# Fat Babies?



## PhoebeC (Jun 13, 2010)

Hello Guys,

When i was in hospital the doctor said diabetic have 'fat babies' and explained why, she just wouldnt stop say it. I get that the babies will love the extra sugar and all that but i just wondered do we all have big (fat) babies?

xx


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 13, 2010)

PhoebeC said:


> Hello Guys,
> 
> When i was in hospital the doctor said diabetic have 'fat babies' and explained why, she just wouldnt stop say it. I get that the babies will love the extra sugar and all that but i just wondered do we all have big (fat) babies?
> 
> xx



Hey hun, we dont all have fat babies (what a terrible thing to say to you) my little one was 5lb8 lol i been type one for 21 years as well!!

sometimes something called macrosomnia can happen due to a diabetic running high (baby can gain more weight than normal) and the extra glucose crossing the placenta, which the baby produces their own insulin for and uses your extra glucose as "energy" which they normally do not need.... 

I dunno if that makes sense? x


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## getcarter76 (Jun 13, 2010)

PhoebeC said:


> Hello Guys,
> 
> When i was in hospital the doctor said diabetic have 'fat babies' and explained why, she just wouldnt stop say it. I get that the babies will love the extra sugar and all that but i just wondered do we all have big (fat) babies?
> 
> xx




Hi Phoebe,

This is such a stereotype...My daughter was born and she was 4lb 13 which dropped to 4lb 3 and she was admitted to SCBU as a result.

When I was about 35 weeks pregnant i was really worried about having a large baby as this was all i was ever told and when the midwife felt me she said "Ooooo you've got a good 8/9lb baby in there" I totally panicked! Well, they couldn't have been more wrong. 

When my daughter was born my DSN visited me and she said that although it is unusual, if you look after yourself really well this can happen. I don't understand why and even if she said i can't remember now.

I had been diabetic about 22 years when i had her.

Hubby and i are trying for another and i will certainly make sure that I have more than the standard 2 scans that i was offered so that they can keep an eye on babies weight for being too small and not too big.

Bernie xx


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## bex123 (Jun 14, 2010)

hi i had big babies , my oldest now 8 has lost all the baby fat now but was born at 36 weeks at 8lb 1oz and my yougest now 5 was bornat 37 weeks at 7lb 1oz needless to say i had better bs control with my second pregnancy


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## PhoebeC (Jun 14, 2010)

xxlou_lxx said:


> Hey hun, we dont all have fat babies (what a terrible thing to say to you) my little one was 5lb8 lol i been type one for 21 years as well!!
> 
> sometimes something called macrosomnia can happen due to a diabetic running high (baby can gain more weight than normal) and the extra glucose crossing the placenta, which the baby produces their own insulin for and uses your extra glucose as "energy" which they normally do not need....
> 
> I dunno if that makes sense? x



Thanks everyone.

Yes it does make sense, its what the doctor said too , she said the baby gets gready for extra sugar and grows and grows, i was just a little worried, im only tiny and i dont want a 'fat baby, just a healthy one. 

I was worried because i woman i know who is type1 had twins who where both 9lb bigger twin was a little heaveir than his brother.

Does it run in familys baby weights? cause i was 8lb and i know my mum and aunty where 9lb-ish

xxx


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## Akasha (Jun 14, 2010)

PhoebeC said:


> Thanks everyone.
> 
> Yes it does make sense, its what the doctor said too , she said the baby gets gready for extra sugar and grows and grows, i was just a little worried, im only tiny and i dont want a 'fat baby, just a healthy one.
> 
> ...



Pheobe,
I was 7lb1/2 and my sister was 7lb, and my mom wasn't even diagnosed Type 1 until 10years later. My sister recently had a daughter, 5lb11. 
So i believe that it really does vary.  
I wouldnt worry too much yet.


