Low birth weight at full term, any experiences?

[Kate OBrien]

Hi there, I gave birth right on my due date to our baby girl who weighed just 5lb10. I was very surprised as both myself and my partner are tall, 5ft8 and 6ft3, and were average sized babies. Holding her for the first time I was just overwhelmed with how small she was and was terrified something was wrong. Although I had been measuring small fundal height since 30weeks,all the growth scans had come back as normal, bar one which showed a higher PI, or resistance from my body to the placenta, and I was given almost weekly scans, but as I said, all the growth patterns showed average size. After examining her the midwife was happy she was very healthy and just small, she was able to regulate her temperature and was very alert and required no visit to the neonatal unit and we were home the next day. All her health checks so far have been very positive, shes feeding well, never lost weight and immediately increased from her birth weight and last check she was 7lb6. She also has quite long legs for her body. Everyone just says she's small and will either catch up or just be a petite adult. As a naturally anxious person though I can't get it out of my mind. I feel this awful guilt that it is my fault she's small, I convince myself something is wrong with her, of course Google doesn't help,and every movement she makes I scrutinise. My partner thinks I'm going mad, and though he jokes about it, I think my anxiety is starting to annoy him and he just tells me to enjoy these moments (just to mention - I love her to absolute bits).Has anyone else had a small baby at term and did you experience any of this and was your LO okay? Thank you x

 

[dairymomma]

All of my babies have been small. DS1 was 6lb 3oz, DD1 was 5lb 14.5oz, DD2 was 6lb 9oz, and DS2 was 5lb 5oz. All were born full term (37-38 weeks) and I had no signs of anything being wrong prior to the birth. I had no complications aside from bleeding in the first trimester (I have a clotting disorder and that's what caused the bleeding.) for each pregnancy, my fundal height is always right on and my babies have all shown normal growth during scans.

My kids are all healthy and developing normally. DD2 had a few gross motor delays at 12 months but it was due to tight muscles in her hips which prevented her from being able to roll over. We put her in physical therapy and on the PTs recommendation, we had her hips adjusted by a chiropractor. Within 2 weeks, she was rolling over on her own and within 3 months, she was completely caught up in gross motor development. Her doctor said this was something that can happen to any baby and was not a result of her low birth weight. DS1 is almost 11 and is so tall, he's nearly looking me in the eyes. I'm 5'6" so I'm not exactly tall but I'm certainly not a shrimp either. DD1 is 9 and is reading as well as her older brother is. DD2 is now 6 and hasn't had any other developmental delays at all. DS2 is 3 and I swear I gave birth to a half monkey child because the kid is constantly climbing things. Chairs, benches, my pantry shelves, etc.

Some babies are just small. My mom had 7 kids and all but 2 of us weighed around 7.5-8lb at birth. The other two were 5lb and 6lb each but they were twins so that explains their low birth weights. All of my babies have been itty bitty, my sister's babies are 7-8lb babies, one of my brother's has a year old son who was almost 8lb when he was born and the other brother had a nearly 11lb baby.

If her health checks are showing she's growing fine and her doctor isn't concerned, then she's probably fine. It's okay to worry and be anxious a little bit. I mean, who isn't worried and anxious about every little thing when you are a first time new mom? But I am guessing you can try to relax.

 

[dairymomma]

Just wanted to add that you may want to bring up your anxiety with your own doctor. I've dealt with post partum depression in the past and it has amplified the effects of my already severe anxiety. It got to the point where I was waking up in the middle of the night in a full blown panic attack...for no reason... Because I got help, I was able to find healthy ways of dealing with my mental health issues.