Short long bones / femur & humerus 5th percentile

[RainbowL2020]

Hi Everyone,

Hoping someone can share their experience on this if anyone has been through or going through this currently. I’m 29 weeks with my baby boy. From weeks 12 to 15 I had heavy bleeding and clots which they said could have came from my placenta but nothing was really confirmed during this time crown to rump length went from 45th to 11th percentile.

I had my 20 week scan next and everything was fine apart from the baby’s femurs we’re measuring on the 7th percentile. Got me back in 2 weeks later for another and it was on the 5th then again to see a consultant a week later and was on the 9th. He wasn’t concerned so left it 5 weeks and again I was back last week and it showed that they now looked on the 3rd (off the chart) I have a feeling that they’ve always been around the 5th and it’s subjective as to who is measuring as I know it’s mm difference that can change everything. But also this time she said that his arms were measuring on the 5th too (I’m guessing they always have been because they’ve not been checked before) head and abdomen and everything else brain etc have always been fine and within average range (around 50th percentile). Obviously I know they have to make me aware of possible causes such as Down syndrome, dwarfism etc which I have never been screened for as I didn’t want to worry all the way through but now I am anyway! She did say it’s more likely that I’m just having a small baby. I’m wondering if all my bleeding early on could have contributed as I’ve read that it can. Anyway I’m back next week to be checked again and also wondering if anyone’s baby’s had a growth spurt around this time and if there’s still time for him to catch up?

Sorry for the essay! I’ve been looking at a lot of these threads of women in similar positions who have very reassuring stories but not a lot of people come back to update. If anyone’s been through something similar please let me know thanks! X

[LBB2020]

Hi, sorry to hear you’re worrying. I’m not sure if my story will give you any comfort but I didn’t want to leave your thread unanswered.
When I was pregnant with DC1 our 20 week scan showed femur bones on the lowest percentile (everything else looked great and as expected). The sonographer checked and double checked and said that yes they were short but that they were just on the line so we weren’t referred for any further scans or investigations. We received a postnatal diagnosis of Down syndrome. Looking back now we know that short femur bones can be a soft marker of DS but at the time we didn’t think anything of it other than that the baby might have short legs!
Please try not to worry, babies have growth spurts at different times and just a millimetre can make a big difference whilst they are still so small. Hope everything goes well, wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy x

[RainbowL2020]

Hi @LBB2020 thanks so much for your reply and lovely words, I wasn't sure whether anyone was going to see my post. I think it is the worry of the what ifs taking over my brain after scrolling and scrolling through different threads. There are so many different possible outcomes so it seems and It just shows really that without the amniocentesis it's just a case of waiting till my boy is here, all the best to you and your family x

[LBB2020]

I know it’s easier said than done but do try not to worry and just enjoy your pregnancy! (maybe step away from google ). All the best x

[Wavingwhiledrowning]

DD3 was off the bottom of the scale with her leg measurements. I was so worried. I kept asking about it, and kept being told not to worry. I really did worry, but I should have listened.
She's 18 months now. Dinky but perfect. She does have shorter legs than her peers, without a doubt, but not in a way that makes me think something is awry. I was always shorter than all my friends but caught up in secondary school
I'm assuming the same for her. But if not... Not a big deal. What she lacks in leg length she makes up for in everything else!
Try not to worry. Enjoy this time. X

[bigbella26]

My sister had what sounds a very similar experience to you with thankfully a happy outcome. My niece's limbs were measuring very small from 20 weeks but all else fine. She had an amniocentesis to rule out Chromosome abnormality but then really couldn't tell what was going wrong. Dwarfism was stated to be the most likely outcome and my poor sister had such a stressful pregnancy . Then at 34 weeks she got severe pre eclampsia and had to have an emergency delivery to save her life. Thankfully she was ok and my now 10 year old niece was born weighing 2 lbs 4oz. She was tiny and incubated but healthy. It turns out that my sister had a rare doorstep called Hughes Syndrome (sticky blood). This caused a clot in her placenta leaving baby struggling to grow.
As a result I was prescribed baby aspirin for my pregnancies due to family history.

[RainbowL2020]

Thanks for your messages 😊

@Wavingwhiledrowning great to hear everything turned out ok with your DD! Can you remember where she was on the percentile chart? Also was everything else measuring "average"? That was my concern really because he doesn't seem to be small everywhere just his arms and legs but they have written on my notes "more likely small baby, less likely chromosome issue" so hoping he may still catch up because others have said they've had growth spurts later on at 32+ weeks x

@bigbella26 thanks for sharing your sisters story glad everything turned out ok! It does sounds very similar to me and I too am on baby asprin because my mam had pre eclampsia with me and I was only small born (5.14) so maybe taking after her. I get my blood pressure checked weekly but it's only been quite high once when I was about 9 weeks pregnant ever since then they've monitored it but always been normal 🤷🏻‍♀️ I worried about all the heavy bleeding I had earlier in the pregnancy too x

[JustWantToFindANewUserName]

@RainbowL2020 - usually they measured less than the 10th percentile. A couple of times they measured right at the bottom of the scale. I had gestational diabetes so had growth scans every week or so. I totally couldn't understand why no one was concerned given everything Google told me about such things!!
Now she's 18 months she's in the right size clothes on her top half, but nowhere near the point of growing out of 12-18 months stuff on her legs. Nothing to worry about though. At her last check up she measured on the 10th percentile for height, so she's just short!!

[JustWantToFindANewUserName]

Oops! Different user name! I'm Wavingwhiledrowning!

[RainbowL2020]

@justwanttofindanewusername aw bless her at least she's all fine and healthy that's all I'm hoping for 😊ah ok yeah mine has always been under the 10th too (highest being 9th at 23 weeks then back down to 3rd again at 28 weeks) will see what they say at my next scan on Wednesday. Deffo feels like he has grown these past 2 weeks felt lots of stretching aches and constant pressure under my ribs! X

[RainbowL2020]

Hi all just to update I've been for my 30 weeks growth scan today and they said that he's still measuring between the 3/5th percentiles for his long bones (so they are measuring around 27 weeks) but he has followed his growth curve since last time. She said the plots on his chart would of had to of dropped a lot lower for them to be concerned and he is now estimated around 3lb so I'm happy with that 🥰 back in 2 weeks for another scan and then probably only one more after that to discuss delivery 🤭 hope everyone's else is doing ok! X

[RainbowL2020]

Hi all just wanted to update! After all the worrying my baby boy was born 19th July at 31w + 4 because I had a placental abruption. Turns out my placenta was never working as it should of been (even though every scan it was checked and always said to be fine) so my boys arms and legs measured small on their charts but absolutely healthy just small at 3lb 4! He's in NICU at the moment which is emotionally really tough but he's doing really well and progressing as he should. I am just so thankful that we were in the right place at the right time and my gorgeous boy is safe and well 💙 x

[bigbella26]

Just seen your update. Congratulations! I'm so pleased for you and hope that you and your son are doing well. It does appear to be similar to my sister whose placenta wasn't feeding my niece. You would never know that she had such a difficult start in life now (almost 11 years on). She's excelling at school and is one of the tallest (after being tiny up until 3). I'm sure your son will make the same progress.

[RainbowL2020]

Hi @bigbella26 aww thank you yeah it does sound like very similar circumstances, we're both doing well thanks and my boy is now 4lb 10 and should be ready to come home as soon as he starts feeding properly regularly without his tube 🥰 x