Uplifting Birth Stories of Positive Births with Juicy Babies
I hope this page will be reassuring to the many women who hear the words “big baby” or “we’re concerned about baby’s size” (especially when you’ve had a picture perfect pregnancy or well controlled Gestational Diabetes). I’m so glad you’ve found this blog but I’m also sorry that you are stressed and doubting your ability to give birth when that’s exactly what your obstetrician should be doing. It’s supposed to be prenatal care - not prenatal ‘scare’ you’re receiving. Anyway - enough with the formalities - you’re very welcome, have a wander around the blog and enjoy the stories from our GentleBirth parents.
Had my 9lb 6oz baby boy at home in water @ 40+6. 3rd baby, best labor, most beautiful experience. Hadn’t been told he was going to be ‘big’, no difference in birthing my 7lb 8oz boy or 8lb 6oz girl – Rachel
My son, first baby, was exactly 9lbs when born. In all scans he had being measuring on the bigger side but no one had made any comments until at 38 weeks one midwife asked me what I was eating, as the baby was big! I was devastated as I thought it was all my fault and I wouldn’t be able to have a home birth with the community midwives. A week later, a different midwife had a feel and she said I was grand and he baby wasn’t that big. Anyway I delivered my 9lb baby with just gas and air, turns out he was long not fat and seeing as his dad is 6ft4 I wasn’t surprised. He continued to grow grow grow and was off the charts at his last developmental check. He is 1 and wears 2 year old clothes. So my baby was the perfect size for my body, yes it stung pushing him out but I was absolutely fine after and don’t think a smaller baby would have felt much different. - Aoife
After having 2 boys at 10lb 6oz & 10lb 7oz which involved coached pushing and rushed labors I felt I had stitches and tears with them both I opted for a homebirth with my third son. The main concerns were always a big baby ns tearing which would require hospital transfer. Baby was measuring 9lb 7oz at 39wks. He was born at home 40+ 5 weighing 10lb 5oz no tearing or stitches. I very much breathed him out and went with my body. A labor I really enjoyed – Lisa
I had a 10lb 2 oz baby after syntocinon induction and it was an extremely positive experience . Scans in the last two weeks were bang on the weight - within 3 ozs. Second stage was short - only one hour and even with an epidural on board ( i had in my birth preferences to have a low dose )I was facilitated to be on my side rather than on my back right up until the last 5 mins. No coached pushing ( well I chose to ignore it !) and no episiotomy . I was lucky enough to only require one minor stitch which I put down to deploying the gentle birth techniques of keeping jaw relaxed and breathing baby out. This may be a bit TMI but as I still had some sensation I asked the midwife to insert her fingers so I could direct my breathing to the right place if that makes sense ? Although I got away lightly with a very minor tear I was very bruised after ( head was in the 100 percentile !) so it was sore to sit down for a couple of weeks after. Anyway … overall it was so positive that I’m due again in 15 weeks and looking forward to it . – Jennifer
I had my 9lb 13oz babe at home – Ruth
9lbs 13oz boy born less than an hour after arriving to the hospital,after a quick and very easy labor, scan said he would be 7lbs! They can be so off! - Katie
Tracy, I avidly follow your page and had the privilege of borrowing your cds from a friend. Sneaky I know but I’ll be telling everybody to follow your system. My juicy baby was 10 lbs 2oz (39+6)and is now 3wks old in Cavan MLU. We had been told all along our baby was measuring big and queried many times on our dates. My labour began with a show at 12.30ish qnd and our little man was born at 8.30. We had stayed at home until 4ish but with a 45min drive ahead and a storm brewing we headed off. Baby was lying back to back and turned on my perineum! No tearing! The fact that ‘he’s the perfect size for my body’ had turned into a running joke/mantra in our house really stood to us – Ami
Not sure if 8lb 14oz counts as juicy enough, but my video of birthing him is under the files section. He was born with only a very slight graze and it didn’t even sting to pee afterwards – Melanie.
