growing a smaller baby

[olive&pimiento]

My dd barely sqweeked through at 9#4oz. After>5hrs of pushing, I separated my pubic bone and she was born. I would really like another homebirth, but that will require growing a smaller baby this time. What diets have you all seen work? Any other ideas? I plan on organic meat, whole grains, lots of veggies and daily exercise. No sugar!

[mackenziesmama]

Staying away from sugar! My first was 7 13 and I watched what I ate. My second was 11lbs, 1 oz and I didn't watch what I ate. My third was 8 4 and I watched what I ate and starting around 26 weeks I took my blood sugar a few times a day. I found that kept me more honest with myself! The things I do to trick my mind, but it worked. That is my plan with this one too. Just watch what I eat, and exercise. Oh, also with number three I joined Curves. I'm not big into things like that, but I needed the motivation and I found that if I had to pay, I'd go exercise just so I wasn't wasting money. Again, a mind trick, but it worked! Plus, I got a big rush out of being he-mama and wowing all the other ladies that I exercised when I was pregnant and kept up with the best of them. Another plus, I loved watching their faces when I told them the baby was being born at home!! (I live in a very rural area where I'm crazy for being AP!)

[olive&pimiento]

I really like the idea of checking my blood sugar. I see that there is another thread about the right numbers. Very timely for me!

[meowee]

I would love to have a smaller baby (as in less than 8 1/2 lbs) too... I would love to hear ideas.

I did have one small baby, 6 lb 3 oz; I ate very little overall b/c of bad m/s but I drank a lot of lemonade and ate saltines through the whole pregnancy. I really don't know if my bad appetite caused her small size or what... I'm curious to hear if there is rhyme or reason to this.

All my others were 8-9 lbs. The nicest part of having a smaller baby was that she was so easy to carry-- I could carry her longer than I could the others.

[paphia]

I ate totally different for my 2 pregnancies. First was horrible m/s and I ate whatever I could keep down. I had an OB who did not counsel me on nutrition at all. I had a lot of carbs, breads and crackers etc. And then I would have steak and cheese to round it out. But I was throwing up for 8 months of my pregnancy. DD was 6 lbs. 2 oz. at birth. This second time I started out trying to follow the brewer diet but I couldn't keep up with that much food. I still ate well-rounded meals and aimed for 100 grams of protein a day. DS came at 37 weeks but fully baked, and he was 6 lbs. *sigh* I feel guilty having such tiny babies but I guess that is how I grow them. So eat a healthy diet but if your body is meant to grow them a certain size, that is probably what is going to happen.

[kate3]

If you are concerned about a larger baby, I have to agree that checking your blood sugars is a good idea. I just put a link to a good article about GDM and pregancy on the other thread.

Watch your refined sugar and carbs, but otherwise eat a healthy, balanced diet. I would also cut out juices-the whole fruit is so much better for you anyway. Exercise is great if you are able. Just 30 minutes of walking a day can do wonders.

After>5hrs of pushing, I separated my pubic bone

OUCH! I can see why you are anxious to avoid this again. Good luck!

[Mooney]

Keep a food diary. It will help you stay honest as well as help you keep track of what foods cause your blood sugar to fluctuate (either giving you symptoms or by comparing your blood sugar readings). I limited fruit to two pieces each day --usually a citrus fruit and a banana that I mashed up to sweeten something (like oatmeal). I learned to like my tea unsweetened (naturally sweet herbs like peppermint helped). I also avoided things made with flour, even whole wheat, after watching my blood sugar readings go up inordinately eating ww bread and pasta. Another key thing for me was to always consume carbs with protein and/or fat to slow down absorption.

My first was 8lb 14oz and a c/s, grown while trying to eat the Brewer Diet. So the second time around I did try to grow a smaller baby on a lower-carb, lower GI Brewer-type diet. She was 7lb 3 oz --and was born with just 10 min of pushing!

[momileigh]

I think you should avoid grains altogether. Any grains you have of course should be whole grains, but really all you need in life are proteins and vegetables. If you really have blood sugar issues, even whole fruits should be limited to one piece a day. (I'm not counting avocados or tomatoes as fruits.)

[fireflies~for~me]

I am ignorant on the research out there on this, but just putting it out there anecdotally, that smaller baby doesn't necessarily mean easier time pushing?

My first was 8lb 2oz...Bradley hospital birth on the Brewer Diet with needle sticks due to supposed "Gestational Diabetes".

My second was 7 lbs even homebirth, no montioring necessary of blood sugar...but I had a VERY hard time pushing him out...due to positioning-he was up under my pubic bone in "military position"?
WAAAAAYYYY harder to push out my smaller baby.

[mamallama]

My first was difficult at 8-3. Turned out she had a nuchal hand.

My second was much easier at 9-10.

With my third, I was concerned about growing another big baby. I borrowed a glucometer and checked my sugars starting at the beginning of my 3rd trimester. It turned out that my numbers were pretty high. For my last trimester I cut out all refined carbs and most whole grains. No potatoes, bananas, pineapple, and v. limited dairy. I was hardcore, and I barely kept my numbers within my mw's generous range.

He was 10-2 at birth. He basically fell out.

I'm glad I kept the control I did--10-2 is pretty big, but it could have been much worse. He didn't show signs of hypoglycemia after birth, he was only mildly jaundiced, and while he did lose a full 10% of his birth weight, he didn't lose more and he started gaining right away.

I highly recommend using a glucometer. Having the cold hard numbers available makes it much easier to do what you need to do.

[kaylee18]

Originally Posted by momileigh

I think you should avoid grains altogether. Any grains you have of course should be whole grains, but really all you need in life are proteins and vegetables. If you really have blood sugar issues, even whole fruits should be limited to one piece a day. (I'm not counting avocados or tomatoes as fruits.)

