Is high birth weight hereditary?

[Thistledown]

I'm curious if anyone knows how hereditary high birth weight is? Both my OH and his sister were large at birth (I want to say about 10lbs and 9lbs respectively) and were pretty chubby as babies (SIL likes to say she never actually crawled, but rather rolled around until she learned to walk!) I'm wondering how much OH's weight at birth will influence our future children's birth weight. Myself, I was an average sized infant (7lbs and I think 6oz or 8oz).

I have to admit, one reason I'm wondering is that I've got cattle, and I know the males make a pretty big contribution to the size of the calves at birth. Curious if there's any kind of correlation there between cattle and people.

 

[mazee71]

Well I was 8lb 8oz, my brother was9lb 9oz and my sister was 11 lb. My dad was 10 lb my mum I think was about 6lb. My ex OH was 9lb and my 1st two children were both born at 37 weeks weighing 6lb 9oz and 6lb 8oz. My 3rd was born a 42 weeks weighing 8lb 13oz and this one is on same growth line, but my now OH was only 6lb 12oz.

 

[midori1999]

Myself and my ex husband were both exactly 4lb 4oz at birth. I was born at 36 weeks though, he was born at term.

First son was 9lb at term, second son 10lb born at 38 weeks and third son was just under 7lb, born at 37 weeks, but he also has Downs Syndrome and babies with Downs usually have lower birth weights, which he obviously didn't really, although low compared to my others.

My Mum's biggest baby was 7lb at term, so not genetic in my case.

 

[nov_mum]

To a degree it is going to have an impact, yes. Your genes determine the build of your baby and if you are both pretty good sized people then your baby will be too. Although it does happen rarely, generally your body won't make a baby bigger than your body can handle. There are so many factors involved with fetal size though such as GD, IUGR, early delivery etc. I wouldn't worry too much about it as mother nature gets it right 99% of the time.

 

[nov_mum]

big babies don't always mean troublesome deliveries by the way. Skinny babies can be much more difficult than ones with a bit of chub on them.

 

[Serene123]

I was 10lb 3/4oz and my daughter was 6lb 15oz........ Oh sorry, my OH was 5lb 15oz, too x

 

[rj84]

thank you for this thread! I was 10lb 8oz at birth - week overdue (I'm now 130lbs so not 'big boned'!) and I;ve been worried about it - my mum had a really tough time with me - giving birth naturally - and although DH was relativity normal sized at birth (around 8lb I believe) it is still something I really worry about!!! Mum thinks I should push for a Cesarean, but at only just over 5 weeks its a bit early thinking about that!!!

 

[lilyanne]

I was really nervous about having a big baby up until recently. It probably doesn't help that both my mother and DH's mother always are pushing for natural birth (i.e. both say "my babies were all really big and I handled it just fine...I don't understand why you need pain medication.").

My DH was 9 lb 3 oz and his brothers with all over 9 pounds. I was 8 lb 6 oz and my brothers were 10 lb 6 oz and 9lb 3oz. I've had growth scans though and the doctor thinks she'll be high 7s as she has been measuring average throughout the entire pregnancy. My doctor has assured me that though there are big babies in the family, there are so many contributing factors to baby size that there is no need to worry.

 

[birdiex]

I was really nervous about having a big baby up until recently. It probably doesn't help that both my mother and DH's mother always are pushing for natural birth (i.e. both say "my babies were all really big and I handled it just fine...I don't understand why you need pain medication.").

My DH was 9 lb 3 oz and his brothers with all over 9 pounds. I was 8 lb 6 oz and my brothers were 10 lb 6 oz and 9lb 3oz. I've had growth scans though and the doctor thinks she'll be high 7s as she has been measuring average throughout the entire pregnancy. My doctor has assured me that though there are big babies in the family, there are so many contributing factors to baby size that there is no need to worry.

You never know, you might not need the meds - have faith in yourself, you CAN do it

I have the same sort of question really, I was low birth weight (5lb 3oz) and OH was only 6lb, and even though he was a twin, his siblings were all around 6lb too. I wonder if I'll have a tiny LO too, and if newborn clothes will fit right. Does anyone think I might have to buy some preemie stuff just in case they come and are small like I was? (I was born at full term, no problems either to make me small)

 

[Kimmylotta]

I'm so glad you posted this, I was curious too. My DH and I were both big babies, this is my 1st, and I'm wondering how much genes play into it!

 

[newmommy23]

I don't think it is. I was a 10lb 11oz baby, FOB was 9lb 5oz...Molly was 6lb 15oz

 

[calliebaby]

I was 6lbs 13oz, my hubby was 8lbs 5oz and our son was 6lbs 9oz.

 

[hotmamax3]

I think maybe so. I was 6lb 2oz, but my hubby was 10 even. So far, my babies have weighed 8lb 15oz, 9lb 14oz, and 9lb 13oz. And, I only gained 18lbs with the second, and 13 with the third. I'm 20 weeks with this one, and have lost 7lbs., so I'm hoping for an 8 pounder!!!!

 

[HungryHippo]

I've read that heredity does play some role, but there are also exceptions. DH was 9+ and I was 7+, but I was taken early via section. I'm 36 weeks and am predicted to have a 9-10lb baby. To date, my doctor is planning on me delivering vaginally - saying I at least need to "test drive" birthing a big baby.

 

[Jacks]

Both me and my hubby were 6lb10oz when born, our daughter was 9lb 10oz, the midwife told me our baby was big because my husband is a big man 6ft 4" and i'm only just 5ft! She told me if I want smaller babies find a smaller man, lols!

 

[sun]

I'm scared of having a giant baby this pregnancy for the same reason!

My OH's older sister was 10.5lbs and my OH was just over 12lbs (hardly fit in the hospital bassinet) and I was tiny in comparison at 8.5lbs! Anyway, our son was measuring large and was born preemie (35+6) at 6lbs, 11oz. They estimated he would have been around 10lbs at birth if he went to term!

So I don't know what to expect with this one! eek!

 

[snugglebot]

My dr told me after having my 10lber baby that next time I will need to watch my weight gain in pregnancy. So I assume that plays a bigger role than genetics.

Neither I nor my husband were big babies when we were born but boy oh boy was my son a big one. I delivered him naturally but it did take 3 hours of pushing and he was a little stunned coming out. I hope I can avoid another big baby for #2

 

[gidge]

OMG I hope not! I´ve been worrying about this as me and my siblings were all pretty big babies. I was 10 weeks early and 4.1lb. One of my brothers was 3 weeks early and 10.4lb. Another brother was 2 weeks early and 11.5lb. (my mum said it was like giving birth to a Christmas turkey!) My other brother and sister were normal weights. She did actually tell me that the doctor told her that any baby over 9lb is almost certainly due to the mother having diabetes. Not sure if this is true though???

 

[snugglebot]

I wasn't showing any signs of GD

 

[sun]

My MIL didn't have gestational diabetes either - giant babies run in her family all the way back! Bad news for me!

Also Snugglebot, they were on me to gain more weight (omg I was trying - eating constantly!) as I only gained 16lbs but LO was still very large for his gestation! I know excessive weight gain can affect the baby's weight, but sometimes we just make 'em big regardless!