It’s a big baby!
Macrosomia is when a baby is 9 pounds 14 ounces or more at birth. There are a lot of things that lead to macrosomia - genetics being the biggest culprit, as well as some other pregnancy needs like gestational diabetes.
Big babies are nothing out of the norm - it’s just when your provider thinks you might deliver a big baby that the trouble arises.
In my second pregnancy, I sat in an office over and over again listening to my midwives analyze my weight, the baby’s size, my never rising sugar. It wasn’t until I was 38 weeks pregnant, that she finally said “well this seems to be a genetically big baby and not a diabetes baby.”
No sh*t sherlock…at my first visit (and several visits after), I shared that I was almost a 9-pound baby and my partner was nearly 10 pounds. The biggest indicator of the size of baby is your own history.
(random note: I also learned that the best predictor of the baby’s actual size is the birthing person’s opinion, not an ultrasound - which I learned during induction when they asked me how big I thought the baby was)
It was incredibly frustrating as I am sure that it is for you now. What I didn’t know then, and can share now are some amazing things about growing big babies:
Your cervix doesn’t dilate to 10 cm, it dilates to the size of your baby’s head
It’s incredibly rare to have a pelvis that is too small - body maneuvering is often enough to open it up
You do not cause a big baby with what you eat
Gestational diabetes can maybe result in a larger baby (when it’s uncontrolled) but not necessarily
When a baby comes through the birth canal, their head is incredibly malleable and has the ability to completely go cone-shaped to make its way through
Big babies sleep through the night faster (in many cases, but not all)
Big babies on birth day doesn’t mean that you have to carry a big baby forever - lucky for your hips and back
Big babies are just as cute and snuggly as the tiny ones
If someone tells you you’re having a big baby - whether it’s your provider, a nurse, the random man at Target who should have kept it to himself when he compared you to his sister who was having twins, just remember that your body is doing an amazing job. It is nourishing a baby so well and creating such a good home that your baby is being exactly themselves and growing exactly as they need to.
You’ve got this - your body already has everything it needs.
*Want more support in pregnancy and birth, feel free to reach out as I am an in-person and virtual doula and love standing next to you as you bring this baby into the world.
