Birth
The nurse asked if I wanted someone to take pictures of the birth. I kept saying “no” over and over. I regret that so much. I really wish I had pictures. During one contraction the midwife started telling me to push through the pain and push through the ring of fire. But, I was in so much pain that I didn’t even know what she was talking about! When his head finally came out, I didn’t even notice! The nurse told me to push for the shoulders and I was confused! I had to ask if his head was really out. Everyone laughed and said yes.
The midwife was freaking out a little bit though and told me to push harder so I did. I heard her tell the nurse that there was a Nuchal situation (when the baby is born with its hand up by its face). That explained the back labor! Sometimes with Nuchal arms, the shoulders get stuck (explaining why the midwife was in such a hurry to get his shoulders out), but I was able to push the shoulders out with no problem. As he moved down though, I could feel him moving my pelvic bones and my hips apart. That was awful!
When he was halfway out I instinctively reached down, grabbed him and pulled/pushed him the rest of the way out. Brandon said I pushed the midwife’s hands away to grab him but I don’t remember doing that. I could hear Brandon laughing with joy and saying “Baby!” over and over again. I pulled Corbin onto my chest and started rubbing him and talking to him. He didn’t cry right away, it was a few minutes before he did. I remember being a little worried about it, but he was ok. His little face was so bruised and swollen. He had two black eyes, his whole head was a bruise and his nose was crooked. Since he came out with his hand by his head, the left side of his face was more swollen than the other side so it was hard for him to latch for a while. He was just pitiful looking.
Those First Few Hours
Later we put a few pieces of gauze soaked in arnica on his head under a hat. Arnica is like homeopathic aspirin. You can buy it in a pill, a gel or a powder. This was powder dissolved in some water that we used. The bruising on his head went away in a few hours!
To be honest, I was more relieved that labor was over than I was excited to have a baby. I felt guilty about that at first because the pain of having him affected my initial bonding with him. I learned that that was a normal response though and we bonded quickly in the next few hours. He had a very short cord so we only left him attached for a little while. Brandon cut the cord and took him so I could concentrate on delivering the placenta. I stayed in the tub to deliver it, and I’m glad I did!
When my midwife told me to give a little push to get it out, there was an explosion of blood! It sprayed all over the tub like an 80’s slasher movie (without the bad music)! My midwife said, “Damn that was…interesting.” After that though, the placenta came out with no problem. The midwife took it into the other room and came back to rinse the blood off of me and help me out.
When I went to get up I almost passed out because I literally couldn't breathe. They put smelling salts under my nose and that perked me up enough to get to the bed. Later they figured out that I had anemia due to blood loss, which was causing tachycardia when I stood. I remember the nurse saying, "Good, your heart rate is getting below 180." The tachycardia issues lasted a few days.
When they checked me they said I had 2 very superficial tears on either side of my labia. She wanted to go ahead and stitch me to avoid the possibility of them healing together so I got 2 stitches! She also decided that I was passing way too many blood clots so she manually got the rest of them out. Can we say “ow”? I was yelling and squeezing the nurse’s hand so hard!
I tried to take a nap for a few hours, but ultimately I just laid in the dark. I was thinking about what had just happened, my life as a mother, etc. When it became clear that I couldn’t sleep, I tried to take a shower. It didn’t work though due to the tachycardia. It made it to where I couldn’t breathe, so I just shampooed my hair once before the nurse had to help me back to bed.
Breastfeeding and Beyond
For a while we had some issues with his latch. This was due both to his severe bruising and because my nipples were flat. The nurse got us a nipple shield, which helped immensely. We only needed it for about 12 hours though! He has been addicted to the boob ever since.
About 9 hours after he was born, we were on our way home. By that time I had already decided that I still want 4 or 5 more kids and I had bonded with Corbin. I love him so much! I had a little PTSD because of the pain, but I realize now that there were many factors that led to the extreme pain: AROM, big baby, precipitous birth, nuchal hand, back labor, etc. So now, about8 months later, I’ve come to terms with it. My drug-free water birth was so empowering, I feel like I can do anything now! I will definitely do it again and again. I can’t believe that I birthed a 10 lb 6.5 oz baby with a nuchal arm and only got 2 stitches that I could have done without!

[smpayne]

My ds#2 was 9lb 13oz, not quite 10lb but close.

Ds#1 was only 7lb10oz 40wks. My water broke around 7am, looking back, I should have waited to head to the hospital, but my small apt was packed with in-laws (I couldn't get out of there fast enough). They gave me 2 doses of Pit, and 2 doses of Nubain (for pain). The nurses had me pushing for about 2 hrs and there was the definitely the "ring of fire". They did an episiotomy and ds#1 was born just after midnight. He is now almost 15.