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 14, 2010)

Yeah, I wouldnt woory either hun, I was 8lb6 when I was born so nothing like grace (she was delivered at 37+2) but even if I went the extra week that i was ment to then she  would of been much the same they told me! 
Just keep really tight control, and try not to over compensate for hypos so your sugars are perfectly balanced! It will get harder in 3rd trimester to control bloods but dont be afraid to correct a high with insulin, its in the 3rd trimester the baby likes to accumuulate the extra padding so keeping bloods tight will pay off!! 
Oh and whoever said strech marks were heriditary was a liar coz my mum and sister are practically disfigured with theirs  And I got none!! (sorry random outburst)


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## Emmal31 (Jun 14, 2010)

Jessica was 8'10 so she was quite a fat baby for the height/weight that I am but in the 3rd trimester I really struggled with my control (not through lack of trying) before the end it showed in the growth scans that Jessica was the perfect weight but those last weeks she just grew and grew. I was a little relieved that I didn't have to have her naturally in the end. The consultants tell you all sort of things one of mine said to me at one point do you want this pregnancy to continue because I couldn't control my bg's at the time  xx


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## Emmal31 (Jun 14, 2010)

xxlou_lxx said:


> Yeah, I wouldnt woory either hun, I was 8lb6 when I was born so nothing like grace (she was delivered at 37+2) but even if I went the extra week that i was ment to then she  would of been much the same they told me!
> Just keep really tight control, and try not to over compensate for hypos so your sugars are perfectly balanced! It will get harder in 3rd trimester to control bloods but dont be afraid to correct a high with insulin, its in the 3rd trimester the baby likes to accumuulate the extra padding so keeping bloods tight will pay off!!
> Oh and whoever said strech marks were heriditary was a liar coz my mum and sister are practically disfigured with theirs  And I got none!! (sorry random outburst)



I had loads before the pregnancy because of losing 3 stone before diagnosis and then I put it back on very quickly and now I'm covered in them


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 14, 2010)

Emmal31 said:


> I had loads before the pregnancy because of losing 3 stone before diagnosis and then I put it back on very quickly and now I'm covered in them



I have them on my hips but only coz I went up to 11st8 when I was 19 from about 8st 13  im 9st 6 now though!!  It was funny coz my mum used to ask me nearly every day if I had any yet and i was like nope haha she wasnt pleased like her belly still looks like a deflated baloon!  
my sisters bump with her first baby was always itchy but instead of ignoring it she scratched like anything so she ended up with loads too and joseph was only 6lbs! i used simple dermo creme to stop me itching mine! maybe I was just lucky though


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 14, 2010)

I actually do have a couple of tiny wee ones (faded away now) where they man handled me getting the baby out so they just under the scar! I was horrible to the doc who was doing it though as I was hypo at the time lol I probably deserved them


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## PhoebeC (Jun 15, 2010)

So far in life with strecht marks i am ok, tiny little ones on my hips when i put on a stone when i started on the insulin, but i ldont mind them because i went from being too thin to a healthy weight.
I am putting on pounds now, i have bought some body lotion i thought the early i start the better it might be.

x


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 15, 2010)

PhoebeC said:


> So far in life with strecht marks i am ok, tiny little ones on my hips when i put on a stone when i started on the insulin, but i ldont mind them because i went from being too thin to a healthy weight.
> I am putting on pounds now, i have bought some body lotion i thought the early i start the better it might be.
> 
> x



thats a good idea  and remember to not itch your bump lol xx


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## Admin (Jun 16, 2010)

*I hate the big baby theory!*

Zac was 7lb 13oz - and one of the smallest amongst the non-diabetic mothers in our hospital!! Non diabetics were pushing out 9 and 11lbers!
Keep you insulin levels in check and you will not have a big baby is my theory. We did have problems with Zac producing too much insulin when he was born though - which took him a long time to adjust, even though my specialist said my sugar levels had been excellent througt my pg. So who knows...all seems like a million miles away every time I look at his gorgeous smile! And a year on - he is still not a big baby - just perfect!

It really is a case of taking care of yourself and your bs levels - testing loads and constantly adjusting insulin levels. In my first trimester I had loads of hypos and ran low - the middle was pretty normal and the third trimester I was on nearly double my insulin.

I worried about the effect the lows would have - but the specialist rationalised it for me when he basically said that babies are almost like parasites in your body and they will take what they need! Not a nice way of putting it - but I got it and didn't worry so much afterwards!


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## Monkey (Jun 27, 2010)

Not always true tho - I had good control, and my son was still 10lb 11oz at 38 weeks! My consultant was suggesting a possible link with use of lantus (completely unproven, just a passing thought) so if we have a second I'll be asking about that in advance.


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## xxlou_lxx (Jun 27, 2010)

Monkey said:


> Not always true tho - I had good control, and my son was still 10lb 11oz at 38 weeks! My consultant was suggesting a possible link with use of lantus (completely unproven, just a passing thought) so if we have a second I'll be asking about that in advance.



