Babies too big???

[lexbeach]

I just got home from yet another ultrasound. I am 31 weeks, 1 day pg with twins. The babies looked great, but are measuring very big. I thought this was great news because that's what I've been working towards the whole pregnancy (eating obscene amounts of protein, etc.). They estimated one baby to weigh 5 lbs. 4 oz, and the other was 4 lbs. 7 oz. The 97th and 87th percentiles. Now the doctors are all concerned and adamant about me doing the Glucose test (which I previously refused). I don't understand what difference it would make at this point since a) I'm probably only going to be pregnant for at MOST 5 more weeks, and b) the babies won't have time to get so big as to be "too big" to deliver (besides the fact that since they are both breech I will probably have a c-section anyway). I don't eat sugar/refinded carbs anyway. Really the whole situation just annoys me because I was 10 lbs. when I was born, and I come from a family of big babies. I have been eating only organic food since I started ttc, and I hate that I am being pressured into drinking this gross glucose stuff just because my babies are big--which I still think is a good thing!

Thanks for letting me vent. Anyone else out there with a big baby growing inside of her?

Lex

[ChildoftheMoon]

Just here to let you know I understand! Both my daughters were big. The first time they wanted to induce me because, gasp, they thought I was going to have an 8.5 pounder, thankfully, I went into labor first and had a 9.3 pounder! I then went on to have a 10.2 pounder at home. Good luck and take care of yourself (sounds like you already are!)

[sevenkids]

I have a friend who delivered vaginally twins weighing 9.2 and 8.15. I would think you would want big healthy twins, since most of the complications are caused by low birth weight! You probably won't carry them to 40 weeks, so the extra size is like an added insurance that they'll do better at birth. Besides, ultrasound is notoriously unreliable in determining birth weight....I was told my baby had IUGR when I was eight months, the baby weighed 8.8 at birth! Don't worry, keep eating, and don't let the doctor bother you...
~Blessings~

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

Often times those estimated weights are flawed. I had a good friend develope very bad Glucose Intolerence during her pregnancy. So bad she had to take insulin. Her case was more severe and her blood glucose would not stabilize, her insulin doses had to be increased constantly. The doctors decided to induce because they thought her baby girl was huge based on an ultra sound. They estimated 9.9lbs at 39 weeks! However, the little babe was born weighing only 7.6lbs, perfectly normal.

Like you said their position is going to probably require C section anyhow. The only concern I might have is for the babies health.

Now the doctors are all concerned and adamant about me doing the Glucose test (which I previously refused)I don't understand what difference it would make at this point

Now I am not totally educated on all the reasons people refuse the tolerence test. Perhaps it is the prevalence of false positives and the worry that comes with it. However, in babies who's mothers are truly GGT (gestational gluose intolerence) the scarey part is that the babies could end up overproducing insulin and having a dangerous drop in blood glucose levels immediately after their birth. That's the main reason I see the test as useful; for protecting the babies health.

I myself think the alternative testing involving measuring your blood glucose 1-2 hours after a heavy meal is the more pysiologicaly correct way to go.

Do what you're most comfortable with. I don't like the idea of anyone pressuring me into doing anything, until I know all the facts to make the best decision and feel its totally nessecary.

[seanjoshmom]

I agree with you--the likelihood that your babies will end up too big by the time you deliver is small. i too had twins. I am an ob, and bought into the whole thing, and I had my glucose screen done early. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes, and it was diet controlled and I cheated all the time. I came to believe that gestational diabetes with multiples means little, probably a result of extra placental tissue, and so what? I guess the peds also have a concern about metabolic derangements in the babies (low glucose, high calcium, high bilirubin) but those things are not very common. I personally wouldn't worry about it. I had a gluose tolerance done after pregnancy and everythig was normal, no lasting effects. a big to-do about nothing.

[NaturalJoy]

GD is much more likely in a twin pg. There are worse problems that can arise than having babies too big to deliver. My understanding of GD is that the babies will need their sugar levels monitored the first few hours/days of life to make sure their sugar levels are okay. That's one reason why it's good to know if you have GD or not. Your babies measuring big could be a sign of that so you might want to consider the test. But then again, it could be that you just have some super healthy big babies in there!

I took the test at 24w and passed it just fine.

[lexbeach]

Well, I guess I've decided to do the test, just so I don't have to feel guilty about it. The medication (nifedipine) that I am taking to stop (or at least reduce) my contractions raises blood sugar, so there's a good chance I won't "pass" the test regardless of whether or not I have GD. But oh well. I just feel like tossing my hands up in regards to everything during this pregnancy. Nothing has gone as I would have liked. . . aside from the two (so far) healthy babies, of course!

The reasons why I initially refused the test were because I am technically "low risk" for GD, meaning that I have none of the risk factors (I haven't seen twins as a risk factor in any of my research), and my books (which, sadly, I trust much more than my OBs), such as Holistic Midwifery (Anne Frye), and The Pregnancy Book (Sears) reccommend against routine screening due to the high false-positive rate, and unnatural circumstances of the test. Also, I happen to have no sweet tooth whatsoever (especially during this pregnancy), and the thought of drinking anything sweet makes me gag.

