Placenta issues - 30 weeks! Help!

[char93]

Hi ladies.

I am just looking some advice and experiences really. I am 30 weeks today with a little boy! All was going really well so I thought until a routine growth scan at 28+5 (I have epilepsy) and they discovered that I had high umbilical artery resistance or hi PI in the umbilical artery.

I was then told I needed weekly Doppler and ctg and fortnightly growth scans! Fast forward to yesterday, our first Doppler and ctg and the resistance has now got worse and has periods of absent end distil flow.

I am now up to dopplers twice a week and have to go back on Monday: there's already been talks of early delivery and admittance into hospital just a bit petrified.. has anyone gone through this? Xx

[HolyMilkBoobiesBatman]

I had a similar experience with DC1.
From 30 weeks I was having CTG and dopplers taken twice weekly.
I don’t know when things started to ‘go wrong’ with my placenta as it was by pure chance it was picked up.

I took my bag to hospital with me to every appointment just in case. When the readings were particularly poor I was admitted and given CTGs twice daily until the call was made to deliver.
Have you had steroids yet?

[char93]

Hey!

No I still haven't had steroids. We had a Doppler done yesterday and got a reading that was showing only a little resistance but nothing to worry about. I'm concerned as I don't know how we could go to we need to think about steroids to oh look a normal reading in the space of 4 days especially when it was 2 bad dopplers before hand a week apart.
Almost don't trust the sonographer.

We are back tomorrow for a growth scan and Doppler and ctg so we shall see what they say!

How was your little one? Did you have to deliver early? Xx

[HolyMilkBoobiesBatman]

Glad you’ve had a better reading today.
The thing with scans and dopplers is that they can sometimes show quite different results based on how the baby is lying. DC1 was my prem baby so when I had DC2 I was being monitored much more closely throughout the entire pregnancy. I had a scan around 26weeks and the results showed that the baby had all but stopped growing and the dopplers were showing high resistance. I was booked in to see my consultant the next day and she rescanned me and as it turned out everything was absolutely fine. All dopplers were normal and there was around a 35% difference in measurements of baby if I remember correctly. It was all down to how DC2 was lying that totally threw off the first readings. That’s why regular check ups are so important at this point because then you get a bigger picture and they will be able to see a pattern if you see what I mean?


So DC1 was my prem baby that I said about in my previous post. In the end I delivered at 33+6. Severe IUGR (barely 2lbs at birth) but a relatively short SCBU stay all things considered.
I think the best advice for you right now is just to try and rest up as much as you can and try not to worry, I know it’s hard, but these premature babies are tiny warriors!
Whereabouts in the country are you? Does your hospital have a NICU/SCBU? Have you had any chance to talk to the neonatal team at all? I saw a lovely Dr a few days before DC was born which I think really helped to talk through what might happen after the birth.

[char93]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, it's definitely calmed me down a little! We are taking Mondays Doppler as a little win, I understand you don't always get them so take them when they come!

Growth scan and repeat Doppler today so they should see a bigger picture as to what's going on as they'll have 4 Doppler results and 2 weeks worth of growth to have a look at! Like you said it starts to give that bigger picture!!

I'm so glad your babies are all okay! Xx

[HolyMilkBoobiesBatman]

No problem!
Good luck today.

If you want to talk about it more you can always private message me - I don’t like to say too much personal info on the public posts but more than happy to talk over messages if there’s more I can help with.

[char93]

So we were right to not get too excited about that reading on Monday!
Today has shown that the blood flow is still restricted but little man is coping well with it. He’s grown well and they reckon he now weighs 3lb 8oz so he’s put 10oz on in 2 weeks so for the time being he’s coping!
Back up next Thursday for a repeat scan and another growth scan in 2 weeks.
So good news is it’s no worse, just the same! X

[HolyMilkBoobiesBatman]

Well the growth is great news, it suggests that even though the blood flow isn’t great he’s still getting lots of nutrients and energy to grow so keep doing all you’re doing, you’re doing great!

How far along are you now?

[char93]

Yeah! Whilst no one thinks it's gonna continue that way I'm happy that at the moment my body is managing to give him what he needs!
I'm 31 weeks tomorrow! Every week is a bonus now! Xx

[stillworkingitout]

I’m sure they’ve already stressed this information to you, but you need a really low threshold for going back in re: movements etc. I’m really pleased everything looks good for the moment, and absolutely baby should stay inside for as long as possible, as long as it’s safe for you both. Be kind to yourself, lots of rest, and call them if you’re at all worried.

[char93]

Yeah I was talking to the midwife about this yesterday! It's super hard because since Monday his movements have changed. He just seems a bit lazy. It's not that I'm not feeling him but instead of getting 5/6 movements and/or kicks in a row I now get like 2.

It's been the same since Monday. Went us Monday as I was concerned and the ctg showed that all was okay and obviously everything was okay yesterday. We think he may be changing his movement patterns but just gotta keep an eye on it until I get used to the new patterns xx

[stillworkingitout]

See that really concerns me - it’s a myth that babies slow down as thy grow. There is always a reason, and in your case we know that it’s likely to be related to umbilical artery pressure. Please just keep going back, any time you are concerned. Don’t worry if it’s only a day since you last went, just keep going

[char93]

Exactly that was my concern! Also didn't help we know he switched positions around Monday midday which is around about when the movements changed:

This morning he was using my hips as a lever to move for about 5 minutes which was super uncomfortable but he seems to be back to his bouncy little self constantly wriggling 😂😂
This child is going to give me a heart attack haha!

[stillworkingitout]

Maybe go so far as to write all the movements down. Sometimes babies show us they’re in trouble just by slowing down a bit. Don’t be afraid to keep letting them know your concerns, don’t be afraid to keep going back. A friend of mine has a miracle baby - popped in with reduced movements at full term and went straight into a cat 1 caesarean (general anaesthetic). Baby born with apgar of 1 or 2, but is now a very healthy primary school pupil