First baby boy born at home 9lbs5 and no problems!! – Sarah
I had a homebirth with my 2nd baby a year ago, who ended up being 10lbs. I used GentleBirth throughout the pregnancy and labour. I wanted a different experience from the birth of my first baby - I was scanned several times due to measuring big, and finally induced at 4 days over because of suspected big baby. I found out afterwards that size of baby is not an evidence based reason for induction, so decided that next time no matter how big i was measuring or looking that I would decline any scans offered, and instead of letting dr’s put fear into me by worrying about baby’s size and my size (i’m petite enough) that I would just block it out and trust my body. I’d had a normal delivery with my first - I had an epidural but still managed to give birth on my back (not optimum position!) and dd1 was 9lbs 1oz. So 2nd time around I had continuity of care with my homebirth midwife who was with me from about 26 weeks and she was never concerned about baby’s size or how big I was measuring (which was consistently about 2 weeks ahead of dates). But this was never a concern to her, or to me. I think we both knew that baby was going to be big enough, but I didn’t imagine it would be bigger than my first! Anyway, labor was great, I made sure to be as mobile as possible, and my midwife suggested plenty of positions to use to help baby along into optimum position. There was a point when surges were quite irregular and either very short or longer than they’d been and there was no clear pattern to them. My mw explained this was probably baby rotating down, so I really focused on opening my pelvis, one leg up on a chair, using the birthing ball, etc., and plenty of time in the birthpool. My waters went in the pool and within a surge or two I could feel baby moving down. I could feel my body pushing baby down, but I never felt like I consciously pushed… more like muscles tightening whether i wanted them to or not… when baby was crowning it was intense, I could feel her head coming right down, then back again, down a bit more, and back. It was just a lot of breathing and trying to find the balance between pushing and holding back - i really just tried to step back and observe what my doing and let it. Baby was actually born with two nuchal hands (she had her fists right up against her cheeks!), thus making her 'circumference’ even bigger than just head and shoulders - she had arms and elbows up there too! In the end she weighed 10 lbs exactly, and I had no tearing whatsoever. I"d had an episiotomy with my first and was concerned about tearing again where the scar tissue was, but it didn’t happen. I think my birth story shows the power of positive thinking, a birth without intervention, keeping mobile and trusting your body - If I could talk to anyone who’s nervous of having a big baby, or a Doctor who’s instilling fear into a mother about the size of their baby, I would tell them my story as I’ve been on both sides of the coin. I know not everyone has the same outcome as me, but I firmly believe that baby is the PERFECT size for your body, and that mum’s shoe size, clothes size, hip width, etc has no bearing on the size of baby you can deliver - Rachel
Whole way through my pregnancy I had been measuring average no one even mentioned the words “big baby”! But Katie was born 9lb9oz! I got through it with just gas and air and tens machine but have to say the midwife was brilliant too advising to pause when baby’s head was emerging and with that advice baby was born with only slight grazing! - Amanda
First baby, 8lb 14oz - From 20 weeks on I was told at each scan that I was measuring big (usually about 10 days ahead) and that his head was also big. Baby was estimated to be 9lb at term but this did not sound huge to me (I know of many bigger babies and father of baby was 10lb when born). However when I asked Ob why this was considered so big and on top of the curve graphing weight she said that the concern was I was small (5ft3, size 4 feet) and my baby was big. Ob wanted to induce from 38 weeks, I held off and reluctantly booked in for induction at 40+3. At 39+6 my waters broke naturallyish (3 days after sweep) and I laboured for 24 hours (with tens machine and gentlebirth) before IV induction (no choice) on my due date. I had an epidural as the induction made my contractions unbearable. One hour pushing (encouraged but not really coached as I could feel the contractions myself thanks to very light epidural ) on my side, and out came the baby assisted by the very skilled Ob and midwives, One “slight graze” but no pain. I stood up a few minutes later.
While I ended up having a very positive birth experience, I feel that I could have received encouragement from my doctor rather than a general sense of foreboding that within me was a giant baby that had to come out.
I had faith (hope?) that my body wouldn’t grow a baby too big for me to birth. Luckily this was true – Ciara.
Well my 9lb 6oz son was my third and easiest birth. I was measuring big by palpating from 34 weeks so was sent for 2 growth scans neither of which showed nothing large at all- in 50th percentile. My waters broke at 2.01 am then cramping started. Arrived to hospital around 4. Had trace and VE to confirm waters gone. It was fine lying down chatting with mw. Stood up to go for walk around as they were going to admit me to the ward. If ever there was a doubt about gravity playing a very important role that was eliminated! Things took off soon as I was mobile so was sent to labour ward at 6.10. I stood at side of bed rocking (and cursing ) knowing this was the best thing to do for about 40 mins then proclaimed I had to lie down and with that delivered my baby. Second stage was all of 4 minutes according to the notes! No stitches just a slight graze. It was great- only 1 exam and left get on with it. I even walked back to the ward. Thanks GentleBirth – Charlotte.
Baby #2 born at home in water, 10lbs 2 ozs, not a scratch! He looked a bit more squished than his “skinny” siblings, but no tears, no pain relief, no problems post-partum. – Anna
Cooper - 10lbs 7oz born gently at home - Tracy (GentleBirth Founder)
My eldest boy Jack was 8lbs 15oz and born in Sequoia Hospital, CA - Cooper surprised us all with his juiciness!