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes!

Lex

[zombiemommie]

Ask your OB's (they probably wont' do it but you never know) about eating JellyBeans instead. I think it is something like 10 or 15 Brachs Jellybeans makes the same ast the 50 g glucose drink. My CNM group has a very high rate of Orthodox/Hasidic Jewish moms and the glucose drink is for some reason not kosher for them to drink so they do the jellybean thing.

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

I did the test 2 weeks ago and was suprised that it didn't taste as bad as I had feared. IMO a can of Mountain Dew tastes more sickeningly sweet. I hate jelly beans...so thats a tough call on which I'd have prefered. Make sure they let you refridgerate it, though.

[Janessa]

If you feel the need to do the test just to be safe, I've forgotten the name of the test but there is one that they give you a breakfast menu (ie eat eggs, sausage, orange juice or something like that I forget the actual meal). Then you go in and get blood drawn at 1 and 3 hours I beleive. I think this is a much more accurate way of testing then drinking a sugar drink they you would never put in your body normally. When i asked my ob about it he said it is more accurate but they don't recommend it because people don't like the extra time involved. I never actually did it because he was o.k. with my refusing but if he had insisted on testing for GD that would have been the only way I would have done it.
hth
Janessa

[Peppamint]

I am not having the glucose test done myself. I'm having a homebirth and switched to a midwife at 20w.

I am seeing the backup OB next week (I'll be 25w) just so he has a chart "in case". I doubt he'll push the testing though, he's really cool I hear.

One of the OBs at the practice I started out with pushed me to have genetic testing done and I didn't want it. The only risk we have is dh's age (40) and I just can't deal with a false positive. She just couldn't believe I didn't want the testing.

After them being so pushy about that test, I guess I want to avoid all tests now.

I'm just leaving it in God's hands and eating and drinking right while continuing to exercise.

[LiamnEmma]

Just wanted to chime in with Lea that I think those measurements they take are a bunch of hooey! I mean, sure they get them right sometimes, but I can name dozens of examples where they're wrong. Take me for instance. Over and over again, I was told my ds was going to be tiny, "Maybe 6 pounds." Well, three days before EDD, he popped out at a healthy 8 lbs 2 oz. Take that doctors! lol There were no guesstimates with dd : and she was 8 lbs 11 oz. A co-worker had her doctor giving her the "you're too big" line--well, go figure, her dh is humongous and she's very tall! Her ds was two weeks late and weighed 9 lbs even, not even that huge given the size of his parents. Anyway, this turned out to be all about me, didn't it? Don't put too much stock in those guesses, if you can help it. Then again, you sound pretty darn assertive and educated to me.

[lilyka]

My MIL had twins (one being dh) vaginally who weighed 8.5 and 7.5. I wouldn't worry until they think they may be reaching that size

You said you don't eat sugar etc... already. I would ask your Dr. what you would do i you GTT came back high. My guess is you would eat a diet low in sugar and carbs. Since this wouldn't effect your lifestyle much if any you cuold easily go about it and appease him.

[lorijds]

I'm sorry, I don't have the menu in front of me, but moms in our practice fast all night, then eat a 50 gram carbohydrate breakfast (there are two menu choices, juice, milk (any kind), breakfast cereal, or toast, egg, and juice) an hour before their blood draw. This is a much more realistic test, and your body's response to this is what we are interested in.

I would either demand to have this sort of test, or rent a home unit and test your blood sugars right before and 2 hours after every meal for a week, to see what your levels run. If they are normal, that should totally placate your doc.

[Helix]

well i am no expert but think big babies are good even though mine was only average size. i think if i had another one i would try for a really big one. also i know it's your choice and all that but big breech twins does not always mean a cs is needed. but of course its up to you. i think if you could not deliver babies that big they would not have grown that big. i also do not do the diabetes test.

[lexbeach]

Thanks for all the replies! I am definitely not getting worried about the whole GD thing, just angered at my doctors. I took the test yesterday. The stuff wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, although it was way sweeter than anything I've had in a really long time and made me feel kind of gross. I'll probably get the results some time today. At least my doctors will be glad I took it. Because I am young (22), I feel like they never take me seriously and treat me like I am being irresponsible. It drives me CRAZY.

also i know it's your choice and all that but big breech twins does not always mean a cs is needed. but of course it's up to you.

I wish it were up to me! Never having given birth before, I don't feel comfortable doing an unassisted homebirth (although I do often dream/fantasize about that happening), and I haven't been able to find any midwife who will deliver me at home or any doctor who won't insist on a c/s if the presenting twin is breech (it's okay if the second twin is breech, though).

But, I agree that my body is growing the size of babies it is meant to grow. I would have been worried and surprised if they hadn't been bigger than average.

Lex