Small baby - any advice?

[sarzkw]

I'm currently 35 weeks pregnant with my second child. During a routine midwife appointment today i was told that my uterus is only measuring 31 weeks. She seemed rather concerned so has made me an appointment to see a consultant at the local hospital but it's not until next thursday. I'm not the best at waiting at the best of times but this is going to be longest week ever. Even though my son was born at 37.5 weeks he was a healthy 6lb 14oz. please help me as i'm very worried

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

There could be alot of reasons, they should send you for an ultrasound which will measure the size of your baby and the amount of fluid around it. Don't google as it will come up with all sorts and you'll really worry as it will come up with the most scariest reasons. Carry on as you are doing, maybe have a little more to drink incase the amniotic fluid is a little low, I've been told this helps. Are the movements OK?

[sarzkw]

They are slightly decreased so have to keep a chart of when and how much babes moves. My husband and friends are telling me not to worry but It's hard not too.

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

Keep a really close eye on the movements, there could be one of a number of things going on, have a shout for Lulumama, she's a doula and knows alot more then me about these things, my obstetrics experience is limited to scanning. If I see her name I'll shout for her and point her in your thread's direction. It's a really good idea that you have a doppler ultrasound to see what the fluid level is like and what the blood flow through the umbilical cord is doing.

Keep bumping to see if other mums have been through this so they can give you advice better then mine, just post a smile or something to make your thread get to the top of the active conversations page every now and again.

[sarzkw]

Thank you very much.

[MakemineaGandT]

don't worry - I had this in both my pregnancies - i.e. apparently measuring a month behind. Even in labour the midwife kept telling me I was having a small baby - that one was 9.5 lbs and the other was almost 9lbs!

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

Keep me posted on how things are.

[BelleDeChocolateFluffyBunny]

.

[FatSeal]

I had this with dd1- bump stopped growing and measuring up properly at 32 weeks. We had a growth scan (which inaccurately said she was 5lbs+), and my bp kept fluctuating so we went it to get that monitored, along with foetal movements, about every week.

In the end dd1 was 4lbs 15oz BUT perfectly healthy, and fed like a horse to make up the weight lost- she has a really interesting steep climb at the beginning of her weight graph where she was catching up.

With a bit of luck it will turn out to be something innocuous, but for us, a small baby was not a problem at all. And she looked adorable in her tiny baby stuff, like a little bird.... please try not to worry too much.

[starmucks]

Hi - DS 1 was a "small for dates" baby. He was delivered early at 38 weeks, by cs as a precaution, weighing 5lbs 4oz and was completely healthy. Do keep an eye on movements as the others have said, and be in touch with your ante-natal dept if you think they've stopped or slowed down. Some times there is no rhyme nor reason to it, some babies are just born little. And by the way ds1 is now a very active 3 year old, who is age appropriate on every metric.

[nah1974]

I am in pretty much the same situation (33 weeks but measuring about a month behind) Something to be aware of is that measurement of the size of your bump isn't an accurate way to assess the size of your baby - for example the last time I was measured it was 4cm smaller than the time before - but this turned out to be because the head is now partly engaged! I'd be lying if I said that I didn't worry about this sometimes myself(I've posted on this before) but from what I understand I think it is quite a common scenario - I guess both of us should try not worry!

[bridgetfidget]

Hi I too had a small first baby that was not picked up by the midwives or consultant . He was delivered by c-sect at 39 wks and weighed 4.7lbs! He was a nightmare to feed!! but as with the others he was perfectly healthy and has now caught up to where he should be. It is worrying but it sounds like they are monitoring you and that has to be a good thing.

[nunnie]

I had this with my dd, had to keep going for scans, as everytime I went to see the midwife she said my bump was measuring small. My dd was born 1 week early and 5lb 13oz but very healthy. It is scary when they leave you waiting after saying something like that, if you are concerend contact the midwife again and see if she can reassure you, even if it is just for you to hear the babies heartbeat, it's better than nothing x

[mrsjuan]

I had this with DD - measured 30cm at 34 weeks or something like that. Midwife booked me in for a scan a week later but DH and I were in a bit of a panic so I managed to phone up and get an earlier one - can you try this to set your mind at rest?

They measured the blood flow through the placenta and the vole of fluid - both of which were fine but DD still measured small on the scan.

Had more scans and monitoring over the next couple of weeks and they decided to induce me a few days before my due date as she was still measuring small.

She was born at 5lb 7 and classed as IUGR (inter uterine growth retardation) but was perfectly healthy and has actually stayed small for her age so I think this is how she's meant to be.

tbh - I think if it happened again I would push for more monitoring rather than induction as I don't think DD was ready to come out - she was very sleepy and a rubbish feeder - I think an extra week inside might have made a difference but it i easier to see this in hindsight rather than being worried by the doctors at the time.