Early pregnancy baby measuring small

[RozziRaspberry]

Was in for early scan today as I started spotting last Wednesday, the spotting was brown never red and it stopped on Saturday.

I am fairly sure I became pregnant about 14 to 15 days past ovulation as dh left a few days later and has not been home since. They detected a heartbeat today but I was measuring between 6-7 weeks not the 8+2 I thought I was. Has this happened to anyone else and everything has been okay.

I had a miscarriage a year past June at 11+ weeks and I'm worried it is all going to go wrong again.

I wouldn't worry too much. I was induced at 37 weeks because I was spotting and a scan showed my baby was "dangerously small" and would stand a better chance of survival if delivered early. I had a long labour and eventual cesarean. My son was born weighing 7lb 7oz. Not small at all. Doctors don't always get it right.

OP congratulations on seeing the heartbeat! How exciting although sorry you've been given stressful news too.

My DD measured small up until 12 weeks (I had ivf so had a LOT of scans). All the sonographers told me the heartbeat was the most important indicator that everything was going well. They said there is a huge margin for error in measuring babies that small and that the margins are +/- almost a week at that stage anyway.

Also remember that embryos can implant anytime between 4 days after conception and 12 days after conception so your LO could just have taken his / her time to find a snuggly place to hunker down for the next nine months in which case he / she would measure later than you are expecting.

One of my ivf drs said she had ivf/icsi twins who measured 6 days apart because they'd implanted at different times.

I know it's impossible not to stress but do remember that they don't always measure a fetus exactly right (we had two sonographers measure ours differently at the same scan) and that the size they base their stats on are averages rather than laws.

Good luck and congrats again

X

I agree with Ginshizz. I've had 4 kids and was told with every one that I wasn't as far on as I thought myself to be. I wouldn't worry about the spotting either. I spotted through every pregnancy, though I appreciate that's easier said than done when you've miscarried previously.

Thank you for your replies. I have a private scan booked for Saturday that was already arranged a few weeks ago as dh cannot get home for my 12 week scan at the end of the month so it will be interesting to see what the measurements are then.

The hospital did not seem concerned that the dates were out, so I was fine until I got home and started to think about it and then decided to look up google which has unnerved me a bit.

Ginshizz it has made me feel a bit better to hear that you measured small and everything was okay. I thought that I would get confirmation today that everything was fine or that it had all gone wrong. I think it's the waiting that is the hardest part.

At my early scan I measured 6+6 when I thought I was 7+1. At my 12 week scan I measured 12+2 when I thought I was 12 weeks exactly. Just had a gender scan at 17 weeks (according to 12 week scan dates) and they measured me 3 days ahead.

So don't worry too much about dates/sizes in the early weeks as they can change so much. Even people who go through IVF have dates that don't seem to match up properly so it's not an exact science.

OP I know the waiting is the worst!

But honestly, all the sonographers said the heartbeat is the main thing to look out for. I was especially neurotic because of the ivf as I knew exactly when conception had occurred (even the exact time of day!) but they were all really relaxed about the size as DD's growth rate and heartbeat were both good.

Their main concern was to make sure I had my 12 week scan at the right time given DD's size!

here is something that sets out the margin for error with sonogram dating.

I hope you get good news on Saturday ... Shout if you need handholding or distracting as I know it's tricky to stay sane.

Xx

rozziraspberry try not to worry. the same thing happened to me; went in for an early scan at what I thought was over 7 weeks but although they found a heartbeat they said I was measuring more like 5, but emphasised how difficult it was to get an accurate measurement when everything is that small. They told me to come back in 2 weeks time at which point they were happy with my measurements as being approx 7 weeks (so my dates were out all along), but then when I went for my nuchal scan at what I thought was about 12 weeks, I turned out to be 13+5! Babies grow at different rates especially at the start, and it is hard to measure accurately at that stage. (I'm now 25+4 and measuring fine). Seeing a heartbeat is a really positive milestone so congratulations!

Thought I would update and say thank you to everyone that posted, sadly it was confirmed at the private scan that there was no heartbeat. The sonograher phoned the hospital and we got an appointment to go in on the Monday. The hospital did another scan and also did an internal scan to officially confirm that the pregnancy was no longer viable.

Oh Rozzi, I'm really sorry to hear that. Have been through 2 m/c myself, and it's just heartbreaking.

There's good support & info on the miscarriage boards if you feel able to take a look

Take care of yourself