Any experiences of low birth weight/ section at 37 weeks/ growth scans ? All the reassurance needed!

[Yelsgirl]

Baby has been measuring under the 5th percentile now for a good month, I’ve had a scan weekly- one Doppler then one growth following week and she’s growing along the curve even if she is just below the 5th.
I am currently 33 weeks and they’ve said they’ll do my section at 37?
Is this normal ?

I’m terrified she will be taken to special care when she’s born. Everything seems fine with her she just seems small. Has anyone had a smaller baby who gets to come home ?

Or anyone any experiences of weight at a 33 week scan and birth weight?

Too many questions I want answering and my consultant yesterday just seemed very laid back!

Do they have reasons for choosing section over induction at 37 weeks? Induction is nornally preferred at that stage, all other things being equal, because it helps the lungs. Do they think she might not cope with labour or do you have another risk factor?

I was induced at 37 weeks because of growth concerns (10th percentile and possible stalling) but baby came out healthy and normal birth weight. I think it all depends on birth weight and how she is when she comes out. At 5th percentile and a 37 week section then I think they probably have serious concerns and it's quite likely she will need help or monitoring of some kind.

One of my twins stopped growing around 32 weeks. They monitored them weekly, then twice weekly with scans. She was below the 2nd percentile. The other twin also dropped off around 35 weeks. At this point we were admitted to hospital for daily monitoring. They were born by ELCS at 36+1. They were very tiny but strong. They didn’t have any time in SCBU. Both had treatment for jaundice but were at my bedside from the start and we were home after 3 days.
They are now 13 months and still tiny on the growth charts, they’ve stayed at below the 2nd percentile, but they are healthy and developing perfectly.

Sorry I should have said I’m having a section due to a different underlying medical condition and I also had a section with my little boy a few years ago!
Did they estimate a weight for your little one before they arrived?

@bertramkibbler ah that’s reassuring thankyou! Do you mind if I ask what weight they were ? It’s just nerve wracking knowing I have no control over what will happen I just dread being in hospital and not having her next to me !

Exactly same thing happened to me - ended up in a section at 37 weeks due to IUGR with no identifiable cause. Wee one was born at 6lb exactly. Needed some resus at birth but didn't need any time in SCBU. Some issues with ongoing jaundice for 5 weeks but wasn't a major issue. Good luck!

@thenameisweasley 6lb sounds like a good size ! Did they expect baby to be smaller? At my most recent scan she was 3lb 4oz so in 4/5 weeks she’s only gained 600g. I just don’t know how much it’s possible for her to jump up now but I did read babies gain more weight towards end ?

I was monitored 3x a week towards the end as growth / weight was 9/10th centile overall but legs were 5th and not really growing at points. Hard to remember the details. I already had an Elective C section planned due to other issues, but was told it might move forward depending on the scans and would take it day by day.
Went until 39 weeks. Born 6 and half lbs no problems. Can’t remember what weight was according to scan at 33....

I got the impression that they just wanted growth to continue along same %tile, even if small and that blood flow and fluid around baby was fine. But yes, they were all very laid back!

They were both a little over 4.5 lbs. they looked very scrawny but still beautiful!

@calmingvibrations
I was under the same impression that as long as she grew up the curve they’d leave her- it wasn’t till I saw a consultant yesterday I said ‘ another doctor said if she stays below the 5th they’ll try to get me to 37 weeks is this right’

‘ yeah 37 weeks maybe earlier who knows’

The look of fear on my face must have been priceless

I think a change recently, though, is that growth is plotted on a personalised curve for the mother rather than a population one, and anything below 10th percentile on that curve is considered IUGR. It's part of the focus on reducing stillbirth - IUGR is a risk factor.

Ha! They were like that with me - a ‘take it one day at a time’. Put fear of god into me. No diagnosis was officially made at scan, but other notes eg midwife during monitoring said SGA so I googled that (as you do) and some seemed to say was same as IUGR and some said it was different.

I just tried to dig my scan notes out to check weight but can’t find them. No idea where they are then, if they weren’t where I thought they were...

I have small babies. I am small and Asian myself. But I also have placental issues. And it is hard to say what causes what. What a very large study has shown is that there is some link between two things and stillbirth- one is reduced foetal movement and the other is low birth weight. It may well be that this is why they want her to be born as soon as she is term.

Our son was born a low birth weight 2.5kg (5lb 8) the min of what is acceptable on bottom 2% due to a number of complications only spotted in the last couple of weeks so I had a c section at 38 weeks which all went very well. I was told initially I was having a large baby!!!

He did have low blood sugar, which is common and whilst I breastfed he needed topping up for the first couple of days with formula, we only found this when my midwife stopped by and he had slight shakes - one of the things I had wished we had been warned about as it was such an easy fix and he kept having to have his blood sugar taken and milk doesn't come in as quickly with a c-section! So just be aware, didn't impact breast feeding and the poor thing was probably hungry! Shot up to 75% and then settled on 50th after 6 weeks or so.

If your baby is small I receommend getting tiny / early baby clothes as they look so much better in an outfit that fits rather one that drowns them so to speak and they don't look so small then - more perfectly proportioned!

Good luck with it all! :)

My little girl had to be delivered at 37 weeks!
She didn't grow at all from 34 weeks and she was perfectly fine, she was 4lbs 12oz and had no problems whatsoever. Other than being super tiny and had to wrap her up all the time to keep her warm because she didn't have much fat on her.

If they're keeping a close eye and you have a section date I wouldn't worry!

Xx

I was induced at 37.5 as I had been measuring below the 10th centile. My little one was born at 38 weeks weighing 4lbs so actually below the 0.4th.

He had a bit of a tense delivery with his heart rate dropping and the cord round his neck but didn't need any resuscitation and had good apgar scores. He was admitted quite soon after to the SCBU with low blood sugar initially and whilst he has there they identified other complications (including an infection) so he was pretty poorly for a while.

We were in the SCBU for just over 2 weeks and have been home now for almost 2 weeks. He's doing well now. Up to 5lb 1oz so still only tiny and we need to be careful with him (we aren't really taking him out and need to be careful with visitors and germs etc whilst he is still pretty vulnerable).

He still has a bit of jaundice so we have been referred back to the hospital but hopefully that's not a cause for concern as he was having constant monitoring whilst in the SCBU.

I was only referred for a growth scan in the first place as the midwife thought I was measuring in the 95th centile so his actual size was a bit of a surprise! After extensive tests no cause was identified.

So, he's had a rocky start but hopefully making progress now and at the moment no long term complications have been identified. I was given steroid injections once he was identified as being small to help mature his lungs as they said in advance they would let me go as long as possible but induce as soon as there was a concern.

Try not to worry too much as it's really hard to say what your experience will be but rest assured if you do have to spend time in the SCBU they will be proving the best care possible.

Wishing you all the best.