Small baby

[3rdtimemomma]

Hi everyone!

I messaged last week but just wanted to see if anyone else has been in the same situation or any experiences or stories to share.

I'll try cut it down.

Iv always measured small fundal height wise, from 28weeks I was just on the 10th centile but a midwife in triage ( went in for something unrelated) quickly measured my bump as she said it looked small and low and behold plotted below the 3rd centile.
I was sent for a growth scan and babies measurements plotted again just below the 3rd centile so at the moment they are saying baby is small.
My fundal height is 31cm and I'm 34 weeks (on Saturday)
I now have a Doppler scan Friday to check cord and placenta and blood flow etc and then growth scans a week on Friday and I presume every 2 weeks there after.

I'm just worried of them suggesting induction, would they only do this if they found a problem? They haven't said much at this stage.
I have been told I can't have a water birth as she falls outside the parameters of "normal" with regards to her size. So abit upset but that comes completely bottom of the pile compared to the health of my little girl.

Just not sure what to expect really, I can't imagine she's going to jump up centiles so quickly but I can only hope.

Anyone at all have any advice /stories/ experiences with similar xxx

They would generally move to induce if a problem crops up with blood flow to cord or if baby stops growing. its not about increasing centiles, but maintaining them as a minimum.

It's only a good thing to be monitored.

@physicskate Thankyou for the reply.

I hope if all comes back clear with blood flow etc and there are no problems causing her to be small that they can monitor and allow her to come when she's ready.

I just worry of how lower the centile is in which she's plotting, I guess if she's small with no problem and still following the third centile then it's just a case of she's small but healthy?

How big are you and the baby's dad?

Build wise I'm slim (size 8/10 pre pregnancy) and I'm 5ft 8.

My partner is 5ft 9 and of slim build so we aren't tiny.

I was born at 38 weeks weighing 6lb 3 ... dad was born weighing almost 10lb!!

I'm not sure how much of an impact it all
Plays with regards to this baby now.

I guess my worry is that when I had a private scan at 28 weeks he plotted the measurements onto my chart and she was just below the 50th centile... suddenly within 5
Weeks she's below the 3rd so I'm just worried about the huge drop aswel

I'd something similar with my 3yr old, he was gradually dropping from 8-5-3 on the centiles. There was only one artery on the umbilical cord for him and that's why he was so small though they found that out at the 20 week scan and then scanned me every couple of weeks.

I requested induction as soon as possible because I was worried about the cord failing and wanted him out asap so they induced me at 37 weeks.

He was long and skinny but as soon as he was born he started piling on weight and he's been chubby ever since, I think he must have been born hungry!

I measured normally throughout my pregnancy and then in the last week a midwife measured and said I hadn’t really grown and sent me for a scan. They plotted the size based on my scan and they predicted smaller than mid pregnancy and around 4lb. I was induced and the baby had a knot in the cord. It ended up being an emergency c section. Take all the monitoring and advice you can as it ultimately saved my babys life x

My baby started measuring small at 27 weeks (fundal height was 25).. I was sent for a growth scan which baby measured 5th percentile. I had growth scans every 2 weeks but one scan showed the blood flow resistance was high so I was being scanned every other day. Resistance was slightly high but not worryingly high. Baby consistently on 5th percentile until 34 weeks where she dropped to 3rd and the blood flow started deteriorating so I was given steroid injections and induced at 35+5 (originally wanted to induce me at 37 weeks). Baby was born at 36 weeks weighing 1.6kg (3lb 9oz) which was smaller than the growth scan suggested.

Nothing medically wrong with her, just small! Only spent 1 week in hospital to establish feeding. 10.5 months old now and about 40th centile for weight.

If baby tracks the same centile and blood flow is fine they’ll just keep an eye on it!

I’m going through the exact same thing at the moment. I’m 35 weeks pregnant today.

My fundal measurement at 26 weeks was lower than expected so I was sent for a growth scan. Baby was measuring just under 10th centile but all measurements were proportionate to each other, the bloodflow to the brain and through the umbilical cord looked fine, as did the fluid around the baby. Because everything looked normal (apart from him being small) they decided to book me in for growth scans every 2 weeks to keep an eye on things. At my 28 week scan they noticed that his femur length has dropped to 3rd centile so it’s now disproportionate to the other measurements. They told me I’m now ‘consultant-led’ because it’s a higher risk pregnancy and they recommended inducing me between 37-39 weeks. I specifically asked about being able to have a water birth because it’s important to me and I was disappointed because the CLU only has one pool. She said a water birth is still theoretically possible but baby will need to have continuous monitoring during labour but they can do this with a wireless waterproof monitor (so perhaps check again with your hospital - they might not have the wireless monitors which is why you’ve been told you can’t have a water birth). I’ve never been told I can’t have a water birth because of his size.

At my most recent scan the femur length has dropped again and is now below 3rd centile, so baby’s overall growth is now plotting at 3rd centile. The consultant said she was going to refer us to the Fetal Medicine Unit so we could have further scans/tests. However, the FMU reviewed our file and have decided that they aren’t at all worried about there being something wrong with our baby - if there was something genetically wrong it most likely would have shown up on my 20 week scan (everything was in proportion and normal at 20 week scan), the heartbeat is strong, bloodflow from the placenta is normal and the fluid around baby is normal. They have therefore decided that our baby is just ‘constitutionally small’. The consultant said an induction isn’t completely off the table now but they will review it at the next scan, but they certainly don’t need to rush to induce me at 37 weeks. My consultant said they would only need to induce me that early if there was something wrong with the bloodflow from the placenta or fluid because it would indicate that the placenta is failing and baby isn’t getting the nutrients he needs.

Sorry for the long post! Just wanted to reassure you that you’re not alone. The next steps for you will be to work out whether there is something wrong with the placenta. If everything looks fine with placenta and fluid they‘ll probably just give you regular growth scans to keep and eye on it.