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Tina P.
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| Posted: Oct 15 2008 at 8:03am | IP Logged
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No, I'm not pregnant again. Yet.  A doctor friend of mine suggested that maybe my current little one was smaller than the others ~ but she was still 7 pounds! ~ because my geriatric (41-year-old) body doesn't produce as much placenta as it used to. Have you ever heard of that? And, if I *do* become pregnant again, will the placenta continue to shrink with each pregnancy?
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Tina, wife to one and mom to 9 + 3 in heaven
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Kathryn UK
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I don't know about the placenta shrinking, but there is a tendency for placental function to deteriorate during the forties and for babies to be smaller. The babies I had in my thirties were 8lbs 2oz and 7lbs 11oz, but the baby I had at 45 was 5lbs 6oz. My midwife put this down to my age - until she saw N at 16 months ... healthy, active and very petite. At the point she came to the conclusion that she just has small genes . But from what she said, a lower birthweight in older mothers is usual.
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LisaR
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this might explain why my first child was my biggest at 9lb 2 oz! born when I was 22!
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ALmom
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Well, sorry ladies, but our experience is the exact opposite. My first was 6lb 12 oz. My last baby was 11 lbs. They generally got bigger with each baby - except for two boys in the middle who were in the mid 8 pound range. I don't know if there is any statistical link to maternal age and baby's weight (or placental health), but obviously it doesn't have to be the case. I didn't have gestational diabetes either, though, evidently that is a concern with big babies - and all but the first exceeded that weight threshhold. All the placentas were nice and healthy and the hardest labor was the 6 pounder - go figure. I also didn't follow any of the bell curves in terms of labor patterns - so maybe I'm just a maverick in everything. 
Janet
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Lisbet
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I know I don't qualify for this forum for quite a few more years, but, my 8th child had a teeny tiny placenta, very flat, smooth and only about the size of a childs fist. She was 6lbs. 3oz. at birth, my next smallest before her was a full 2 pounds bigger at 8lbs. 4oz. - most of the others in the 9 pound range. I turned 31 just four days before she was born.
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Tina P.
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| Posted: Oct 16 2008 at 11:14am | IP Logged
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ALmom wrote:
Well, sorry ladies, but our experience is the exact opposite. My first was 6lb 12 oz. My last baby was 11 lbs. They generally got bigger with each baby - except
Janet |
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Our experience was similar to yours, Janet. All girls were smaller, but two of them exceeded 8 pounds. Our youngest boy, #6, was my 9-pounder. Two of my four girls were under 8 pounds, the second and eighth child.
Sometimes I feel that doctors are doomsayers. This same doctor asked me whether I considered getting my new baby ear plugs! Gee, we're a noisy family, but we're not that bad. 
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Elena
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| Posted: Nov 11 2008 at 8:28am | IP Logged
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Lisbet wrote:
| I know I don't qualify for this forum for quite a few more years, |
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yea, yea, rub it in why don't ya!
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4Real Forums : St. Anne's Tearoom: Growing in Wisdom over 40
Topic: Shrinking placenta?
