Please tell me about your IUGR babies' growth (post birth)

[sleepwhenidie]

Four months ago, after a pregnancy that was very stressful due to concerns about DS's size from 20 week scan onwards, I was induced at 37 weeks and gave birth to gorgeous DS who weighed 4lb 5oz. He has grown steadily, remaining around the 0.4th centile and after a few health hiccups (such as inguinal hernia and some concerns about his kidneys) is very happy and healthy, a huge relief.

I wonder what is typical in terms of growth now though - I have heard that IUGR babies catch up but is there any typical growth pattern, should he have jumped up the centiles by now? As long as he is healthy of course we don't care about his size, but I'd be interested in hearing other people's experiences so we know what we can expect....

Hi there,

Glad to hear your little one is happy and healthy

I don't have any answers but we're kind of in the same situation. I was induced at 38+4 due to severe pre-eclampsia (I'd had very high blood pressure and protein since 34 weeks but this had somehow been ignored). Baby son was born by EmCS in the end weighing 4lb 14oz and they said my placenta had been failing so he was classed as a IUGR baby.

He spent a while in the NICU but we're home now and he seems to be feeding OK and had increased to 5lb 7oz when he was weighed last week which is encouraging (he'll be three weeks old on Thursday).

I would like to know whether he can expect to jump up the centiles too (before the IUGR he had been on about the 50th) so I'll be watching this thread with interest.

I understand pre term babies tend to catch up but I haven't been able to find much out about the long term growth of IUGR babies.

Hello
My DGS had IUGR which I believe is caused by poor placental performance. DGS looked small for dates on a late scan. Unfortunately because my daughter is only 5'1 it was put down to maternal height. Anyway at 37 weeks the placenta abrupted and she and DGS nearly died, if fact DGS did have some brain damage and has mild cerebral palsy - so you are very very lucky! Her placenta had dead areas all over it and DGS was only 4 1/2 lbs.

He is still not on the weight chart at 20 months but is for height, but also a poor eater so a major factor I think. I have read that babies with IUGR can take several years to catch up on charts but the rest of their development should be fine.

The only specific thing with DGS and the IUGR is that his gorgeous little top teeth have just crumbled away. The dentist said it is because the placenta could not lay down enough nutrients for strong enamel and gave it a name (cant remember what) Anyway his top teeth started going brown and crumbled away and its possible small other areas are affected. The top 4 are a lost cause though his molars are still looking healthy. Its heartbreaking to see but the dentist said the second teeth will be fine.

hi,
I had the same symptoms as asparagusaddict had emergency section at 35wks due to the same , but was diagnosed at 30wks for pre-eclampsia so had steroids for the babies lungs hense no NICU even though he only weighed 4lb13oz.
They said they didnt know what caused the IUGR , but All seemed to co inside with all the medication they were pumping into me from 30wks to get me to 35weeks....

I guess we have been very lucky with the outcome it could have been very different had i not had a scan at 35weeks

He had caught up with his weight by 8months, and hit all his physical milstones the same as any other baby.
Only things I noticed were he was very late with his first teeth (12months) and still has a lot of dark hair going down his back.
He's now a very tall healthy 8yr old boy with no problems.

thanks theselegs. Interesting and encouraging story. Did your DS jump up centiles when he was little? He was quite a bit bigger than my DS though I think - almost 5lbs sounds about right for 35weeks? My DS didn't need NICU either, just a few days in hospital to get blood sugar up and 12hrs of light blanket for jaundice.

Sorry to hear about your DGS beammeupscotty, I know we are very lucky. I had never heard of problems with teeth before so will keep that in mind.

Anyone else please?

My DS1 was born at 38 weeks and was 5lb

He jumped up a few centile lines for the first few months. It then dropeed a bit when he was about 14 months (the HV told me to feed him crisps. chocolate and cake
I ignored her obviously, he was just very fussy - it started to even out - he has more of less stayed on the same centile lines since he was about 2.

He was referred to the Paed after his reception year check up because he was small but Paed wasnt in the least bit interested as he had stayed on the line and growth was steady.

He has now got out of his fussy eating stage and at 9 eats everything and is constantly hungry! He is still quite small for his age but all in proportion - he is catching up slowly i think but probably burns up most of what he eats as he's constantly on the go

My ds was born at 42 weeks and was 5lb 13oz, gave everyone a bit of a shock at how tiny he was for 42 weeks, noone had realised I'd had undiagnosed pre-eclampsia for quite a while which had affected placental function.

He stayed small for his age until he was about 4 and then he began to catch up. Now at nearly 6 he's perfectly average, 50th percentile for weight and height and doesn't stand out amongst his peers.

My DS (a twin) was born at 37 weeks and 5lb 6 after not really growing for about 4 weeks due to pre-eclampsia. He wasn't really into breastfeeding (unlike his brother) and was EBF - he bumbled along a line below 0.4th centile right up till 6 months when we started BLW, when he started really noshing down. He's now 8 months and nearly at 50th centile.

sleepwhenidie he hadnt grown since 32 week scan so i guess thats why they classed him as IUGR. My DS2 was around the 5lb mark at his 32 weekscan and was born at 38wks weighing 8lb6.

Looking at DS1 red book for weight he was between 9th to 50th after 18weeks, for length on the 75th by 16weeks ,head 75th until 10months then dropped to 50th, he did have a very big head

As long as your little one is healthy, happy and feeding well then i really wouldnt worry, all children develope differently

Ds2 was born at 38 weeks, 4lb 15. He reached the 0.4th centile at 4 weeks, then hit the 2nd by (10 months). He is now 4.3 and is in the 9th. Certainly not noticeably smaller than his peers. I'd say from about 3 yrs, he had caught up to his natural size.

