Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

Is My Baby too Big for Where I Am in Pregnancy?

by Sara
(Lynnwood Washington, USA)

I'm beginning my 5th month of pregnancy and I was looking at some sites to see how my baby should be developing. I noticed that the site for my time frame said my baby should be a lot smaller than my doctor said it was, my baby is 13.5cm.

I'm wondering if that is normal or not, and if it is okay >.> I should ask my doctor but I can't get in contact with her, so I thought I would ask you to see if you could help me. I would really appreciate some extra info about this if that's possible, thank you!

Answer:

It's normal for babies to vary in size quite a bit at every point in gestation. Though there are established "normal" sizes, a range is to be expected. People are all different sizes and it's the same for babies even in the womb.

Ultrasound is also notoriously inaccurate for measuring fetal size, and it just gets worse the farther along you get! As your baby gets bigger and ultrasound may be off by a pound or more in weight. It gets increasingly hard to measure length as your baby grows, too.

If your doctor is concerned, she will let you know. Chances are your baby is just fine. Most babies are fine -- some are smaller, some are bigger. They're just different!

Best of luck with your pregnancy. Keep up a healthy pregnancy diet and enjoy; your baby will most likely be just the right size for him or her ;)