Small baby - tell me your experiences

[needanappp]

Hi all,

I am 32 weeks pregnant and baby is measuring very small according to FH so I am awaiting a growth scan on Thursday. Shes actually been measuring small for 7 weeks but I've only recently discovered I should have been being monitored and that my first midwife failed to set my care up correctly.

I know FH are a load of crap (they were wrong for my DS, he was born 7th centile but this was never picked up as I had excess fluid so I had a 50th centile bump). So it wouldn't surprise me if my second baby is small and around the same size as my DS but I can't help but worry! Of course it's always better to know so that things can be properly managed and planned for but with DS I didn't know so had nothing to worry about!

I was just wondering, for those who were monitored due to smaller babies, how was the rest of your pregnancy with regards to birth plans? Were you just monitored and went full term, were you induced or offered an induction? I'm just curious as to what others experienced and what I may be likely to experience.

U obviously have dinky babies, and if it's been small for the last 7 weeks I wouldn't be concerned, it's usually a risk when they've grown at a certain pace then it suddenly drops!
My last baby was 'high risk' small baby, monitoring every day, induced at 38+2..
Everyone anticipating this tiny baby to drop out... the first thing I said was 'is she tiny' I was so worried, midwife was like 'oh! No she isn't'
Healthy 6lb 5oz baby girl!

They air on the side of caution I guess we should be grateful for that but ul be fine..

@Bigonesmallone3 thank you I've always said to them I think I just have small babies! I think they're worried because I had an appointment with a stand in midwife last week. She had me at 30cm meaning I'd grown 5cm in 3 weeks but yesterday my new midwife measured me at 26cm so they're not sure what happened or how there!

God they don't half worry you do they?! I bet she'd have absolutely been an "average" weight at term then! At least she arrived safe and sound and as you say I suppose it's best to be cautious but they don't half worry you!

That happened to me too..
I always said if I was left she probably would have come out at exactly the same as DS who was 7lb 1oz at 40 weeks exactly..

My lack of water was a contributing factor to the induction.. but yes she arrived safe and sound :)
I'm 12 weeks with my third now and I pray I'm left alone lol..

I hope everything works out for u and they don't cause u too much stress x

I'll pray for you too haha but I do agree with you that some people obviously make dinky babies! They can't expect you to suddenly pop out an "average" 8lber based on your previous children!

Then again better to be probed and prodded to make sure baby is safe and well!

Congratulations on #3!

Thankyou.. please let me know what they say on ur scan.. they'll give u a weight there.. u have to allow about 25% or something as it's not completely accurate..

I'm having growth scans every four weeks and I also have my 32 week on Thursday. Bump was measuring 27 weeks last week but I know that's not an exact science! They are monitoring me because of hypertension and suspect pre eclampsia in last pregnancy (they induced straight away so never got official pre eclampsia diagnosis but my blood pressure remained high for three months after which has concerned them.)

At last growth scan baby was bang on between my lines so hopefully won't have dropped but the fact my bump hasn't grown since then is a bit of a worry. My daughter was 8lb 9 so I definitely don't produce small ones!

Morning

I had a small baby, was actually only picked up on my 37 week midwife check! I was induced but ended up asking for & having a c section at 37+1, it was terrifying but he is absolutely fine, he was 4lb 5oz, (scan est was 4lb 14oz) we stayed in hospital for a week after he was born & now is a healthy toddler who although on the slim side (buying trousers is a night mare as they all falldown!) No one would know he was tiny when born. Its great you are being monitored, part of my fear was as no one knew if he had stopped growing or always been tiny. Good luck, best wishes

@costacoffeecup ooh maybe your little ones had a growth spurt! I hope everything goes well for you and it's less stressful this time around!

@Justme1981 I'm so glad to hear your little one was born healthy! It must have been bloody scary to go through a section but he sounds like he's been a trooper since day 1!

I completely agree, it is worrying because you don't know what's happening in there! To be honest I never worried about DS because he was born, happened to be small but has always been healthy. But now I'm aware of this baby being small it's worrying to think has she always been small or has she stopped growing. Especially as, going by their FH measurements (which I'm praying are off) I've grown 1cm in 4 weeks which can't mean baby has grown much either!

