28 weeks slow growth

[breakfastdinnerandtea]

I had my 28 week scan yesterday and both babies are estimated 2lb 3oz which has dropped off the growth charts, less than 3rd centile. Naturally, I’m worried. I have a scan with fetal medicine in 2 weeks time. What does this mean for my babies? Is there something wrong with them? I’m used to having big babies (over 9lb), so these tiny little things are way out of the norm for me.

Can anyone help please?

hi! I didn't want to read and run. One of my twins was growth restricted and was weighing around 2lb at 28 weeks. He was born at 34 weeks completely fine at about 3lb 9, just had a bit of growing to do. Do you have a twin specialist midwife who you can talk about this with?

I had many many scans with the fetal medicine team - they will look at all the Dopplers and measure blood flow for both babies, measure amniotic fluid etc and will talk to you about a plan.

the twins trust is a great resource and they have a free helpline you can also call

Thank you so much for your reply. I think there is a twin specialist midwife in my trust but I haven’t met her. My consultant will be scanning me himself in 2 weeks so can review and report the scan then and there which is good.
I’m just so worried. I’ve never had a small baby before, never even had the risk of a small baby. I’ve just got all these things flying around in my head and having a complete panic.

It is really scary and I remember the worry all too well. I suppose there are a couple of things to bear in mind:

(1) the growth scans can be a bit misleading so there's scope for inaccuracy - my fetal medicine scans were pretty close to the mark but I've certainly had friends who were flagged for low growth by the sonographers who ended up having massive babies so it's not foolproof!

(2) I would ask to be put under your twin midwife as soon as possible especially now that there are potential complications. I think best practice is that you should be meeting with a twin specialist midwife every couple of weeks if you are MCDA or every four weeks if you are DCDA. The twins trust have really good information about what the standard of care is which you can use to advocate for yourself.

(3) you are already 28 weeks along which is great news. My complications were identified at week 16 and 28 weeks was my target in my head to get to. Every week from now the chances of having healthy babies do get better and better, so hopefully you are on the right track.

It is really scary, especially the waiting game, so look after yourself as much as you can.

The twins trust website is really good and there is a helpline too: https://twinstrust.org/supporting-you/helpline.html

Thank you so much. I feel a little better about it all. I think Dr Google was the worst thing I could have done. DH has told me off for looking. I work in theatres so I know exactly what can happen if I go flying through the door for a cat1 section with preemies so I’ve just got all kinds flying around my head.

Mine are DCDA and I see my consultant every 4 weeks. I’m due to see fetal medicine in 2 weeks and it’s him going to scan me apparently which I’m relieved about. I was hoping that it was just a bit of inaccurate scanning as it’s twins and I’m pretty overweight so a bit more difficult than normal. I definitely don’t think they’ll be massive though, I don’t think I’m that big for twins, but I guessed that was because they were hiding under my already enormous belly 😂

My last PG was a singleton but I just wanted to say what happened. I had many, many scans as they thought she was going to be small. Weekly at one point. She was 8lb 3iz at birth. Scans can be wildly inaccurate.