Early / underweight baby

[swipex341]

I'm nearly 34 weeks now and my baby isn't growing so well. There has been talk of induction in the next week or so and possibly c section as the baby could be too small to cope with labour.. I've been given my first steroid injection today and having another tomorrow.
I'm scared and I can't sleep properly as I'm so worried about it all. Baby currently weighs under 3lb still. I'm wondering if I could maybe opt for the section as I feel it would be less traumatic for him and for me. Any advice ?

Sorry to hear you're going through this, it sounds very stressful. A good friend of mine had a c-section at 34 weeks for the same reason (her baby was 3lb 12 oz). I would agree that labour might be too much of a strain for him.

In my friend's case, both she and the baby stayed in hospital for some time after the birth so you will have time to recover from the c-section. And she now has a happy little 3-year-old with no lasting signs of being premature. Good luck xx

All the best! My consultant is talking of getting my baby out around that time as my placenta is breaking up. She said 34 weeks is a really safe time so hopefully all will be well for you. I hope you get the labohr you want or c section, cant imagine they would deny you a c section given the circumstances. Keep us updated whenever you get a chance. Sending lots of love to you and baby xx

My friend got induced for the same reason as they said the baby weight 3lbs 4oz. But the baby was actually 6lbs 7oz when born. Not trying to give you false hope but size scans are always accurate so try not to worry too much!

This is true. DS1 was born at 34 weeks. The day beforehand a scan estimated he would be 4lb - he was 5lb 0oz, which is still small but a whole 25% bigger than their prediction.

I would opt for a section in your position.
DD was born at 35+5 and was only 4lbs 13. She had a spell in NICU due to not regulating her temperature or blood sugar and she developed jaundice. All very common for pre-term or small babies.

I don’t think that they would deny you a c-section either. Although I was told I’d be having a small baby, I’m quite small myself and he was born at 38+1 at 6lb 8oz. Although obviously my Consultant was quite happy with his growth or I would have had him earlier.

Forgot to say, there is a really useful premature birth section on MN where some experienced MNers hang out

This article on feeding your premature baby might be useful too

Ion

W

Bing have you been doing the “pot”?

I recently had a failed induction followed by csection at 34 weeks. Baby was 4lb 7oz (roughly what was predicted) she had a 24 hour stay in NICU and then moved on to a transitional ward for 10 days. We’ve been home for a few weeks and have the neonatal outreach team come out to see us weekly to check on the little one. She’s been doing great, and with the other possible outcomes I would choose to do it all over again (although maybe go straight for the section!) the steroids will put baby in a very good position so don’t worry too much. It’s a tough journey and not what you imagined but they are so worth it! 😍

My twins were born via emcs at 35+1 as one of them had stopped moving - he had IUGR but they missed it. He was 3.5lb, his twin was 4.5lb.

The bigger one had a 17 day stay first in nicu then special care. The smaller one was diagnosed with a rare illness so he was in for two months in order to get him stable. He would have been home long before that if he didn’t have that complication.

I would certainly ask about going straight to a section, I think I would want one in that situation, not that I had a chance. It’s great that they’ve picked up on it and are giving you the steroids and monitoring you more closely as we didn’t get any of that - only found out how bad things were by chance really.

If you have any reduced movement in the meantime, play it very safe and go get checked out.

Only just realised what time it was when you posted. How are you today @swipex341? Have you had the second injection?

My youngest was born early (ish) at 37 weeks after failing to grow. She was a tiny 3lbs10oz delivered by CSection.

Her bloods were tested every few hours and she was fine, we were discharged after 3 days.

She didn't wake much, breast fed well and loved very warm baths thanks to an amazing midwife in the hospital. She would roll her eyes, sigh and relax totally.

The community midwives were concerned at her weight over the next few weeks, but she was feeding well and was just slow to catch up.

She caught up with herself at about 4 months old and she could wear the clothes I'd bought for her as a newborn.
I recall her being a very easy baby as she slept a lot.

Wishing you all the very best with your baby.

Hi there. Sorry you're going through this. I think you need to speak to your consultants re the risks of induction vs CS in your specific case.

With DD1 I was induced at 40+5 as the placenta was failing. I ended up having an EMCS before I'd had a single contraction. She had IUGR (5lb 7oz so under 3rd %) and got distressed 12 hours into induction. Apparently IUGR babies often struggle in labour. I was monitored throughout though and they had her out in 20min of the CTG showing up problems so her APGAR score was 9/10/10. The Dr said the CS was the right decision though as she was so small that she wouldn't have coped with labour.

With DD2 there was talk of delivering her early from 34w as the placenta was failing again and she was falling under the 10%. That time I would have gone straight to ELCS as my hospital won't induce after a CS as it increases the risk of uterine rupture. As it turned out DD2 had a growth spurt and arrived spontaneously at 38+1.

In the same situation again I would give induction a shot as I wanted more than 1 child and a CS leads to limitations in later births. I was also really happy with the level of care - the Drs were super vigilant during the induction (at the time I thought overcautious) but they were like a SWAT team and had the baby out at the first sign of a problem. Also with DD2 I was monitored throughout but laboured standing up without any pain relief which I think really helped. So even with constant monitoring and induction you can still have an active labour.

When I was facing early delivery around 34w I was obviously also worried about the baby being born at that gestation. The consultant laughed and said that babies at that stage are practically toddlers compared to the premature babies they are used to dealing with!

I hope that helps and wish you lots of luck.

Hi guys thank you for all of your replies. Saw consultant today and spent quite some time on the ctg. my fluid is now low and baby's heart rate was low so I'm back in tomorrow for monitoring then talk of induction on Friday if he's still not happy. We discussed the section and we have agreed that if gels and pessaries don't work then I can go to section. Consultant was amazing with me. So pleased. Had second steroid too which wasn't so bad apart from the initial aching / burning xx

Just wanted to say good luck x

So glad you’ve had a good discussion with your Consultant and a second injection. I’d take your bag with you tomorrow and plenty of snacks, some flip flops for the bathroom and MN. Good Luck

Just thought of one more thing, plenty of change for the car park

I had a c section at 36 weeks due to iugr. 4lbs 3oz. He had a week in nicu but now a fab 9 year old. He's very skinny and looks like he'll always be but healthy.

Next boy was 37 weeks and 5lb 5oz. He's now 15months and a chubster

That's good news that you've got such a good consultant! Wishing you and your baby all the best!

My dd had iugr and was born at 30 weeks via c section. She weighed 980g (2lb 5oz), she's almost 4 now and doing well.

She's quite a bit smaller than her peers, but at the same stage with them in every other way.

It's scary and traumatic having a premature delivery, but if you end up having a c section, it's only my experience but honestly it was fine and recovery from c section was fine too.

NICU I found cope-able, the tubes, wires beeps and smells are OK when you get used to them. Your baby might not need to stay that long, but however much time they do spend they will receive excellent care and there were even some positives for us such as taking home a calm, sleep trained baby at the end.

I hope it goes well for you!

I’ll be thinking about you today OP. Keep us all updated on how you’re getting on

Hi guys today wasn't too bad. Had a ctg and heart rate was good although he isn't moving much at all. I think I have a urine infection too so they've sent that off and waiting for results now. Scan tomorrow !