On my 2nd baby I was attending the Coombe domino scheme, at 36 weeks my fundus was measuring 41 weeks so midwife referred me to see consultant, that was a Wednesday on the Friday I seen her registrar who jokingly told me I was going to have a 'gigantic’ baby ( this was funny at the time but later on reflection not so funny) I was monitored closely over the following weeks, I seen the main consultant every weak and she was very open to my birth plan and wishes, she never talked of section and did give me the option of being induced but we declined. I was rather big which they put down to excess waters and guessed the baby may be about 10lb. My labour kicked off early in the morning at 40+9, I laboured at home till the afternoon, resting listening to my gb tracks, using the tens. Went into the hospital at about 3 in the afternoon, I was 3-4cm dilated. Had a great midwife, we had music set up, was very relaxed and in control, continued to use tens and gas and air. My tens machine fell on the floor and broke at some point so that was a bit of a nuisance, my water were released at about 8 pm. I didn’t dilated over the next few hours so my midnight, it was decided that I’d be put on the drip to help things along, I decided to get an epidural at this point as I was so tired. By the time the epidural was in I was fully dilated. Ah hour or so later I was ready to push, after a few pushes mw realized baby was op so doc was called and they tried turning him but to no avail. Doc stayed in the room, she had mentioned about having to 'help’ baby being born, there was no way she was going to intervene. It took a good few pushes to get him out as he kept going back up, but delighted I got him out myself. He was put straight on my tummy and stayed there for a good while. Mw’s were guessing he looked about 10lb, so we’re dying to weigh him, he was 5.44 kg, that wasn’t on there conversion chart so they brought him to another scales thinking it must be faulty, but no it was the same. They told us he was 12lb I kept telling them that can’t be right can you check again. He had a tough time with hypoglycaemia and an extended hospital stay but got through it and is now an absolutely perfect 20 month old – Colette
I had a 10lb 3.5oz baby vaginally, at 41 + 3 days. It was no worse than having my 7 lb 8oz baby, actually a lot easier. I had a tiny, tiny tear, that didn’t even hurt. I actually found it so easy to push him out that I didn’t believe the midwife that he was so big and insisted the scale was broken. :) So definitely not all big babies are difficult to give birth to.
Our baby boy finally arrived this afternoon at 41+3 and wait for it 5.14kgs (11lbs & 5 oz). It was my longest & toughest of labours, mainly because it took a lot longer for labour to establish this time. Lots of warm up activity for weeks and stepping up a notch this week which just proved to be tiring and frustrating more than anything. The hospital was great, used a lot more options this time, as had more time, stayed very mobile, birthing stool & a long hot shower up to point of pushing. Just G&A again and I defo OD’d on it a few times, I was tripping! But I do find it great to keep focused on the deep breathing. I can’t say that his size was an issue when it came to birthing, though his body did feel big :) Placenta released fine. And so far I’m no worse for wear. Did have a few stitches for a small tear. Midwife really helped with counter pressure and controlled breathing during delivery. Immediate skin to skin and delayed cord clamping. He took to the BF like a champ. And right now he’s here beside me in the hospital crib sleeping and actually rocking himself, how’s that for self-soothing!
In terms of his size, we were freakin shocked when they weighed him. It was unprecedented. His 2 brothers were 8 & 9lb so very good size but nothing near this. Nor do we come from families with bigger genes! I did have a much bigger bump this time & the hospital did test for GD at one point, which was neg. I was booked in for detailed scan & subsequent talk of induction etc for Monday am, very glad Billy didn’t wait as I’m not sure how differently it would have played out if we all knew more about his size. But ultimately today, it did not prove to be a major factor. Thanks for all the support on here. Happy & relieved mammy to have baby safely here - G.
My third GentleBirth baby girl was born tonight at 10:14pm (6 days past my EDD). All 10lbs 4ozs of her!!! Delivered naturally, well….with entonox…and i escaped with a v small tear. Got to the labour ward at 9pm and she’d have been here even quicker had i not been in a weird position for the trace!! Can see looooooooots of boobing in my future :-) Thanks to everyone who posts and provides support- and best of luck to those of you approaching guess dates or in labour!!! - Lisa
So my VBAC baby boy is 1 year old tomorrow and i’m FINALLY getting around to writing his birth story. Like all of my fav stories on here it’s a long one :-) I have two girls - normal delivery following induction at 42/40 and a section following induction at 41+5. My pregnancy involved a few obstacles, a previous cesarean, gestational diabetes diagnosed at 28 weeks diet controlled, being overdue and being breech from week 35-39. We overcame them all with the help of the stories here and the wonderful Sylda Dwyer and the GentleBirth program. I had opted for a sweep at 40 weeks and again at my 12 day overdue scan apt where i got the usual 'cervix high, closed’ blahblah, they also estimated his weight at 4.5kg which turned out to be bang on. the consultant had wanted to book me in to have the waters broken if favorrable or section if not at 42weeks but we agreed on a clinic appt as normal, at the clinic appt we agreed to induction day 16 if nothing moving. I should mention that my OB was great but i did have to be firm with birth preferences and my lifesaving sentence of 'thank you for that information I’ll discuss it at home with my husband and let you know what we decide’. The day of the 42/40 appointment i felt really dejected and was beginning to resign myslef to never getting to naturally go into labour. The next day my husband took me to the cinema but i felt restless and didn’t feel like i could sit for the couple of hours so we went for something to eat and he gave me a little pep talk about this could be the final test the universe asking us if we were ready/sure. i could feel tightenings all day, and on reflection all the previous day too. At bout 6pm i just got a sudden need to be at home. We went home and put my youngest to bed and sat down to watch Esio Trot with my eldest.