Fortunately, he has had no problems relating to his IUGR.

Hope this helps. Congratulations on your baby son!

sleepwhenidie, my ds, like you was born at 37 weeks after placental insufficiency stopped him growing. He was 3lb 14oz when born but was healthy but just skin and bone.

He is now coming up to 4 and is on the 50th for his weight and height so is perfectly normal and healthy. He'd got up to about the 25th by his first birthday so he jumped percentiles quickly but then judging by the size of his head he should have been a big baby and he has always been a good eater.

The only thing I noticed compared to his peers is that he was later on his physical milestones - not late but towards the back end. I put some of that down to the fact he spent the first three months doing nothing but troughing - his personal weight gain best was 22oz in two weeks - from 6lb to just shy of 8lbs!!!

I don't know about centiles later on...but DD was born at term (10 days pre EDD spontaneous birth after being booked for induction a couple of days later) weighing 5lb, for an unknown reason but likely problem with the placenta (which is why they were going to induce me). She appeared to stop growing at 37wks. She grew just under the centiles, and dropped a bit concerning all but me DH and her! There was absolutely nothing wrong with her eating, growing, milestones.

We had some issues with the HV/my breastfeeding (my fault apparantly that she was not gaining weight) and I stopped going. She never went through the centiles.

However, she is now almost 4 and in 3-4 clothes for her top half and 2-3, sometimes 3-4 for her bottom, size 8 feet. She appears to be neither particularly tall or particularly short for her age, with peers being both taller than her and shorter than her. I guess she started to have major growth spurts at around 2-3? She just got taller and leaner.

Thank you for a delicious meal on Saturday and for a lovely cuddle with your gorgeous ds. I came away feeling horribly broody . Thank goodness for a new house to take my mind off it! xxxxxx

With regard to development, DD has never had an issues around either physical or mental development, has an excellent immune system, and her teeth are very strong and sound according to dentist at last appt! Not gloating sorry if it sounds that way, just reassuring that IUGR does not necessarily mean any issues whatsoever other than being petit for a while.

Thanks everyone, all pretty good news, particularly yours Pavlov (the teeth thing was a brand new worry for me after everything else!) Instinctively I think that DS will be just like his big brother and end up just average, or between 25-50th centile, which would be great, but we are thrilled that after 6 months of worrying about him he is healthy and happy so if he stays at 0.4th then that is fine too .

Hi Littlefish - DS got discharged yesterday - no more scans, antibiotics or hospital appointments, hurrah! Glad you enjoyed Saturday, hope to see you again soon. I think we will be around this weekend as the weather looks so good. Give us a shout.x

I might dig out her measuring stick, its here somewhere. I can see then when her growth spurts where, from about 2...

...between 13 June 2008 (just over 2) and 28 Sept 08, she grew 5cm (1cm between 23 June and 11 July)

between 28 sept and 2 nov 08 she grew 1cm.

between 2 nov and 30 jan 09 she grew 3.5cm.

30 jan and 7 May 09 she grew 3cm.

Then we stopped measuring due to building work and removal of her stick! And so between May 09 and April 10 she grew 9 cm, who knows when, but some mornings I swear her trousers are suddenly half mast!

Sleepwhenidie - fantastic news that he's been discharged! WoooooooooHoooooooo.

We are around this weekend (dh is playing cricket on Saturday) - do you fancy coming up for breakfast on Sunday?

hello every1
i am 31 week 2 days pregnent. i ve diagnosis by baby with syymitracial iugr in 28 week . babies growth was 5% on 28 th week scan. on 30 th week scan % was same but dr said baby is growing with normal aminiotic fluid , gud fetul movements and other finding normal. i was littlle relaxed. but last 2 days was feeling less fetus movement so went for scanning n dr said baby AC has declined.241.7 to 230.0 which is a matter of concern. she put me on nst and given steroids. she told me to again for 2 does of steroids n nst n scan. she ll do the delivery by this week within itself.in my 32 week end or 33 week start. dont understand what should i do?

My son was born with iugr which was sadly undx so we had a shock :( he was 4 lbs 15oz born at 37.5 weeks.
I won't lie and say his first weeks/months were easy because they weren't but he had very (in my opinion) sub standard care.
The good news is that after weaning he really started to pile the weight on and by a year old was on the 75th centile :)
He is now a strapping 10 year old :)

My son was born with IUGR, diagnosed at the 20 wk scan. From then on I was at the hospital every week for scans and heartbeat monitoring. He was born by EmCS at 38 wks, and was 5lb 15oz. He had trouble with appetite to start off with, but once I'd ditched the breastfeeding and moved to bottles, he did really well, and in fact was weaned at 13 wks on the advice of the health visitor as he needed more than milk could provide, and I was having to feed him 6-8oz of the thicker formula every 2-2.5 hrs! Since then, he has more than caught his classmates up - he's not the tallest in the class, but he's not far off. His physical development has been fine (he plays a lot of sport, particularly tennis and swimming), his teeth are more than fine according to dentist. His mental development has been v good - pretty much top of his class in most things with a particular bent to science, maths and history, and a reading age 2-3 yrs in advance of his actual age. Like earlier poster, my message is that IUGR doesn't necessarily mean any problems as they grow up, so stay positive. My son is a happy, healthy 9 yr old now, and there's no stopping him 😄

Zombie thread Lilibet, the child in question would be six now

Glad your son is ok though, mine is the same.