Maybe its just like genes or something then, I was on lantus and humalog as well


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## Twitchy (Aug 5, 2010)

Baby number one was born at 34w 5d due to severe pre eclampsia, weighing 5lb 12oz which happened to be exactly on the 50% line for the weeks gestation, but because it was before the fattening weeks in the womb (as it were!) he looked a right skinny little thing!  He had to go into an incubator under lamps for jaundice & be fed via nose tube for a day or two.  HbA1c was typically around 6 during this pregnancy.

Baby number two was born at 35w 6d, macrosomic, weighing 7lb 13oz.  She had to go to the SCBU for a few hours' obs & extra feeding due to a bit of 'grunting' when breathing & a slightly low sugar level of 2.3, despite their telling me that anything above 2 is normal for a newborn. She had jaundice but didn't need phototherapy.  The HbA1c during this pregnancy was even better, at best being 5.7.  When I spoke to the consultant about this, he said that my control had been oustanding & the macrosomia was just a factor of how long I'd had diabetes (31 yrs) so not to feel bad... 

Unfortunately it seems the docs just tend to apply broad brush strokes to their opinions of things, ie diabetic = fat baby because of poor control.  Not true, and not fair.  Another one that gets my goat is the assumption by medical professionals that I have proliferative diabetic retinopathy because "obviously" i don't care about my diabetes & have poor control!!!  Nothing to do with 31 yrs diabetes with old (inadequate) control methods during the challenging periods of infancy, childhood, adolescence, uni & 2 pregnancies then?!  Sorry, ranting off the subject.

Anyway, my experience is that T1 diabetic does not necessarily mean a fat baby, and a fat baby does not necessarily mean you have had poor control! 

Hope that helps!


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## Copepod (Aug 6, 2010)

It's only badly controlled diabetes that can lead to "fat babies" - good control leads to happy, healthy, normal weight babies and mothers  And bad control isn't always down to the actions of the person with diabetes - there are treatment options available now that weren't a few decades ago.


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## novorapidboi26 (Aug 6, 2010)

My fiance is not a diabetic, but our son was nearly ten pounds, needless to say he came out the sunroof......

It could be big, but not neccesarily due to your diabetes.......

Whatever the size its all worth it in the end........


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## PhoebeC (Aug 6, 2010)

novorapidboi26 said:


> My fiance is not a diabetic, but our son was nearl ten pounds, needless to say he came out the sunroof......
> 
> It could be big, but not neccesarily due to your diabetes.......
> 
> Whatever the size its all worth it in the end........



Chubby babies are well cute, look more cuddley


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## Twitchy (Aug 6, 2010)

Not quite sure how much better controlled than an HbA1c of 5.7% I would have needed to have had to have avoided having a macrosomic baby?!  The Consultant (of many many years experience specialising in diabetic obstetrics) said it was NOT my diabetic control during pregnancy which had caused the macrosomia, it was just 'one of those things'.   Unfortunately as a diabetic you are always the butt of ignorant prejudices like if you had a 'fat baby' it was your fault for poor diabetic control whilst pregnant (you BAD mother you!) or I guess if you're t2 assumption that if you must have been eating too much sugar &/or been fat!  Frustrating & hurtful fallacies, and not very helpful when as a new mum everything you do draws criticism from someone or other anyway!  (Everyone's an expert...!) Some people just have big babies, sometimes macrosomia happens even when diabetes control was good....


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## smile4loubie (Aug 7, 2010)

novorapidboi26 said:


> My fiance is not a diabetic, but our son was nearly ten pounds, needless to say he came out the sunroof......
> 
> It could be big, but not neccesarily due to your diabetes.......
> 
> Whatever the size its all worth it in the end........



lol this made me giggle!


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## newbs (Aug 8, 2010)

Both of my babies weighed 8lb 3oz at birth, this is fairly big for me as I am only 5'2 and 7st 10lb usually but not to do with my diabetes as far as I am concerned.  My husband was over 8lb at birth and my mum was too.  I weighed in at 3lb 8oz but was 7 weeks early so wouldn't have been a bad weight either if full term.  As long as you keep your HbA1c down then there is no reason why your baby should be big or fat.  Most babies weigh 7lb/8lb these days as the norm.

Don't listen to scare stories, as long as you know you do your best for yourself and your baby during the pregnancy, that is all you can do.


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