By 9pm i was finding myself more comfortable standing or rocking back and forward on the yoga ball. At this stage i was very comfy, getting a bit excited but assuming it was all just warm ups. we sat down and put on about time which was the movie we saw in the cinema when we had decided we’d have another baby. In my mind movie that i had replayed many times we watched it and I labored at home at night time so we were right on track. Between 10pm and 11.30pm things ramped up a notched, we watched the movie and i sat backwards on a chair and my hubby pressed a hot pack into my lower back which was amazing. He started to pack up the car and rang my mum to come stay with my girls, i had a few episodes of 'clear out’ on the toilet and after that i got a little panicked because the waves were coming close together and stopping me in my tracks. My mum came and we hit the road, I sat in the back and listened to my tracks, repeating my affirmations. We arrived at the hospital 29 minutes later (Duleek to Holles street via port tunnel at night with no traffic as per my mind movie) and went to admissions who took me straight around to delivery, i went to the toilet and my waters broke and then into delivery to the delicious gas and air. the lovely midwife asked me to get up on the bed so i could be examined and she said i was 5-6cm!!! now i had read stories on here before when women had said that and i always wanted to be able to say it. It gave me such a boost. from there it was a tough hour and i did most of my laboring kneeling on the bed leaning over the back and then one the advice of the midwife lay on my side and out he came, id love to say i was in some zen like state of calm but no i screamed the house down. I remember when he cam out, onto my chest, all 4.5kg/10lbs 5oz of him i was just repeating, i can;t believe we did it, i was so proud of us. i needed a few stitches but other than that it was blissful. the skin to skin, delayed cord clamping was no issue. i had monitoring on arrival which i didn’t mind as I was standing. They said it had to be continuos but after 20 mins i asked to go to the toilet so they had to take it off and i just said no thanks to getting it back on when i came back (a nifty trick), she tried to tell me all the bits but i just said thank you i understand what your saying but it staying off, and then i smiled at her and off we went. We never even opened our meticulously packed labour bag which we found hilarious afterwards.
I found GentleBirth has had a profound impact on my life, it helped me go through my pregnancy without fear, helped me labour confidently and the upside I had not expected was that it helped me respect and appreciate my post baby body. The help support and advice i got from this page was invaluable and reading the birth stories in bed at night got the oxytocin flowing, the weekend workshop we did was wonderful and gave my husband a feeling of preparedness he was struggling with. In short we loved it and feel so blessed to have found it. If you’ve made it this far thanks for reading and best of luck. You can do it!
We had our GentleBirth yesterday evening at home at 40+13 (induction booked for 7am this morning!). I wouldn’t say it was exactly 'gentle’ since labour ended up being just one hour from start to finish and was very intense and my midwife just arrived in time to catch him! I didn’t get to use my pool or essential oils or labour tracks or anything, I never even made it out of the toilet, it was all very primal and I had no choice but to just go with it as my husband tried frantically to get the pool set up. Our beautiful boy arrived into the world at 16:23, all 10lbs 6oz of him, 10 mins after midwife arrived. Barely needed a stitch as didn’t push and hadn’t even time for a Panadol, so I guess you could say I breathed him out but I wasn’t really conscious of any of it, just tried not to have him before our midwife arrived!
Need a little more reassurance? Check out this recent amazing birth story too - another 10lber (and no stitches!). If you like data - this is another great resource by Rebecca Dekker discussing the lack of evidence for inducing labour for a ‘suspected’ big baby.
I hope this was somewhat helpful if your confidence took a knock this week.
Reset Your Mindset
Re-read this blog several times over the coming days.
Write a few affirmations about your baby’s size (one of our favorites is ‘My baby is the perfect size for my body’). Put them around the house on post-its where you’ll see them often.
Use your Fear Release for a few nights to get back on track.
Come chat with our private community of GentleBirth parents who have been in your shoes
If you’re not already a GentleBirth App subscriber - you can download it from the App Store or GooglePlay and there’s a 7 day trial.
At your next appointment advise your careprovider that you’d rather not discuss your baby’s size during the 3rd trimester given it’s acknowledged inaccuracy and your healthy well pregnancy.