Ds#2 weighed in at 9lb13oz 41wks. Water broke around 10pm (I don't even know I'm in labor until my water breaks). Becasue he was so big and at 41 wks, my water just trickled out (not the big gush I had with #1), it took me a while to figure out what was happening. I wandered around the house for an hour, then woke dh to tell him, he rolled over and went back to sleep saying "we have plenty of time". Around 12:30am I finally insisted on going to the hospital, by the time we got there and got a room, it was around 12:50am. Ds#2 was born about 1:15am with only 3 pushes, no episiotomy, no tearing, no Pit, no "ring of fire", just one does of Nubain (probably didn't even need it, but I remembered #1). He is now 10, and much taller than his brother ever was at that age.

Ds#2 has much narrower shoulders and a narrower head than his older brother, this probably made a difference in making the birth easier, as well as he was #2 and my body streached much easier. The nurses kinda freaked out when I stood up and they realized I was only 5'3" with such a big baby. They immediately tested both of us for diabetes, which was negative both times (I am/was overweight).

My big baby was a piece of cake to deliver and he nursed great also. BF ds#1 was a disaster. I wouldn't let the idea of a big baby worry you too much. My SIL had a 10+ her first time (32hr all natural labor), her others were around 8lbs.

[sanguine_speed]

Thanks for sharing your stories!

[savithny]

Two "big" babies -- but note that I am 5'10" with very wide hips. After #2, the midwife said she thought I'd have no problem with an 11-pounder.

#1 was 8#14oz, born at 40 weeks exactly. I got to the hospital around 11am and was gauged to be at about 5 cms. Spent some time in the tub before I got out and paced around a bunch and didn't want to get back in, which turned out to be transition. Water broke while I was on the toilet and contractions changed from being waves of pain and cramping across my lower back to being waves of the urge to throw down -- totally irresistible waves.

Still, baby tended to be posterior during pregnancy, and I suspect he had to do a bit of turning. I pushed for about 40 minutes and he was born before 5pm. SLight tear, which I didn't feel happening - I never felt the Ring of Fire, instead I felt a pleasant thrumming sensation. I'd never call it "orgasmic," but the whole process of pushing out my nearly-9 pounder was exhilarating and energizing and I was flying high on hormones at the end of it. Oh, and I could still do kegels and feel myself doing htem

#2 was 10#3oz, again at 40 weeks exactly (from charting). Carried her much more compactly - midwife palpated me an hour before birth and said "Oh, this baby isn't going to be as big as your son." Hah. Again, got to the hospital at 5cm. Did the preliminary paperwork etc and got into the tub. Labored on my hands and knees in the tub. Again, felt contractions entirely in my back, even though DD was *not* posterior during pregnancy. I realize in retrospect that I started bearing down at the peak of the waves of tension in my back because it made them feel better. I also was sitting up straight with each one. They were getting more intense, and DH was actually reaching to ring the bell for the midwife when my water broke explosively during a contraction and baby dropped immediately to crowning.

Boy, did I feel the Ring of Fire that time! LOL! I bolted to my feet and then refused to get back into the tub, so they got me onto a bed and DD was born in one push. No tearing at all. Felt absolutely swell afterwards, though more tired than I was with DS because labor with DS was actually faster - midnight to 5pm, rather than midnight to the following 2am, all told.

[LiLStar]

I had a 10lb 2oz HBAC. My c/s baby was 8lbs 14oz. So comparing my "small" baby to my big one, I much prefer the birth of my big boy since it didn't involve scalpels or stitches! Or hospitals. Or back labor. Back labor is not fun. I attribute the differences to positioning. I'm 5'2" and bounce between 115-120 when not pregnant.

[cappuccinosmom]

The birth that was the "worst" for me was my smallest. My oldest was born at under 7 lb. I was young, uneducated about birth, afraid, and bascially at the doctor's mercy. I had stadol which made me completely loopy, and all I really remember is fear. That labor was around 6-7 hours.

My second and third children were around 10 lb, and 10 1/2 lb respectively. Both very late.

The 10 lb baby, that was a really odd labor, looking back on it. 4 hours total, to the minute. I can't remember it being painful. I remember it being very intense, very hard work. But not painful. He had "sticky shoulders", but the midwife dealt with that wonderfully. I bled too much after he was born, but a shot of pit fixed that. Had 2-3 stitches (can't remember exactly).

The 10.5 lb baby hurt like the dickens. All the pain was in my lower back, and I could only labor bent over at a 90 degree angle. But with him I only needed one stitch.

