SIL had a baby a few days ago. Her due date was over three weeks ago and they finally gave her pitocin to induce labor. The baby weighed a little over ten pounds, which is normal for her kids. MIL tells me today that the baby was early. I asked how they could tell. She said, because there was meconium in the amniotic fluid, and because the baby was covered with vernix.

:scratch Do either of those things indicate that the baby was early? I thought meconium in the fluid was a sign of distress, not prematurity. I also thought most babies were covered with vernix. Mine both were, and they were full-term. Is there something I don't know?

Moving this to Birth and Beyond...

No, I'm right there with you. My understanding is that passing meconium is a sign of stress and the vernix is, well, normal! Both my term babies had vernix, if not a whole lot.

A lot of vernix can be a sign that the baby was early, but at 10lbs I would doubt it, LOL. Meconium isn't a sign the baby was early, but may have experienced some stress. Sounds a bit dodgy to me, LOL.

I think no vernix is a sign of being late, but vernix is definately supposed to be there. Weird.

I've seen alot of vernix on babies past their due date. Postdates babies will often pass meconium without stress.

It doesn't necessarily mean anything, but wow - three weeks past the due date? Her doc/mw must be amazing! ;)

DS was 12 days late and he had meconium. DD was 10 days early and had no vernix.

weird thing for your MIL to say, as i agree with everyone else that those are not signs of earlyness. i mean, golly, if meconium in the amniotic fluid was a sign of earlyness, all babies would have meconium, right? except that doesn't make sense. that's a contradiction. i said that because it seems to me that if early babies were passing meconium that average and late babies would too. or would have passed it before and have staining.

so is she saying that early babies pass meconium and then stop? or that the early induction caused the passing of meconium?

anyway, my newest one was born 4 months ago at 4 days past her "due date", and she had lots and lots of vernix. and i got an early ultrasound to date the pregnancy (because without it i couldn't even narrow the conception date down to a likely month :)) so i feel very confident about my dates. plus her fingernails were pretty long for a newborn. :)

Weird. I bet MIL didn't get the story right.

Isn't a hairy baby (as in one covered in hair) a sign of prematurity, rather than vernix (which is generally there so the baby is a bit 'waterproof'? :)

Secondhand baby birth stories are rarely correct, everyones too excited for fine details.

Nope, nope, and also nope on the hairy baby. :LOL

there are other things that are used to decide the "gestational age" of a newborn. Dubowitz exam- and a Ballard scale
Skin texture, color, and opacity, presence of lanugo, plantar creases, size of nipples and breasts, ear form and firmness, details of genital appearance, neurologic signs
eyes and eyelids, vernix where if any,length and firmness of fingernails, creases on the foot, scarf sign, flexability of arm/wrist, posture, scarf sign, heel to ear maneuver, arm recoil,popliteal angle, muscle tone,
so vernix is just one of the things they look at when looking at a baby postpartm. Could your dates been off? or some babies just take longer to develop. the weight may not mean the baby was full term.There are many factors to consider.
the mec is meaningless- in trying to date a baby, any age baby can pass mec.

yea...lanugo is the hair that covers babies and gradually goes away as they come to term isn't it?

A hairy baby can be from genes. Many hispanic babies and east indian babies have hair on their backs, ears, everywhere else. Luckily it goes away!

A hairy baby can be from genes. Many hispanic babies and east indian babies have hair on their backs, ears, everywhere else. Luckily it goes away!

Yup. My daughter had it all over and she was born at 42 weeks. Her ears looked really funny. :LOL It does fall out. She still has a lot of hair on her forehead, back, etc. now, but thankfully it never grew back on her ears. :LOL

My last dd as far as we could figure was 3 weeks late and was covered in vernix. No meconium.
My second dd had meconium and no vernix, she was 2 weeks late and I am sure of my dates on her.

Both where quick labors.

Yeah, lanugo and "hairyness" are two different things. I don't know about hair growth (seems like there would be more with later babies) but you see more lanugo with early babies. My early baby was nearly bald (lol) but had a lot of lanugo on her shoulders and upper back, the only one of my babies who had it, and also my only early baby.

I just have hairy kids. My first weas 2 weeks overdue and had a head full of long black hair, hair down his arms and back. Hair on his legs and on his face down to his eyebrows. My second born right around his duedate had a head of hair and fuz on his arms and back. He wasn't as hairy but I don't think it had anything to do with dates, just genes.