Small mommy, small baby?

[BadMamaJAMA]

Had my 18 week scan today....

The tech says my baby looks just fine, but I noticed on the growth chart that her growth percentile is 40%.

I know that's a bit below average, and I'm not worried so much as curious. I was 6 pounds at birth, and DH was 5. He's a tall guy now, and I'm pretty petite.

Do small women typically have small babies? If you were small at birth, will your baby be small?

Thanks!

 

[skye93]

I was 5.7pounds at birth, my son was 7.4lbs so no not always.
I had super bad MS all through my pregnancy aswell so it's amazing he was so big.

 

[Larkspur]

I was 6 pounds 2 at birth, my OH was 5 pounds 5, our baby was 8 pounds 1. Don't think it has much to do with it.

 

[BadMamaJAMA]

Is it OK that she's only in the 40th percentile? I'm super paranoid...

 

[maybebaby3]

No it's not true. I'm 5ft2 and my last baby was just shy of 9lbs.

 

[maybebaby3]

If your LO is consistently following the 40th centime that's fine. They worry when they start dropping all of a sudden

 

[vtjess423]

I agree as long as your lo is following their own growth line, everything is fine. My son was 5lbs 4oz at birth and neither myself nor my hubby are very small people (and both average ~7ish lbs at birth). We did have some growth concerns near the end of my pregnancy as his abdomen was a bit smaller than the rest of him but after a few extra scans showed he was growing as they'd expect so he was just skinny! And even now at 2, my son is still quite small for his age and has always been on the 5th percentile. His doctors have never been concerned as he's growing and following his own line, he's just smaller than average! At my 20 week scan, this one was on the 44th percentile so just a bit closer to average than yours and my doctor wasn't concerned at all. I don't know what my son was at his 20 week scan (I'm not even sure I was told with him) so I don't have a comparison but being at 40% is still not bad. I'm sure everything is just fine with your little one.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

I don't know anything about growth percentiles etc.. but i'm 5'1 and my last LO was 7lb7 at birth.. I was under 5lb (but i was also 8 weeks prem)

 

[Srrme]

I am 5'1" and tend to have small babies. My second son was measuring small my entire pregnancy, and was 4 pounds 11 ounces at 35 weeks.

My mom has had 8 babies ranging from 9 pounds to 4 1/2 pounds and she's 5'4".

 

[supertabby]

Don't worry about percentiles, your baby might gradually change percentile in pregnancy or as a toddler - but think of 40% as a bit under the median. So as an adult if the average height is 5'7" your lo might be 5'5". That's it basically - it's not a test where 50% equals perfection.

And at your baby and toddler health checks the professionals just look for a rough line being followed - if baby went from 40% to 5% or 90% they might be concerned but if lo is always around 40% more or less then everyone's happy.

As for birth weight, I was 6lb myself and am 5'2" - my daughter was 7lb 11oz. I'm not sure birth weight always corresponds to how big you'll be as an adult either, my 6yr old cousin was just shy of 12lb (yup!) but is quite little for his age and petite framed - that said he might catch up as he grows up.

 

[AC1987]

I'm unsure, I've heard that women generally have babies that they're capable of having.. but that's not always the case. I was 8 pounds 14 oz when I was born. My DH was 7 pounds 6 oz, and my LO was 5 pounds 12 oz...

 

[Whitesoxfan41]

I have a SIL that was 126lbs full term (she gained 30) and is 5'3" and she had an 8lb 8oz baby.

As everyone said, no worries on the 40th percentile as long as it stays fairly steady. My oldest was off the curve half the time growing up, she was a nearly 10lb baby and was always a stocky baby/child/pre teen. She's now 21, is 5'9" and somewhere between slim and average, not chunky. I have friends who had doctors freak out about how small her children were for several years even though she's only 5'2" and 110lbs. She was 90lbs when she got married. The percentiles are only a way to chart the averages.

 

[x__amour]

I'm 11% for height and weight and LO is 10% for her height and weight so I'm not surprised! She was 6lbs overdue.

 

[RainbowDrop_x]

I was 7lb at birth. I'm 5ft nothing, weighed 8 stone pre pregnancy and dd was 8lb 2oz.

DH was 6lb when he was born and is now 6ft 2 and Im not sure on his weight

 

[littlesteph]

i'm 5ft and my little one was born at 36+4 weeks due to IUGR, he weighed 4lb 6oz.
I was 5lb 6oz when I was born also born at 36+4 weeks not sure if that was because of IUGR or not though, my hubby was late and weighed 8lb something.
All the nurses and midwives told me he was small because I am, and I was unlikely to have a big baby anyways.
I'm not sure if this one will be small or not, won't really find out until my 20 week scan I would have thought.

 

[KerryGold]

40th centile just means in every 100 babies 60 will be bigger and 39 smaller.

I'm 5'2" and so definitely on a low centile despite being 8lb4oz at birth.

My hubby is nearly 6'4" and our DD is in the top centiles for everything. This bean is also measuring big.

I think my DD was slightly early as my body couldn't let her get any bigger. She was only 8lb1oz at birth.

xXx

 

[Misscalais]

Not always, I was slightly under weight when I fell pregnant with my 1stt he was 8lb 4oz and 2nd bub was 9lb. The biggest out of 5 kids my mum had was 7lb lol.