No, you need some carbohydrates too. Eating only proteins and vegetables causes ketosis, which can cause brain damage in the developing baby. Atkins himself admitted this eventually. Reasonable amounts of starchy foods such as whole potatoes, brown rice, whole oats, etc., are an essential part of a balanced diet. For those with diabetes, of course, the total grams of carbohydrates in a day should be strictly monitored, but still held above the level that would result in ketosis.

[barefootamy]

Dr. Gowri Motha wrote a book called "The Gentle Birth Method" where she outlines a week by week dietary plan that also includes prenatal yoga, reflexology, reiki and Bowen therapy. She basically calls for no sugars during the second and third trimesters and has recommendations to follow an ayurvedic diet (eating for your dosha). The book is fantastic but harder to find in the U.S., I got a copy on Amazon through a distributer in Florida. PM me if you want a link to an article I've written about on her method.

[mackenziesmama]

Just jumping back in here for a moment....I do think you need to eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of foods; veggies, fruits, protien, grain, etc.

As far as sugar testing, that is how I kept myself honest. I do not have diabetes and I do not get tested for gestational diabetes. My husband and I invested the money into a monitor (off brand, it was like $10) and the test strips (it cost about $1/day to test three times per day). It was worth it, and I will do it with this baby too.

Good luck!

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by kaylee18

No, you need some carbohydrates too. Eating only proteins and vegetables causes ketosis, which can cause brain damage in the developing baby. Atkins himself admitted this eventually. Reasonable amounts of starchy foods such as whole potatoes, brown rice, whole oats, etc., are an essential part of a balanced diet. For those with diabetes, of course, the total grams of carbohydrates in a day should be strictly monitored, but still held above the level that would result in ketosis.

:

My biggest baby was also easier to push out. It does tend to get a little easier with each baby, and waterbirth made that easier for me. I don't know. The idea of trying to grow a small baby scares me to death. It just seems wrong. You want your baby to be healthy and it's full potential. I guess I just know too many mothers who smoked or starved themselves during pregnancy to avoid having a "big baby".

[kittywitty]

Originally Posted by momileigh

I want to be clear that I'm certainly not supportive of trying to keep your baby smaller than it should be by depriving it of something it needs. I don't think anyone here is the least bit interested in that. Everyone here is talking about eating an optimum diet to grow the most appropriately sized baby for her body. Surely you don't think the best way for a baby to be healthy and reach its potential is for the mom to eat a bunch of chocolate chip cookies and Mickey D's every day? Because that can certainly make a baby reach a potential so large the mother might not be able to push that baby out! There are myriad reasons for the high c-section rate in this country, but ONE of those reasons are babies that do grow too big because of a high sugar/high carb diet.

I understand that your experiences with women who do stupid/selfish things makes you react strongly to someone who says she wants her baby to be smaller. But I hope you understand that we're talking about doing the best thing for both mom and baby, which includes eating the best possible diet to help baby reach the most appropriate size for birth, which might be 6 lbs for one woman and 10 lbs for another.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with eating healthy! It's just the talk of "growing a small baby" like the title says just scares me. Like I said, way too much experience here with people trying to grown premie sized babies for some reason.

And I do agree that genetics has a LOT to do with it. All of my babies have been 8lbs something except my ds who was ~ a month premature (induced for "big baby" and due date was off by over a month!) and was over 7 lbs. already.

[kittywitty]

Is the server wonky? I just replied but it showed up under my old post from 8 hours ago.

[momileigh]

That's weird kittywitty... must be wonky server issues, but I for one read your replies! Let's see where this post ends up...

[momileigh]

LOL... never seen anything like it! The newest posts are getting stuck smack-dab in the middle of the thread!

[meowee]

Just lost a post...

No one's talking about starving or poisoning themselves into a miniature baby. There's no question that even people who think they have a reasonable diet overeat and gorge on sugar. It could be that the huge babies out current culture produces are the result of overeating. You don't see 10 pound babies in countries where people eat much less than Americans.

A veggie/ fruit/ nut/ bean diet would not cause ketosis. Veggies contain carbs and I don't think momileigh was talking about anything other than cutting out bread (even whole wheat) and processed grains anyway. There are lots of carbs in potatoes, carrots, etc.. and even green veggies contain carbs and tons of fiber, unlike meat, which contain zero. There really is no comparison to a diet rich in veggie protein and the "Atkins" diet.

As far as being easy to push or not, positioning IS more important than size but size is a factor, too.

[momileigh]

Originally Posted by kaylee18

No, you need some carbohydrates too. Eating only proteins and vegetables causes ketosis, which can cause brain damage in the developing baby. Atkins himself admitted this eventually. Reasonable amounts of starchy foods such as whole potatoes, brown rice, whole oats, etc., are an essential part of a balanced diet. For those with diabetes, of course, the total grams of carbohydrates in a day should be strictly monitored, but still held above the level that would result in ketosis.

Sorry, wrong. Notice I didn't say to cut out carbs... I said to cut out GRAINS. Ancient humans ate veggies, fruits, and proteins. Before agriculture, when we were hunter/gatherers, (and even in the Garden of Eden) grains were not a part of the diet. You can be perfectly healthy and never eat a single grain. (Grains: wheat, rice, oats, corn, etc.) I stand by my statement that protein and vegetables (which, as has been pointed out, do contain carbs) are all you need.

Now, I do eat grains myself, and they are some of my favorite foods. BUT if I was designing a diet to ensure that my baby didn't get too big, I wouldn't include any grains AT ALL.

ETA: I read this book several years go and it helped me reach this conclusion: Going Against The Grain. Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Going-Against-...8200157&sr=8-5