Amniocentesis offered for small baby

[Jadeelise]

Hello just looking for women who’ve been through something similar!

I'm 31 weeks pregnant with my second baby. First pregnancy had no issues and he was born at 39 weeks weighing 8lbs 12oz.

i think it’s important to recognise my second baby is a girl and has a different dad. I’ve always carried small, even with my first, however 28 weeks they sent me for a growth scan due to the size of my bump.

baby girl is showing on the 3rd percentile. I’ve had a couple of growth scans since then, she went down to 1.2 percentile, then 1.8 and now is back to 3. I saw a consultant yesterday who mentioned it could be to do with a viral infection I had early on in pregnancy that I showered no symptoms of? So did a blood test for that. She said the second option was the placenta not working properly however all Dopplers have been fine. They then offered us an amniocentesis.

now I don’t think we’re going to take the amniocentesis, but my head is a shed. They’re going to induce me at 37 weeks due to her size (hospital policy apparently) but I can’t spend the next 5 weeks like this. I’m constantly crying and upset thinking my baby might have something majorly wrong??? However I’m always aware she may pop out absolutely fine and this will all be for nothing!

she’s currently weighing 3.1lbs (the average size for a baby of her gestation is 3.3–3.9) so surely she’s not that far behind??

im also low risk for DS, Edwards and Patu and all her limbs are proportionate.

has anyway been through this and had a healthy smaller baby??

TIA x

Yes, my first pregnancy sounds very similar to your experience now. I had a healthy 6lb 0oz baby spontaneously at 41 weeks.

Amazing!!! Is there a reason they didn’t induce you?? I really don’t want an induction but they’ve said it wouldn’t be an option to go full term 😶

It was never even suggested to me, until I got to 41 weeks, but then I went into labour naturally anyway.

I don't know all of your or your babies history so maybe there is something else that is making them want to induce as well. I just had regular checks on the baby and the placenta function and that was it.

It is always an option to refuse induction though. They can't make you do anything.

Literally nothing apart from her being small! I’m having Doppler checks every week and growth scans every two weeks so im hoping she piles on some pounds!

Hi OP, you might want to have a look at the RCOG guidelines for small babies, it might help you understand why they are offering you early induction

https://www.rcog.org.uk/guidance/browse-all-guidance/green-top-guidelines/small-for-gestational-age-fetus-and-a-growth-restricted-fetus-investigation-and-care-green-top-guideline-no-31/

My fingers are crossed that she starts to put on some chunk too!

I would really question them on why they want to induce, in that case. Like I said, it was never suggested to me, and my Dr never seemed concerned about it at all.

Unless there is another issue than just small proportially, I wouldn't have the amniocentesis. They are doing doppler checks so can see if the placenta is working ok.

I had it at 20 weeks but other issues were identified so it was necessary.

But I also don't put much weight in growth scans so I may be bias. My third was predicted to be huge (8lbs at 36 weeks!) and she popped out at 39 weeks at 7lb 1oz. I had alot of scans throughout that pregnancy and they were convinced she would be huge if I went full term. Good job I wanted it out until 39 weeks (naturally in the end)

hi @Jadeelise i have just given birth to a small baby - she was 2,750 kg (the scan showed she’s about 2,5 kg).
It seems that my the placenta was not working properly the last few weeks, even all Dopplers have been fine. I started showing preeclampsia signs, she dropped in growth in the last 2 weeks and I had an Emergency c section at 39 weeks exactly.
She’s perfect, just small. Her weight dropped after birth, but now going up with constant breastfeeding.

This is another issue! The consultant also said that they usually guess small babies to be smaller than they actually are. So
how trustworthy are the scans? If I didn’t know any of this I wouldn’t have even guessed there could be an issue. She’s such an active baby, she’s been head down for a few weeks now and bloody hell she packs a punch haha

Im so glad you had a healthy little one!! That’s honestly what I’m hoping for her, I don’t care how big or small she is I just want her here in my arms. I find it really strange how they can say it’s an issue with the placenta but the Doppler scans not show anything wrong however!

I had this with my son,he was going on fine,then dropped,I was around 6 months,I had scans, specialist scans in one of the major maternity hospitals here in Ireland,tests to check my waters were still intact & I wasn't leaking (I wasn't),& after numerous scans I was told an amniocentesis was the best way to get to the root of it,my amniocentesis went off without a hitch & all results were fine,but at 36 weeks the decision was made to induce me as my son just wasn't growing,he was born at 36+1 at 4lbs 3 Oz,perfect but we spent 10 days in NICU where it was discovered by his heel prick test that he had hypothyroidism,we started medication at less than a week old,he 8 now & great,but for me I needed to do everything the medical professionals recommended as for me they know better than I do but that's a person choice .