It's funny how far away 2 days can seem isn't it?! Thank you all for sharing

I measured small for my baby (fundal height 5 weeks behind) by midwife and then was admitted to hospital due to placenta previa. Following massive bleed at hospital and they scanned and baby was measuring 5 weeks behind by scan too and they decided to bring section forward, she was born perfectly healthily (with a tiny bit proportionate head!) at 37+1 at 5lb 14oz. Other baby I measured normal by fundal height and she was born at 35+1 and 4lb 12oz. I think I just grow tiny babies who give up growing towards the end. Youngest is now 4 months and all caught up and 3.5 year old is 50% percentile for height and weight x

All 3 of my dc have been small, low birth weight babies. All have measured small from the 28 week scan onwards. My first and second pregnancy I was also border line gestational diabetic. My first was born at 36 weeks naturally and weighed 5lb 2oz. I was due to be induced but delivered before. 2nd dc born at 38+4 weighing 5lb again naturally. 3rd dc measured very small and gained very little weight from 32weeks, My consultant and midwife seemed unconcerned despite mine and was just left to it. It was only that a missed GD diagnosis at 38weeks resulting in a hospital clinic visit where a midwife was very concerned with measurements, and sent for immediate scan where I was booked in for continuous monitoring and immediate induction. Dc3 was born weighing 4lb 8oz, jaundiced. Spent week in neonatal with her, feeding was very difficult. I will add they are all perfectly healthy and very tall, but skinny despite their appetites. Currently pregnant with dc4 and not sure what to expect as according to my midwife DH and I should make massive babies.

If your last baby was 7th centile you probably should have been having growth scans from about 28 weeks rather than rely on FH measurements. The thing is that a small baby is just that, a small baby. The way that centiles work is that somebody has to be under the 10th but that doesn’t mean there’s a problem. The concern is when a baby starts off on a higher centile and then fails to grow as expected. What I suspect will happen is that they’ll want do a couple of scans at least a couple of weeks apart to track growth and then if they have concerns that baby is growth restricted rather than just a smaller than average baby they can plan induction at 37+ weeks (full term). Hopefully you just naturally have small babies OP

@NatureGal gosh you do make dinky babies! It just goes to show that when they tell you your baby should be big/small based on the parents, it doesn't really count for much! Congratulations on #4 I really hope it goes more smoothly for you this time!

@MadameJosephine you're exactly right! I actually only found out last week as I had a new midwife that my initial midwife set up my care completely wrong. I should have been seeing a consultant and as you say I should always have been booked for growth scans. But at least it's happening now and better late than never I suppose!

To be honest i think hope I just make small babies but their concern at the minute is that 4 weeks ago FH was 25 and is now only 26 so they're concerned growth has stunted. Obviously if I'd have been having the scans I was supposed to it would have probably been more conclusive that the FH measurements! For all I know exactly the same could have happened with DS but because he was never picked up as being small I'll never know! Just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings, it's been the longest 3 days I've known!

I was referred for a growth scan around 34 weeks because the midwife said I was measuring above the 90th centile. At the scan they said that I was actually measuring below the 5th. I was given steroid injections in case they needed to get him out early and then scans every week (growth scans every fortnight). They decided to induce me at 37.6 and my little one was born at 38 weeks weighing 4lbs (under the 0.4th centile). He was diagnosed with severe symmetrical IUGR and had a two week stay in the Neonatal Unit due to various complications. He's now 12 weeks and although he's growing slowly (still under the 0.4th but mostly following a curve) he's doing ok. They did all sorts of tests to try and figure out why he was so small but weren't able to get to the bottom of it. Fundal measurements and even the actual scans seem to be very inaccurate so try not to worry too much before hand. At least you have people monitoring you now who will try and act in the best interests of your baby. All the best.

My first was born at 34 weeks weighing 3lb11. I was monitored very regularly as I had Edwards syndrome in the placenta, so we knew from 28 weeks onwards it would be a planned c section once there was no more benefit to keeping her in the womb.

What several consultants and midwives told me was that size doesn't matter nearly as much as the number of weeks you get to. It's relatively easy for babies to put on more weight by just feeding them up after they're born in special care, but it's more worrying if they're born before lungs are properly developed. If you're already at 32 weeks that seems like a really positive thing... good luck, I hope all goes well!

I measured small at 36 weeks. It was pretty bad as fh measurements had always been on the low side but not investigated. Tge midwife asked me why in hadn’t been referred for a growth scan!! Anyway I had 2 scans. He grew significantly between the two and was born at a healthy 7lb 2oz despite bump being 4weeks behind in size.

How did it go today @needanappp? Hope all was well.

Hi all, sorry for the late check in, been a manic day! Thank you again for all sharing your experiences, I really appreciate the support

The scan was absolutely fine, baby is actually a healthy 4lb1 (give or take a margin for error) and fluid levels normal! They're assuming that maybe the way she's been laying has affected the bump measurements. If my FH measurements are low I will be sent for a scan again as the midwives have to refer which is understandable but I'm much more confident that everything is okay now! This one may end being rather larger than her brother haha!