With all three of them, pushing was about 15 minutes tops.

I don't think baby size has anythign to do with the intensity of labor. A lot of people assume that it'll some how hurt worse with a bigger baby but that's not even really logical. As you can see in my story, even my very large baby didn't cause extensive damage as I pushed him out.

My advice? If you can, deliver on hands and knees. I found it really solid for pushing effectively, and it's good if they do have shoulder dystocia.

[LiLStar]

Originally Posted by cappuccinosmom

I don't think baby size has anythign to do with the intensity of labor. A lot of people assume that it'll some how hurt worse with a bigger baby but that's not even really logical. As you can see in my story, even my very large baby didn't cause extensive damage as I pushed him out.

agreed. labor was very manageable for me with my 10lber. Significantly moreso than with my first, since she was malpositioned. The actual coming out part wasn't a big deal, but the force of the contractions pushing him out.. I didnt like that! When he was crowning my midwife was telling me "just push through the burn, don't worry, I'll let you know if you need to slow down" And I was thinking, she thinks that minor little sting might hold me back from pushing with all I got? While I did feel a little bit of a "ring of fire" it really was the least intense part of the whole experience. I didn't tear either I did have shoulder dystocia though, but my midwife had tons of experience and is one of the best around (in a very midwife-saturated area!) and got him out, and he was/is fine.

[PreggieUBA2C]

My first babies were 7lbs 4oz and 8lbs 12oz, respectively and born early by c/s.

My 1st freebirthed baby was 10lbs 3oz, born without pain and with a 9 hour labour following 4 weeks of nightly very slowly productive prodromal labour. His birth was glorious, and that's an understatement. My pregnancy was over 46 weeks- 44+2 weeks gestation (I knew my dates).

My 2nd freebirthed baby was 10lbs 8oz and was born during three minutes of labour and three contractions. I felt like my body was being torn in two down my spine. He was not engaged, so when he came barrelling out, I felt him ram into everything from up high in my body to all the way out. It was amazing and really intense. I had no tearing and I didn't feel like I was recovering from birth, but rather the flu that I suspect precipitated the sudden birth. I was preparing meals the next day and he was born at 11:33pm after 44 weeks of pregnancy- 42+3 weeks gestation)also sure of dates).

Once I had my third baby, the underdevelopment of my first two from the womb was very apparent to me, so they likley would have been long gestations as well if allowed to birth spontaneously.

My friend had a 6lb 13oz baby and marveled that it must have been so painful to have such large babies, but even though I felt no pain for the first freebirth and the second was very fast, I told her that I would have no way to compare. I don't know how I would determine that this head is bigger than the others given the time between births and that each child has felt different throughout pregnancy for me. I think each experience is unique and that had one of my babies been 6lbs, that one would just have felt different too, not easier just by virtue of size alone.

I am 5'6.5" and 135lbs when not pg. I'm not sure what the significance of that is, but since others have shared, I thought I would too. I was also chronically ill until last year, so my first four babies grew and birthed with me in that condition. Fwiw, this baby is probably big too, but is not likely going to gestate as long as the others; I can tell that s/he's developing much faster than I'm used to, and I have renovations to do!!! Aaaaah! I'm 30 weeks presently- measuring 36.

[morgainesmama]

My smallest baby was 8.5 pounds. The labor was intense, he came out too quickly, and I tore quite a lot. (This was my second baby.)

My third, we weighed at 10 pounds even, and I was literally out of bed for an hour before I was holding him, and back in bed less than 2 hours later. While the labor was not painless, I am hoping for another similar labor this time. I spent my hour of out-of-bed end-labor (I had labored off and on for weeks with him) in the birth tub, and birthed his head in the tub (stood to birth his body because xh was afraid). I still tore some, but nothing like I did with my second!

I've heard many women say their smaller babies were the hardest. (My first, at 9 pounds, was an in-between size and an in-between birth.)

[hildare]

i had a c birth, nothing exceptional about it. my dd was 10 pounds at birth.
i will just say that we had issues after the birth with blood sugar (and i wouldn't have had her tested willingly) causing nurses to give her formula (bad bad bad!) and also jaundice. apparently large babies are prone to having more of the blood cells to be processed that lead to jaundice at first.
the reason i had a c birth had nothing to do with her size, just so you know.
good birthing to you!

[Guthu]

I can give my aunt's stories

she had 3 boys vaginally in a OB office about 1-1.5yrs apart (she bf and was preggo at times).

Anyway
all 3 of them were AT LEAST 10lbs and all 3 dislocated her hips
Apparently they were just puggy, so much that the doctors did not want to give them breast milk, just water. She refused and bf them anyway.
Her 3rd son was very lactose intolerant, she bf him and removed his intolerance.

