Worrying news from 34 week scan - baby growth tailed off.

[Jaffacake]

Hi all,

Just had a rough night of fretting about what this means. I've been told my baby's growth has tailed off and in particular the head measurements and femur length seem to be well below average. Was too flustered to ask any pertinent questions. Does anyone have any idea what this could mean or indeed if it could mean nothing at all? Is it my fault? Have I been overdoing things or not eating the right foods? Help, am so anxious.

Hi Jaffacake

I was referred for further scans when pg with my DS and i'm sure at one point told was very small and were concerned with growth. had loads of blood tests etc which were all fine. At one point they thought he would be under 6lbs. You would need to ask more questions about your particular situation but sometimes they cant really tell from scans and when DS was born he was a healthy 7lbs 4oz. Hope this makes you feel a bit better but definitely ring your MW or the hospital to put your mind at rest.

All the best and keep us posted.

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They've arranged for me to see a consultant this afternoon, but I'm sitting here unable to concentrate on anyhting else and really wanted the advice of real women so I can tell if they're feeding me a load of old twaddle when I go the hospital.

I had this with one of my twins at about the same time. I was induced at about 35 weeks. After they were born we could see that the little twin only had about 1/3 of the placenta - so really wasn't getting enough of a share to keep growing well.

He was small (3lb 15oz) but fine, and is now a healthy busy (walking) 15 month old, but still small for his age.

I think it is usually a sign that the placenta is not functioning as well as it should and sometimes the baby is better off out than in.

Hope it works out ok for you.

Oh, I have posted on the other one

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Similar situation to oliveoil's friend really. We're being monitored over the next couple of weeks and if things don't improve, they'll induce me at 37 weeks - gulp. Placental blood flow is all fine, so they can't explain why her growth has tailed off so much. Am spending the next few weeks making sure that she has every opportunity for a growth spurt by focusing on high-protein foods and lots of rest. Hopefully, this will mean that I'll be able to carry her to full-term and go into labour naturally. Think this will work?

Good luck Jaffacake. I had a femur length scare at the 20 week scan, but had another one done and the measurements came out much better.

Jaffacake - I had a horrible sickness bug at about 34-36 weeks preg - lost 4kg of the 9kg I'd put on during the pregnancy. i was really worried it was affecting the baby but was sent into hospital for tests and told "Oh the baby's fine - they are like parasites - they take all the nutrition that's going - its only you who suffers!!!!!!"

So from this i conclude that you cant make your baby small ( at this stage anyway) just by not resting or not eating the right food ( coz I was very sick and ate practically nothing for two weeks ).

Please don't blame yourself - if it was something you had done the doctors would tell you so you could stop doing it. Its NOT YOUR FAULT

I too was reffered for further scans when pregnant with dd2. They went on and on at me about how small she was, but then when the consultant scanned me he said that in his opinion she just wasn't going to be a big baby, but there was nothing wrong with her.
I had her at 34 weeks, and she weighed 4lb 14oz, so they reckon had she been full term she would have been about 6lb.

Try not to worry.

Jaffacake - saw my friends baby over the weekend and he is a gorgeous bundle with lots of black hair, has had no bad effects from the problems in pregnancy apart from a bit of dry skin due to the lack of fluid in the womb (I think?).

How are things going, are you still being monitored? Are you eating lots and putting your feet up????

All good news, finally. It seems they were rather over-zealous at the original scan and nobody double-checked the measurements. After dh and I had an anxiety-filled several days, it transpires that although still fairly small, all is within reasonable bounds and she just won't be a ten-pounder - hurrah! Thanks all for your support, was really confidence-boosting. Just what we needed when we were so raw and emotional. What would we do without Mumsnet?