How to handle LGA....

[jcr92901]

Well I had my first appt yesterday and heard the heartbeat! Yay! I'm 9w3d.
So all is looking well. Here is the problem...

My second son was 10 pounds 3 ounces. I had an easy labor an birth. It was a waterbirth with no meds at all. All the nurses freaked out after he was born because they were sure he was soooo big because I had GD ( I did NOT) they wanted to test his sugars every half hour- I let them test twice they were pissed.
Babies in my family are big. One of my cousins weighed 12 pounds at birth. 9 & 10 pound babies are the norm. My first son I was induced at 37 weeks and he weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces so I'm sure that if I had gone to term he would have been big too.
My midwife is already freaking out telling me I need to keep this one under 10 pounds! WTH?! Like I can control this. She also is suggesting that I do the GTT at 16 weeks and again at 28 weeks "just in case".
My question is would you do it twice just to prove you don't have GD and decline sugar testing of the baby just based on size? Or would you only do it once?
Please tell me your thoughts.
Thanks and sorry this is so rambly

[emc03]

i would tell the midwife i'll take her GD (which means something totally different coming out of my mom's mouth) tests all she wants as long as she backs off on the baby weight issue. she isn't the one pushing it off. if it were me, i'd be telling her to p*ss off and find another midwife. but that's just me. and i'm a little grumpy lately.

[jcr92901]

LOL I would LOVE to tell her to p**s off but she is part of the ONLY midwife practice within a 2 hour drive that does hospital waterbirth.

I just feel like if I'm not scared of birthing a 10 pounder why should she care!

Oh and for the record I'm pretty pissy lately too

[theycallmemom]

No, "I" wouldn't take the test at all, esp not twice. Tell them if they want a better test, then do the A1C, it's more of an avg. The GTT isn't accurate, and it's not good for baby(or mom to be fasting and drinking straight glucose early in the morning on an empty stomach) Or tell her you will test your blood sugar, fasting, and post-prandial 1hr and 2hr on occasion to make sure they are still in range. Some babies are just big, and they need to get over their preconceived notions.
FWIW, my 3 child was 11lbs, no problems with the labor, healthy as a horse-I didn't have GD(Last time I took THAT test). He didn't have any problems(and we didn't have his glucose tested either). It is unnecessary as long as baby is taking the breast, and is behaving normally. My others have all been between 8 and 9 lbs, my ob doesn't even freak, after asking if I had GD(she couldn't remember, lol) and I told her no, my numbers were always below 100(83 with him), she didn't even push the GD test on me the next time when I told her I wasn't taking it. I did decide to do the A1C with my last, but only b/c I had a rougher pg overall and wanted to make sure my health wasn't going overboard. I had great A1C, but my home numbers were the highest of all my pg's(still well below GD level, but in the 100-110's) and he was my smallest term baby. Go figure.

[StarCat]

They do blood sugars not necessarily because they think you have GD but because very small and very large babies often have difficulties maintaining their blood sugars. more so with small than large from what I see (esp. with moms who just birth large babies)

My girls were also in the largish size- not quite as big as yours #1 was 8-12 and #2 was 9-11. 1 was a transfer to a hosital with a vacuum and 2 a PERFECT birth center water birth easy, easy no major tears or anything. Both midwives I am considering for this one LOVE big babies (1 herself had 2 10 lb'rs at home) Women are perfectly able to birth large babies w/o complications. I'm 5'8 and about 160 prepreg so I'm not a tiny girl. not really going to birth petite kids.

With that said- I am thinking about doing both gtt's. for myself- just to make sure since I know that can be an indicator of diabetes later in life. Even though I wasn't GD the 1st 2 times. But I'm not sure if I will. I also won't argue the blood sugar checks if they are needed on the babe because if they are its protocol and I understand the rationale even if I don't 100% agree with it. But thats totally a personal thing. I would completely get you not wanting to.

But I would be more concerned about the midwife's attitude toward birthing large babies. That's just not very supportive right up front- will she doubt you in labor? Was she your mw the last time- did she see how beautifully you delivered that babe? Why wouldn't she think you could do that again?

[donutmolly]

I have had a couple of big babies too... and I would be livid if my mw said I had to grow a baby under a certain weight. I wouldn't mind taking the GTT if it meant my baby wouldn't be bothered at birth, but I would insist on an alternative to drinking straight sugar (my mw has a specific breakfast menu: eggs, toast, OJ, that I feel like gives a more realistic result). Oh, and my biggest baby was my easiest delivery, no tearing whatsoever.

[jcr92901]

Thanks mamas!
Unfortunately I just had yet another horrific conversation with my midwife. I really want a waterbirth but fighting with her for 9 months is not going to be fun either.