Don't know how long the labors were....not too long I assume, she is a warrior woman! Very strong and determined.

[*mama moose*]

I'm nak but wanted to reply, I hope this makes some sense!
my 3 DD's were 8lb 10oz, 9lb 2oz, and then my newest, a month ago was 11lb 2oz. My first was a highly medicated/intervention induction so that was just hell on it's own, and I tore big time. my 2nd DD was born at home, fairly easy labor and pushing, had maybe a "skid mark" no stitches and a very very easy recovery. My "big baby" (DD3, the 11lb-er), her labor was weird, I had a TON of prodromal labor and then still had a fairly long active labor (10-12 hours maybe? Where it actually felt intense, I'd say 18 or 20 from the point of "hey, I might be in labor"). I felt more overwhelmed with her labor, but I really think it didn't have much to do with her size, more likely her position, my body, etc. She was also born at home, and though I had a tub it was the LAST place I wanted to be while pushing. I ended up on my back, holding my legs back, with my MW holding a cervical lip out of the way. And I'll be honest with you, it was intense!! I felt the "ring of fire" big time, and she crowned for what felt like forever, it felt like her head just sat there and stretched me out. ow! BUT, my body knew what it was doing because I didn't tear even a teeny tiny bit! In fact, my recovery "down there" was better and faster than the other two births by a lot! Unfortunately, I hemmoraged after the birth, we don't think it's because of her size (I passed a large mass of tissue, about 2 hours after my placenta came out intact, and then the bleeding stopped, so we think it was directly because of that thing), but I can't say for sure. Because of that I was severely anemic and on bedrest for about 2 weeks. I'm just now this week feeling back to normal on that front. My whole birth story is on my DDC (June 2010) if you want to read it
Everyone has been so amazed at how big she is or how I could possibly birth her naturally (and *gasp* at home! ), but really it wasn't all that different from my 9lb baby....
She is a lot heavier to have in arms all the time though , she's almost 13lbs now at a month, maybe even more, and it's hard to carry a baby that big when they can't even hold up their own head!! I use my MT when we go out because the ring sling already hurts my back from her weight! But of course I'm totally in love with my big snuggle bug

[Mamato3wild ponnie]

#1 7+6, #2 7+9, #3 8+4, #4 10+2
Last baby was a home water birth with no tearing. Awesome birth. If you want to read the birth story i can post it!

[MsBlack]

#1 and #2 were 6lb 9 and 7lb 6--very easy births, no tears.
#3 was 7lb 12--a much longer labor, though birth itself was quick, no tear.
#4 was malpositioned (military presentation with a large head) and 8lbs--VERY difficult labor and 24hrs--skid marks, ouch, but no real tear.

Then I was 'diagnosed' with a 'tight spot' in my pelvis at a midwifery workshop after #4: prominent and encroaching ischial spines (sit bones), encroaching tailbone--imagine an oval with 3 little triangles poking inward--which means that while my pelvic outlet was adequate, the mw thought that larger babies might have some trouble--take some time--to mould and squeeze through that tight spot. She recommended that I stay off my sacrum during labor, stand/move around, side lying--anything to keep weight/pressure off the points where pelvic ligaments can stretch to make a bigger opening so babies could push through.

So--#5 was 10 lbs, but perfectly positioned. 20hr labor, but straightforward, far less uncomfortable than #4 had been. But oh, was there a lot of pressure at my hips, continuously from mid-labor onward as my baby worked to push my pelvis further open! Lots of hula, squat, high knee lifting to try to ease that pressure and tightness.

But she was born in 20 min of pushing, once she cleared that tight spot--born easy, no tearing!

All were homebirths, 3 unassisted.

I'm 5ft 1", usual weight around 120.

[umsami]

My first was 8 lbs. something... I want to say 11? Anyways, I was induced and it was a tough tough birth.

DS2 was 9 lbs. 12 oz.... and came in 3 hours. No epidural. Easy peasy. Fat is squishy.

DD1 was 9 lbs. 14 oz. I was induced for her, but it was a pretty easy induction. Once again no problems.

All were vaginal--but it was my smallest that was the worst. Not sure if it's because he was my first or what.

[babyjelly]

My babies are small-to-average...but my great-grandmother is a family legend. She birthed my 13# grandfather vaginally and at home. I wasn't old enough to hear her birth story (she died when I was three), but every one who knew her likes to recount how she always said "That was my easiest birth! He was so big he just helped himself on out!" Grandma Lula was five foot and roughly 90 pounds dripping wet
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